Students use specimens prepared by the teacher and try to decide if each one is living, non-living or dead. This may be done as inquiry prior to instruction or as reinforcement.
Produced by the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, these four guides form a four-part series, Living With Biodiversity: What You Can Really Do For the Environment. The four guides in pdf format are: Biodiversity and Your Food, Biodiversity and Your Energy Use, Biodiversity and What You Buy and Biodiversity and Your Water Supply.
Date of this Version
Spring 2019
Document Type
Portfolio
Citation
Kenworthy, Celeste and Aurora Kenworthy. "Living World Club." After school club lesson plans. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2019.
Comments
Copyright 2019 by Celeste Kenworthy under Creative Commons Non-Commercial License. Individuals and organizations may copy, reproduce, distribute, and perform this work and alter or remix this work for non-commercial purposes only.
Abstract
An afterschool club that focuses on building understanding and enjoyment of nature and the environment through interactive and collaborative activities.
This video highlights specific climate change-related phenomena that are threatening the flora and fauna of Yellowstone National Park.
In this video Paul Andersen explains how biodiversity measures the variety of genes, species, and ecosystems on the planet. Biodiversity provides resources and ecosystem services for humans on the planet. He also explains how biodiversity is decreasing on the planet due to habitat destruction, invasive species, climate change, over harvesting, and pollution. Relevant treaties and laws designed to preserved biodiversity is also included.
Students enjoy this Jeopardy game review of introductory chemistry, including organic compounds and chemical reactions.
Students will learn that all organisims are composed of cells, the building-blocks of life. Most cells are microscopic and must be magnified to be observed. Students will make slides of cells from an onion skin and Elodea (American or Canadian waterwee) to observe under a microscope.
This article, part of Biodiversity Counts, provides insight into what it takes to maintain an arthropod collection. The article contains advice to students for setting up and maintaining a small-scale collection, including what tools are needed, safe alternatives to chemicals for killing and preserving specimens and some of the techniques the museum uses to protect specimens that students may want to adopt.
In this learning activity, students analyze an actual dataset of the influence of temperature on tree growth. They use mathematical and statistical concepts like slope equations and lines of best fit to determine the relationship. They are then asked to make predictions about future tree growth under different greenhouse gas emissions, interpreting data from climate models to make these predictions.
In this short demo/activity, a balloon with baking soda in it is stretched over the mouth of a flask or bottle containing vinegar. The balloon is tipped so that the baking soda falls into the vinegar, and the reaction creates carbon dioxide, which inflates the balloon. The activity is part of the children's book, The Air We Breathe.
Even experienced divers rarely get to see the Mandarinfish, a colorful reef fish that is so shy, it only comes out of hiding for a half-hour a day. In this video, Jonathan travels to the south Pacific to film spawning Mandarinfish and witnesses an incredible secret ritual. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.
Where the tropical ocean meets the sea, a peculiar kind of plant thrives in shallow, salty water. These mangrove plants are incredibly important for shoreline protection and baby fish habitats. In this video, Jonathan investigates life in mangroves by visiting both Caribbean and Pacific mangroves. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.
In this video, Jonathan travels to the Micronesian island of Yap in the middle of the Pacific to investigate large gatherings of the world's largest rayŰÓthe manta. A research program there is tracking dozens of these animals and Jonathan learns what they're doing hanging around certain coral heads every morning. Please see the accompanying lesson plan on tides for educational objectives, discussion points and classroom activities.
The purpose of the resource is to produce a land cover type map from hard copies of Landsat satellite images.
Map showing America broken down by various measures of standard of living, environmental impact, demographics and crime. Focuses on applying the Human Development Index -- the major measure of international development -- to inequalities within in the United States.
In this activity students use NASA satellite data to study changes in temperature and snow-ice coverage in the South Beaufort Sea, Alaska. They will then correlate the data with USGS ground tracking of polar bears and relate their findings to global change, sea ice changes, and polar bear migration and survival.
This is a problem-based learning adventure game that engages the player in the role of scientist, historian, and detective. At the beginning, the student is presented with a problem that must be solved. During the mission, students conduct field and laboratory investigations with the aid of the MedMyst characters. This mission can be played within one class period (approximately 30 to 45 minutes) and the knowledge gained from this mission will help students understand how infectious diseases are spread. This mission covers vectors, malaria, history of malaria, and immune system. Each mission is a self-contained problem and may be played without reliance on the other missions. Also available in Spanish.
Learn about a job as a chemist from the ChemHealthWeb site of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. See how people from all walks of life, from different countries and cultures, and with very different backgrounds had an interest in chemistry and chose it as their career.
Meiosis is the process by which gametes (eggs and sperm) are made. Gametes have only one set of chromosomes. Therefore, meiosis involves a reduction in the amount of genetic material. Each gamete has only half the chromosomes of the original germ cell. Explore meiosis with a computer model of dragons. Run meiosis, inspect the chromosomes, then choose gametes to fertilize. Predict the results of the dragon offspring and try to make a dragon without legs. Learn why all siblings do not look alike.
In this activity from NOAA's Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection, learners investigate how methane hydrates might have been involved with the Cambrian explosion.