Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources 2023

Ani-Maker

Get children to talk about the characteristics of animals that make them different and special; create their own special animals.

Biodiversity Field Exercise

Biodiversity Field Survey(PDF, 622 KB)

Throw a hula-hoop ring (or any ring of about 1 meter radius) on an area in a garden, meadow or field. Draw what you see inside your sample space.

Biomes Concept Map

Biomes Concept Map(PDF, 810 KB)

Biomes Concept Map - Answer Sheet(PDF, 811 KB)

Match the words to the bubbles in the map.

Can Nanotechnology Help Clean Up Ocean Oil Spills

Can Nanotechnology Help Clean Up Ocean Oil Spills(PDF, 571 KB)

The enormous task of cleaning up oil spills in oceans and seas has burdened industry, government, and environmentalists for decades. The cleanup is almost always difficult. It involves great amounts of time, resources, and money to remove the oil from the water, and the cleanup is often only partially successful. Today, however, scientists are coming to the rescue, developing a new technique that combines nanotechnology and magnetism. In this science project, you will test the proposed technique yourself. Will you succeed in separating oil from water?

Can Plants Stop Soil Erosion

Can Plants Stop Soil Erosion?(PDF, 1 MB)

You are surrounded by soil every time you step outside. It seems like the world has plenty of it, so why would we need to worry about conserving it? It turns out that soil erosion, or the washing away of soil by forces like wind and water, is actually a big problem. It can cause loss of farmland as soil in fields washes away. It can pollute waterways by washing pesticides and fertilizers into them. It can even cause damage to human life and property by contributing to mudslides and landslides.

Coral Reef Habitat Diorama

Coral Reef Habitat Diorama(PDF, 108 KB)

At first glance, you may think that coral reefs are made up of rocks, but they are actually live organisms. These organisms are tiny little animals called polyps. Polyps live on the outside of the reef. As polyps die, they become hard and new polyps grow on top of them causing the reef to grow. Since polyps need to eat to stay alive, you can think of the coral reef as eating, too. They eat small animals called plankton as well as algae. The algae get their food from the sun by using photosynthesis. This is why coral reefs form close to the surface of the water and in clear water where the sun can feed the algae.

Coral Reef Skeletons and Climate Change

Coral Reef Skeletons and Climate Change(PDF, 599 KB)

For protection and support, hard corals build skeletons made of calcium carbonate. To do this, a coral polyp secretes layer upon layer of calcium carbonate underneath its body. As time goes by, the skeleton grows larger and larger, and the polyp lives on its outside edge. As long as a polyp can get the right building material from the water, it can build a strong skeleton.

Deer: Predation or Starvation?

Deer: Predation or Starvation?(PDF, 624 KB)

Deer: Predation or Starvation? Answer Sheet(PDF, 1 MB)

Introduction: In 1970 the deer population of an island forest reserve was about 2000 animals. Although the island had excellent vegetation for feeding, the food supply obviously had limits. Thus, the forest management personnel feared that overgrazing might lead to mass starvation. Since the area was too remote for hunters, the wildlife service decided to bring in natural predators to control the deer population.

Endangered Species Project

Endangered Species Project(PDF, 516 KB)

Objective: Students will investigate causes of endangerment and efforts being taken to conserve species and create a presentation, webpage, poster, or pamphlet to raise awareness about the species.

Examining the Stages in Ecological Succession in a Pond

Examining the Stages in Ecological Succession in a Pond(PDF, 764 KB)

Examining the Stages in Ecological Succession in a Pond (Answer Sheet)(PDF, 766 KB)

Succession, a series of environmental changes, occurs in all ecosystems. The stages that any ecosystem passes through are predictable. In this activity, you will place the stages of succession of two ecosystems into sequence. You will also describe changes in an ecosystem and make predictions about changes that will take place from one stage of succession to another. The evolution of a body of water from a lake to a marsh can last for thousands of years. As the water level fell, land was exposed. Many small lakes or ponds were left behind where there were depressions in the land. Below are illustrations and descriptions of four ponds as they exist today. Use the illustrations and descriptions to answer the questions about the ponds.

Goo-Be-Gone: Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Goo-Be-Gone: Cleaning Up Oil Spills(PDF, 893 KB)

Have you ever seen news coverage or other pictures of an oil spill in the ocean and wondered how all of that oil could be cleaned up? Oil spills can devastate wildlife by covering them with oil, and they can damage our precious water resources by contaminating them with oil. Part of the problem of dealing with oil spills is that the oil can be challenging to clean up. In this science project, you will test the absorptivity of different materials (called sorbents) to discover which ones are best at removing oil from water.

Heavy Metals and Aquatic Environments

Heavy Metals and Aquatic Environments(PDF, 713 KB)

You might know that lead can be toxic, and that you can get lead poisoning from eating or inhaling old paint dust. Lead is called a heavy metal, and there are other sources of heavy metals that can be toxic, too. Silver, copper, mercury, nickel, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium are all heavy metals that can be toxic in certain environments. In this experiment you will test the effects of the heavy metal copper (Cu) on an aquatic environment containing snails and plants.

How Biodiverse is Your Backyard?

How Biodiverse is Your Backyard?(PDF, 599 KB)

Have you ever wondered how many different types of animals live around your home, like in your backyard or a local park? Animals come in all shapes and sizes, each a small part of the amazing diversity of life. These differences can help people use systems to classify animals into different groups. One way people classify animals is by their phylum. Do you know which phylum you belong to? In this science activity, you will investigate the diversity (or biodiversity) of the animal life around your home and try to figure out which phylum most of the animals belong to.

How Does Human Activity Affect Rivers?

How Does Human Activity Affect Rivers?(PDF, 734 KB)

How Does Human Activity Affect Rivers - Answer Sheet(PDF, 737 KB)

Alice and her classmates visited a nearby river. Their goal was to determine if pollution from cities and farms affected the water quality of the river. Water quality describes the condition of the water, including chemical and physical properties, as well as biological characteristics.

Human Population Growth

Human Population Growth (PDF, 655 KB)

Objectives: Create a graph of human population growth and use it to predict future growth and identify factors that affect population growth.

Is it Getting Hot in Here? Investigate the Greenhouse Effect

Is it Getting Hot in Here? Investigate the Greenhouse Effect(PDF, 748 KB)

Has the temperature in your house felt hotter or colder recently? This could be due to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect states that gases in the atmosphere, such as CO2, might increase the surface temperature of Earth. In this project, you will build a small model of Earth and use it to see how the temperature varies, compared to outside of the model. You will be a part of the effort that is working to figure out what role greenhouse gases have in shaping our Earth's atmosphere. The objective is to build a simple and small greenhouse and investigate how trapped infrared radiation affects the temperature within.

Microscopic Creatures in Water

Microscopic Creatures in Water(PDF, 566 KB)

Water can be home to a lot of interesting creatures and microorganisms, especially if it's dirty water found in ponds or near plants. Take some samples, view them under a microscope and see what you can find. Experiment and see what kind of microscopic creatures you can find!

Natural Resources/Invention Commercial Project

Natural Resources/Invention Commercial Project(PDF, 596 KB)

The purpose of this project is to be able to inform community members of a cool new invention that you and your group mates have designed in order to limit the use of our earth’s natural, limited resources.

Ocean Acidification Experiment

Ocean Acidification Experiment (PDF, 167 KB)

The oceans absorb from one quarter to up to one third of the atmospheric CO2, according to estimates; this is the reason why they are often mentioned as a key component to prevent the raise of this specific greenhouse gas. Unfortunately the cost of this absorption is a significant reduction of the sea pH. In fact, we are registering an ocean acidification.

Random Sampling

Random Sampling(PDF, 822 KB)

Scientists cannot possibly count every organism in a population. One way to estimate the size of a population is to collect data by taking random samples. In this activity, you will look at how data obtained from random sampling compare with data obtained by an actual count.

Rooftop Gardens: Are They a Cool Idea?

Rooftop Gardens: Are They a Cool Idea?(PDF, 754 KB)

Imagine looking out over the rooftops of a city and seeing a canvas of living plants. All around the world rooftops are going green, especially in cities. These rooftop gardens are an environmentally friendly option that is gaining popularity. Living green roofs have many advantages, including providing more space for agriculture, adding beauty to the cityscape, and increasing the air quality. During photosynthesis, plants remove carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen. Over the course of a year, a single 1.5-meter by 1.5-meter section of a roof planted with grass produces enough oxygen to keep one human breathing for a year!

Sea Level Rise

Sea Level Rise(PDF, 601 KB)

As ice melts on our continents, it flows through the rivers and catchments, eventually ending up in the seas and oceans leading to sea level rise. The oceans around the world are connected and the resulting sea level rise is a global process. But the effects of the rise are not uniformly felt.

The Web of Biodiversity

The Web of Biodiversity (PDF, 619 KB)

Show the links between different species in an ecosystem and why more diversity equals a stronger system.

Too Much of a Good Thing? Study the Effect of Fertilizers on Algal Growth

Too Much of a Good Thing? Study the Effect of Fertilizers on Algal Growth(PDF, 649 KB)

You might not know it, but a lake without algae would be a very dull place. If there were no algae, there would be no small animals feeding on the algae, and there wouldn't be any fish eating the small animals that eat the algae. You might conclude that since some algae is good, more algae is even better, but algae growth has a down side. If there is too much algae, they can deplete the oxygen in the water, killing off other species in the water. What is one culprit that leads to algal growth? Fertilizer. In this environmental science fair project, you will experiment with the effect of different concentrations of fertilizers on algal growth.

Teaching Resources 2023