K-4 students explore edible plants in this interdisciplinary life science unit developed by the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Teachers can access supporting resources online. Explore ideas for dissecting plant seeds, observing plant embryos, and organizing observations using diagrams.
In profiles of women working in various roles at the Department of Energy, women share what inspired them to work in a STEM field, what excites them about their work, and what ideas they have for getting more underrepresented groups engaged in STEM fields. The website is useful for middle and high school students interested… Read more »
Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center has put together some short, simple, and practical recommendations to help effectively incorporate use of an outdoor classroom. Suggestions include finding an experienced mentor, scheduling a set time for taking students outdoors, and examining learning standards to see what are best taught outside.
iNaturalist is a species identification app that allows users to record their observations of living things by way of taking photos and appending GPS coordinates to their discoveries. Each user has their own profile and can follow others to keep a tab of what others are posting, or share what they have photographed. The app… Read more »
Check out this video, which captures 15 months of a forest’s life. This 3-minute time lapse video was created from 40,000 photographs. Photographer Samuel Orr took pictures out of the same window in his home to create this forest montage. This forest snapshot is just outside of Bloomington, Indiana and was photographed between 2006 and… Read more »
This Think Garden video collection was produced by Kentucky Educational Television for elementary students as a teaching tool about growing food and all elements around food gardening. Consider using it to support PLT GreenWorks! or GreenSchools projects as we enter the growing season.
Introduce yourself to one of North America’s most common groups of songbirds, the Juncos. Readily observed in backyards, city parks, and forests alike, these little gray birds—sometimes called “Snowbirds”—can be easily overlooked. But for scientists who study animal behavior, ecology, and evolutionary biology, the Junco is a rockstar. Use these video shorts from The Junco… Read more »
New NPS Podcasts show students what park scientists do and provide an inside look at some of the issues facing our national parks. Most appropriate for middle and high school students, teachers can use the clips to generate discussion about real-world problems in nature and how scientists and others work to solve them.
Earth Day Carol is a green retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In this version, Plastic Bottle Scrooge is visited by the ghosts Plastic Past, Plastic Present, and Plastic Future. You can download the free mobile app to convey the message of “reduce, reuse, and recycle” through animation, pop-up facts, and kid-friendly narration. Most… Read more »
Students in grades K-12 can participate in the USDA’s Asian Longhorned Beetle Hunt and help preserve our nation’s forests. The Asian longhorned beetle, an invasive pest, destroys trees and has been found in several states across the country. Classroom resources, including videos and identification worksheets, are available to help teach what the beetle looks like,… Read more »