This lesson uses the an inquiry-based approach to learning modified from the BEETLES Learning Cycle to explore wind and wind energy.
This resource is a flexible lesson plan focusing on water pollution and the causes and sources of water pollution. This lesson plan contains directions, teacher advice, concept map, worksheets, and a Powerpoint presentation as resources.
Students will learn what watershed is and how to protect it. This fun lesson helps students learn about the water quality in their own states and communities and and gives them the tools to be conscience citizens who care for their water supply.
In this lesson, you will watch the PBS news story “Why it will take more than just recycling to cut back on plastic” and explore how new ideas or inventions come about to make the world a cleaner, safer, happier place. Then, you will invent your own designs that incorporate recyclable or non-recyclable items.
The virtual lab includes four modules that investigate different concepts in evolutionary biology, including adaptation, convergent evolution, phylogenetic analysis, reproductive isolation, and speciation. Each module involves data collection, calculations, analysis and answering questions. The “Educators†tab includes lists of key concepts and learning objectives and detailed suggestions for incorporating the lab in your instruction.
It is appropriate for students in high school biology and environmental science classes, and undergraduate biology, ecology, environmental science courses. The focus on observation, measurement, and experimental methods makes the lab a good fit for addressing "science as a process" or "nature of science" aspects of the curriculum. The emphasis on the collection, analysis, and graphing of data, connects to the mathematical dimension of biology and general goals of STEM integration.
Students in Grades 3 & 4 at Chain Exploration Center developed an understanding of the important role that pollinators play in human food systems as well as in native habitats. Students also learned about the stressors, many of them human-influenced, that are associated with the decline in pollinator populations. Students also learned about ways that humans can improve pollinator habitat. The culmination of student learning was an environmental stewardship project: the installation of a pollinator garden on the school grounds. What follows is an outline of the project process and a discussion of the resources that were used.
The Look Back is a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The series is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.
The series is a collaboration between PBS Wisconsin Education, the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History, University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries, Wisconsin educators and learners, and museums and historical preservation and interpretation organizations throughout Wisconsin.
© 2024 Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Funding Provided By
Timothy William Trout Education Fund a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout
Eleanor and Thomas Wildrick Family
Focus Fund for Education
Friends of PBS Wisconsin
Context: The Bayfield High School Alternative Education program works collaboratively with the Red Cliff Treaty Natural Resources (TNR) Division on a variety of projects. One of the favorite projects focuses on monitoring carnivores in the Red Cliff/Bayfield area. One component of this project involves the placement of several remote trail cameras within local natural areas. TNR staff help students identify potential camera location areas. Several times throughout the school year, students retrieve the memory cards from the cameras and record observations based on the photos and videos. A second component of this project involves TNR providing the students with regular updates regarding progress of their ma’iingan (wolf) studies. TNR has access to data obtained from radio and GPS collared ma’iinganag (wolves) from a variety of local packs. Through this project, Bayfield students learn about wolf ecology, the cultural value of wolves, and connections to their immediate surroundings.
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe school is a Bureau of Indian Education/Tribally controlled school catering to students who are themselves tribally enrolled or a descendant of a tribal member. Our school has a close working relationship with the Lac Courte Oreilles College Extension program, including access to the college farm. In an effort to encourage students to learn where their food comes from, make more informed decisions about what they eat and how what they eat impacts the environment, students are introduced to indigenous teachings regarding companion planting of food crops. Though the growing part of this project is long term, students learn about the process of seed development, understand the length of time it takes for a plant to mature and ultimately provide food sources. An additional benefit to this project is that it provides students with a sense of nurturing as they help their plants thrive.
Maple Grove Charter School, Athens School District, is a Grades K-5 elementary school located the heart of the rural Town of Hamburg. The school takes its name from the school forest on its site. Built in 1904, the school has annual tradition of tapping the maple trees. What started as a first grade classroom project has expanded as students from each grade level identify, tap, and collect sap from two trees. Unit plans have been created for each grade level to address agriculture, science, literacy, social studies, math, and environmental literacy standards. While the sap collecing routines remain relevatively constant each year, the learning opportunties have been differentiated by grade level so that students are always learning new content and skills.In the following unit plan discussion readers will learn about the schoolwide project from the perspective of teachers in Grades 1 and 5.Students in Grade 1 learn about maple tree identification and the traditional and modern tools and technologies employed in sap collection and syrup production. Their fifth grade counterparts continue to grow in their understanding of the tapping, collection, and production processes, and take on the role of entrepreneurs as they develop their brand and market the finished pure maple syrup.
Students in Grades 1 & 2 at Chain Exploration Center developed an understanding of the maple syrup production and its importance as an agribusiness. Students also learned about plant structures and their role in photosynthesis and the ecosystem services of sugar maple trees. The culmination of student learning was a project showcase in the form of a Maple Tree Museum to which parents and community members were invited. What follows is an outline of key place-based lessons and experiences that supported students’ learning.
High Marq Environmental Charter School is a project and place based school that serves grades 6-12 in Marquette County, Wisconsin.Each week our students participate in a full day field experience designed to connect, explore and engage with the outdoors. These lessons were all a part of those experiences with the exception of the math language field guide which was part of a math seminar.
This unit focuses on measurement and data for second-grade. The second-graders learn how to accurately measure natural objects using nonstandard units (unifix cubes) and standard units (inches). During field experiences, the students learned how to use field guides and how to collect data for a BioBlitz. Students used their data to create bar graphs, picture graphs, and analyzed their data.
In this activity, students will learn about different measures of biodiversity: richness, Shannon diversity index, and evenness. Students will begin by calculating these indices by hand using a very small sample data set. Students will then read an overview of the Northern Lakes and Forests and Southern Wisconsin Till Plains, two different Wisconsin ecoregions, and use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to calculate and compare biodiversity from a Snapshot Wisconsin database
This Medicine Wheel Planning tool was designed for use with the Gikinoo’wizhiwe Onji Waaban (Guiding for Tomorrow) or “G-WOW” Changing Climate model to take a place-based approach to climate education. This tool version was created by Cathy Techtmann, a professor of community resource development and an environmental outreach specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension. She lives and works in the homeland of the Lake Superior Ojibwe people. The tool has been adapted here to guide planning for climate education learning experiences in K-12 classrooms.
An introduction to the Unit, including timeline, a game, and ground rules. This class is where the students begin a foundation for learning the entire unit. They will make a sketchbook to hold the knowledge gained throughout the entire two weeks of the unit. They will take ownership over their time spent through the development of a timeline for completion.
Students will identify a specific plant used for dye. They will learn the proper method and prayers in the Menominee language for collecting plants for use in creating the dyes.
Students will learn the batik process using dyes from the plants they have collected. They will learn where Batik originated and the cultural ways of the Javanese people.
Students will present what they have learned about their plants, prayer, the Menominee language, and the traditional uses of plants by the Menominee people.
Through the use of culturally-relevant texts in a 3rd and 4th social studiens unit on Menominee history, students took a deep dive into learning about the significance of the Lake Sturgeon. Traditional stories as well as nonfiction pieces from and about the Menominee people, students experienced the interconnectedness of the people and their environment.A summary of student learning experiences as well as a bibliography of texts are included as part of this OER.