This activity is a tree leaf collection, identification, and display of dried and pressed leaves. It teaches students about distinguishing leaf characteristics as well as a way to display and label their collection.

This video describes the role that dendrochronology plays in understanding climate change, especially changes to high elevation environments at an upper tree line. Dendrochronologists from the Big Sky Institute sample living and dead trees, describe how correlations between trees are made, and explain how tree cores record climate changes.

In this math meets life science lesson, learners measure the circumference of local trees in order to calculate diameters. Learners use this information and a growth rate table to estimate the age of the trees. This lesson guide includes questions for learners, assessment options, extensions, and reflection questions.

How do phylogenetic trees help us look more closely at microbial evolution? Explore sequence data and extend your tree thinking to examine possible relationships between the microbes and other life forms. The Biology Workbench provides access to data and tools for investigating these relationships. * read a phylogenetic tree

This activity is an investigation into the relationship between alkane length and boiling points. Students develop a mathematical model of this relationship and use it to make predictions and error analysis.

Students use real satellite data to determine 1) where the greatest concentrations of aerosols are located during the course of a year in the tropical Atlantic region and 2) their source of origin. This is an inquiry-style lesson where students pull real aerosol data and attempt to identify trends among data sets.

This is a field and classroom activity in which students will observe tulip growth and identify and describe the parts of the tulip flower.

The brief video clips on this webpage illustrate the range of number sense exhibited by students in grades Pre K-2. In interviews, Cena and Jonathan, both age 7, and Rudy, age 9, demonstrate different levels of understanding number and place value concepts. The page includes discussion questions for each set of videos as well as concluding reflection questions.

This lesson plan has students working in small groups to research the Mountain Pine Beetle in Colorado and other inter-mountain Western states. Students identify the factors that control pine beetle population and research how warmer winters and decreasing spring snowpack allow the population of pine beetles to expand.

Unit plans for Grades K-2 and 3-5 are a regular feature of the magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The plans draw on articles and resources in a themed issue and are aligned with national science and language arts standards. This unit is designed to provide elementary students with the opportunity to investigate how the annual rings in trees help scientists learn about past climates. It uses hands-on experiences and nonfiction text to answer the unit question: How do trees help scientists learn about the past?

In this video segment adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Inuit observers describe how their traditional understanding of weather patterns is being challenged by unpredictable weather behaviors.

In this EarthLabs activity, learners explore the concepts of coral bleaching, bleaching hot spots and degree-heating weeks. Using data products from NOAA's Coral Reef Watch, students identify bleaching hot spots and degree-heating weeks around the globe as well as in the Florida Keys' Sombrero Reef to determine the impact higher-than-normal sea surface temperatures have on coral reefs.

Students explore the response of springs to forces as a way to begin to understand elastic solid behavior. They gain experience in data collection, spring constant calculation, and comparison and interpretation of graphs and material properties to elucidate material behavior. Conduct this activity before proceeding to the associated lesson.

This activity is a teacher-guided inquiry activity of the sorting or grouping of Minnesota critters according to student driven criteria or purpose of their groupings. Teacher/student questions and discussion should be encouraged after this activity to emphasize that awareness of the criteria or purpose of certain groupings may be important before beginning an investigation.

Learning Assistants are used to facilitate student discussion in peer instruction during clicker questions (i.e., classroom response systems), by asking Socratic questions, emphasizing reasoning, and probing student thinking.

In this Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter, students select, explore, and analyze satellite imagery. They do so in the context of a case study of the origins of atmospheric carbon monoxide and aerosols, tiny solid airborne particles such as smoke from forest fires and dust from desert wind storms. They use the software tool ImageJ to animate a year of monthly images of aerosol data and then compare the animation to one created for monthly images of carbon monoxide data. Students select, explore, and analyze satellite imagery using NASA Earth Observatory (NEO) satellite data and NEO Image Composite Explorer (ICE) tool to investigate seasonal and geographic patterns and variations in concentration of CO and aerosols in the atmosphere.

This activity is a field investigation where students will compare the biodiversity of two separate habitats based on the collection and identification of insects.

This video adapted from the University of Leicester demonstrates the proper use of different-sized micropipettes to measure precise volumes of liquid in the lab.

This activity allows students to investigate classification and create their own dichotomous key. Discussion will include classification of items in everyday life.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students examine our growing waste problem and learn about strategies we can use to lessen the strain on our landfills and Earth's natural resources: reduce, reuse, recycle.