This unit focuses on the diversity of life at Hartje School Forest and centers around NGSS Standards on Ecosystem Interactions, Energy and Dynamics. Field experiences in observing and recording the diversity of life, seed dispersal methods, plant pollination, and plant life cycles will support science disciplinary core ideas, cross-cutting concepts, and hands-on engineering practices.

The National Humanities center presents this collection of essays by leading scholars on the topic ŇNature Transformed: The Environment in American HistoryÓ. The essays are grouped into three categories: Native Americans and the Land; Wilderness and American Identity; and The Use of the Land. Topics include Paleoindians, the origins of the American Wilderness movement, environmental justice, and more.

This math meets ecology lesson provides hands-on experiences with mixing oil and water, provides surface area information about the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and gives learners opportunities to estimate small oil spills of their own making. This lesson guide includes questions for learners, assessment options, extensions, and reflection questions.

Students will compare and contrast adult plants and seedlings/young plants using pictures, journaling, growing plants in the classroom and comparing experimental plant growth with natural plant growth to learn why plants survive and where.