Utilizing the Lake Superior watershed and the St. Louis River as a foundation for learning
As partners, students will work to understand materials about frogs. Then, partners will be separated to form two groups to play the amphibian trivia game. Students will learn about the importance of amphibians such as frogs as well as how frogs differ from toads. Curriculum download is a brief lesson plan including a reader about amphibians.
There are 5 critters from the Lake Superior watershed just waiting to meet you! A series of characteristics are read aloud, while guesses are taken, then the aquatic vertebrate is revealed. Curriculum download is a PDF version of the clue cards with images that can be printed on the back of the clue cards.
Students will gather items they can find in nature to put as parts in a cell. The catch is that students must explain why that item represents the cell organelle by using metaphors, similes, or other explanations. Prerequisite: Students must have a firm understanding of cell parts and functions. This lesson would be great as a unit wrap-up lesson. An example would be that an acorn could represent a vesicle because it transports seeds to other places in a protective casing like a vesicle transports proteins in a cell. Curriculum download is a PDF version of the lesson plan. The Supporting File download is a PDF document with cell part labels.
Attached is a student copy and teacher copy of a short assignment students can do to understand how to (and where to) enter data in a data table. There are five "journal entries" from two "scientists" that are studying Otter River. Students will use the journal entries to enter data into the table at the bottom of the page. Curriculum download is a PDF student copy of the worksheet. Supporting File is a PDF teacher copy of the worksheet.
This lesson gives a small introduction to dissolved oxygen. The Reserve has the equipment needed for the lesson. The Curriculum download is a PDF document of the lesson plan. The Supporting File is an informational packet for students in PDF form.
Attached are teacher and student copies of a trout and its anatomy. When printed back to back, the copies can be folded so the external anatomy picture can be flipped up to reveal the internal anatomy picture. The Curriculum download is a PDF version of the student copy of the trout anatomy diagram, unlabeled. The Supporting File is a PDF version of the teacher copy of the trout anatomy diagram with labels.
Students will play a game of survival by creating fish with dominant and recessive traits to understand how evolution through adaptations of structures and functions help with survival and continuation of genetic variations. The curriculum download is a PDF of the lesson plan for running this lesson with your students. The supporting file is the student worksheet.
The attachments below are a "student copy" and a "teacher copy" of a guide to each exhibit at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, MN. One purpose of this resource is as a school research project kick-off for students and their teacher. Another is developing a teaching unit, using student inquiry as your guide. This resource may also be used for digging in deeper to the exhibits through teacher-guided discussion, partner-group discussion, or individual reflection. The curriculum download is a PDF of the 'teacher copy'. The supporting file is a PDF of the 'student copy'.
A wonderfully crafted scavenger hunt for a no-fail outdoor experience with your students. The curriculum download is a PDF version of the scavenger hunt.
Students will learn about the different ways animals survive in the winter through reading about animal adaptations and doing class presentations about some of the animals that live in or near aquatic environments. Students will also have the opportunity to create their own animals and come up with habitats and winter adaptations for those creations. The curriculum download is a PDF that includes the lesson plan, student sheets, and a student reading sheet. The supporting file is a PDF with images of common animals found in northern MN/WI and their winter adaptations.