Ecology is one of my favorite topics to teach (along with evolution), so I’m excited to write up this blog post on biomes! In biology we begin the year with the characteristics of life, and then move into ecology. I like starting with ecology because it involves relatively easy concepts.
Owl pellets are really fun to dissect during ecology. One concern voiced by some colleague is this- most students have already dissected owl pellets in elementary or middle school. By the time they get to high school biology, should we do it again? What are they really taking away from
As a scientist and person who greatly appreciates the natural world, I love visiting national parks. They are spectacular places! You can weave them into science units such as: Biomes Population dynamics (How are population sizes naturally regulated in areas with no hunting? Yellowstone wolves are a great example!) Landforms
Teaching about human impacts on ecosystems and future climate change projections can leave you and your students feeling hopeless and depressed. While I think it’s important to teach the facts and not sugarcoat what is happening to our planet, we can also find ways to give students hope for the
Earth’s oceans are a carbon sink, which is a place where carbon is stored long term. Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It reacts with seawater, creating carbonic acid, which in turn lowers the pH of the ocean. This phenomena is known as ocean acidification. It will only get
Bored of teaching the carbon, nitrogen, water, or rock cycles? Spice things up by having students take a ride through each of the cycles with these interactive games! In these games, students will roll a die at stations throughout the cycles and pick up paper tokens along the way. For
Ecological succession can seem like a simple process… grass, shrubs, small trees, big trees. But how does an ecosystem evolve from nothing? I always begin this lesson by showing students a picture of earth as it was first developing and a picture of the earth today. Next I ask students-
WHAT IS CITIZEN SCIENCE?Citizen science is when the public participates in scientific research. Every-day citizens share and contribute data with the goal of increasing scientific knowledge. You do not have to be a trained scientist in order to participate. WHY YOU SHOULD TRY ITCitizen science is great to do with
The water cycle is taught starting in elementary school. It seems like in high school biology when I get to the biogeochemical cycles (water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) the water cycle gets glossed over because we assume the students know it and it’s too basic. But water is vital to
Models can be powerful tools when teaching science. They allow students to visualize concepts that can be difficult to picture in their heads.If you ask students what the most abundant gas in the atmosphere is, their first guess is usually oxygen. And when you say no, their second guess tends
If you read my blog post on recommended summer science reads, you saw my confession that I’m not generally a big non-fiction reader. I love to read, but fiction is my go-to. As I was compiling a science book list for students and teachers, I kept seeing and getting recommended
One of the most common projects for invasive species is for students to make a “Most Wanted” poster. Students do research on an invasive species of their choice and create a wanted poster that includes facts about the species and what they would be “wanted” for. It can be fun,
