Lesson Plans & Activities

Human footprints and wildlife tracks converge on snow at Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Animal Tracks Can Illuminate Many Things: A Detective Exercise

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
Having students follow animal tracks (even just people, dogs, or squirrels) and investigating how tracks are made is a fun and exciting way to develop critical thinking, measurement, and graphing skills.

Lesson

Middle School

Creating a Compass from a Magnet

Project EXTREMES lessons were intended to stand alone, but this lesson can be included in a unit on the Earth’s interior.
In this lesson, students create a compass and apply their reasoning about magnetism to how compasses work to help us navigate around the globe while utilizing the Earth’s magnetic field.

Lesson

STEAM Activity

Elementary School

Middle School

Two blue gloved hands hold a sample up to a microscope

In Support of Basic Science

Project EXTREMES lessons were intended to stand alone, and this lesson can be implemented at any time when deemed appropriate, such as the onset of a scientific investigation.
This activity will challenge students thinking about the nature of science and highlight the importance of both basic and applied scientific research.

Lesson

Middle School

Data Analysis: Introduction to Measurement, Error, and Outliers

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit; this lesson can be used to support learners who are new to data collection and analysis.
In this lesson, students measure and compare the rate of a falling object (a penny) at different heights to learn about statistical error.

Lesson

Middle School

Flock of birds landing at Elkhorn Slough where there is green moss over black sand and blue water in the background.

Population Estimates: Bringing Math and Science Together

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons, but this activity may be used prior to a field study to provide students with practice in estimating or used in a unit on ecosystems.
During this activity students will learn how to estimate population size using two techniques, density extrapolation and the mark-recapture method.

Lesson

Middle School

Lesson Plans & Activities