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

Greenish yellow fern growing in between two brown rocks

Photosynthesis, Respiration, and the Short-Term Carbon Cycle

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
This lesson is focused on the short-term cycling of carbon and is designed to put the processes of photosynthesis and respiration within a global perspective.

Lesson

Middle School

Dark cloud at top of image raining down onto shadowed lands with yellow sunlit sky in the middle

Precipitation Patterns Around the Globe

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
Students apply their knowledge of the water cycle to investigate how annual precipitation patterns are related to geography and biology.

Lesson

Elementary School

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

Two mostly black cows grazing on green grass with foggy green grassy hillside in background

Energy Pyramids and Food Webs

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
In this lesson, students identify the sun as the source of energy and understand how energy flows through an ecosystem.

Lesson

Middle School

Lesson Plans & Activities