This article demonstrates how the authors used a 5E lesson about food webs as a context to embed speaking and listening standards. This 5E lesson partially addresses 5-LS2-1 in the "Next Generation Science Standards" and focuses primarily on predator/prey relationships. Future lessons focus on decomposition and other relationships. To…

Throughout the country, there are many bodies of fresh water affected by algal blooms. By focusing on a water source near their school, students can become scientists, too. Situating science content in real and meaningful learning experiences encourages students to be invested in their own learning, construct deeper understandings, and apply those…

Animals depend on their surroundings for their survival. In consuming their food, animals are consuming energy. This cycling of matter and the accompanying flow of energy within an ecosystem occurs because of interactions among and between organisms. To guide students in modeling how ecosystems function, the authors share "Ecosystem…

Growing up in a small coastal town, students spend a great deal of time outdoors and at the beach. Given the many learning opportunities that such an environment can provide, engaging students in a sustained, environmental service project seemed like a natural complement to lessons focusing on the interaction of organisms within a habitat. This…

Regardless of the student population or school geography, community gardens can provide a context for teaching numerous standards across multiple grades and can help all students better understand nature. To help illustrate the versatility of community gardens, this article includes three sample 5E lessons from different grade levels and school…

Teaching ethics in elementary science may seem abstract or simply another topic to add to an already rigorous curriculum. However, it is an integral part of science and engineering instruction and a natural extension of what elementary educators do every day. Teachers help students develop ethical practices or "habits of mind" when they:…

This article describes a lesson in which fourth-grade students create a habitat for terrapins while reducing erosion. A client and their needs were presented to the students: The city purchased a piece of shoreline on the bay previously owned by a private company. The company had started to develop the land, exposing soil up to the water's edge.…

In this article, fourth graders investigate the physical and behavioral adaptations of crayfish. Because crayfish are native to the area and many students have experience observing them in local streams, the author decided to use these organisms to explore the relationship between the structure of their various body parts and how those structures…

This article describes a project that integrates English Language Arts (ELA) and coding into environmental science. For this project, students researched science content about human impact on the environment, communicated their findings through a traditionally formatted narrative story, and then used a coding program called Scratch to create an…

While curriculum designed as project-based learning is not suitable for use with every science standard, this methodology can be used when teaching concepts that naturally contain some flexibility. With small adaptations, teachers can implement these practices into the classroom regardless of the grade level. This article provides a detailed…

Problem-based learning (PBL) involves students solving a problem with multiple solutions over time, like scientists in real-world contexts. This fourth-grade PBL unit had students become part of an endeavor to help their state of Virginia become energy independent. It conceptualized energy independence as becoming self-sufficient for energy…

Insects are extremely important for maintaining the natural environment, performing such essential ecosystem services as decomposition, dung burial, and soil aeration, as well as providing food for other wildlife. Insects are also important for human interests such as crop pollination. Though the advantages of using insects as teaching tools are…

Most students have never had the opportunity to interact with amphibians. Field trips students list as most memorable are usually their outdoor experiences and interactions with living creatures. Apart from being memorable, field trips need to be meaningful and provide students with authentic learning experiences. Field trips allow students to…

This article describes an 8-10 week problem-based learning unit for fifth graders that introduced them to the facts underlying global climate change. This unit was inspired by the lack of awareness in our national population around this clear threat to our global ecosystem and takes on this goal: to provide students (our future advocates and…

Human-made pollution is a large and complex problem that has harmful effects on communities and ecosystems. Understanding these impacts is essential, but it can be daunting when many types of chemical pollution are difficult to conceptualize, especially for elementary school students. Something every student can understand, however, is trash.…