Students work to describe the different abiotic cycles (water, carbon, and nitrogen) through a variety of activities from which they get to choose.

The series of lessons allows students to review the concepts of mutations, adaptations and natural selection by studying a population of pocket mice through a video clip and then applying their knowledge through a simulation game.

Science Instructional Plans (SIPs) help teachers align instruction with the Science Standards of Learning (SOL) by providing examples of how the content and the scientific and engineering practices found in the SOL and curriculum framework can be presented to students in the classroom.

The goal of this activity is to build critical thinking skills and excitement for Computer Science / Computational Thinking, while laying a foundation of fundamental programming concepts. By scaffolding basic concepts like sequencing and algorithms in an unplugged activity, students who are intimidated by computers can still build a foundation of understanding. In this lesson, students will learn how to develop an algorithm and encode it into a program.By "programming" one another to draw pictures, students experience some of the core concepts of programming in a fun and accessible way. The class will start by having students view a video of a simple program demonstrating how to develop instructions for building a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Students will start with simple shapes, and progress to the coding of a specific drawing that other students will then try to replicate (“running the program”). If there is a desire to have a more of a Math slant on the lesson, the drawing could take place on graph paper. Students would then use the coordinates to complete the drawing. 

Student will:analyze a map of the Chesapeake Baycalculate the mean, median, mode, range, and numbercreate an appropriate graphinvestigate data provided by the James River and apply learning

Learn about the very busiest time of year for Wildlife Center staff, students, and volunteers -- baby season! Spring is a time for new life; many species of wild animals are giving birth or laying eggs and caring for young throughout much of the spring. It's also the time of year when people are more active; as the warm weather approaches, humans spend more time in their yards and gardens and in the great outdoors. This increased activity of both humans and wild animals can put us all in more direct contact with one another. There are a number of misinformation and misconceptions about young wild animals; learn from the Wildlife Center staff how to best help young animals stay in the wild with their parents. UNTAMED looks at the wild and often perilous world of wildlife, as seen through the eyes of the patients of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, a non-profit teaching and research hospital for native wildlife.

Students review the characterstics of invertebrate groups in this fun activity where they get to choose one group for a team name.

Students first collect information about the different biomes before working in small groups (2-3 students) to discuss the pros and cons for each category (climate, location, flora, and fauna). This guides them in choosing a biome to recommend to a travel agency for promotion. They present and defend their choices during a board session.

The cell is vitally important to all living things. Students will choose ONE of the following projects to reinforce their study of cell structure and function. Be sure to look at the rubric on page 2 for grading criteria.

This lesson is intended to review 6th-grade content on watersheds, estuaries, and wetlands.  It also introduces abiotic and biotic factors of ecosystems found in VA's Watershed.  Students investigate the Chesapeake Bay using several resources with a pre-assessment, video clips, current article links, post-assessment, final evaluation, and rubric. A student sheet, teacher key, and google slide were created to use for face-to-face teaching or virtual learning. Click on the attached to access the folder.

 Citizen science is known as the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the public. Those participating in citizen science projects and activities are not professional scientists; rather, this collaborative research is done by everyday people in a wide variety of settings around the world to help answer questions that scientists can’t answer by themselves. Whether participating in bird counts, water sampling, frog watches, butterfly monitoring, plant data, or other projects, anyone can find a fun and meaningful way to contribute to the scientific community, often providing valid insights into the natural world. For more information and classroom activities, please visit The Wildlife Center of Virginia and VPM  UNTAMED websites

Students are tasked with creating a model of DNA, which they then photograph and include a written explanation of how the model represents DNA.

Students are tasked with creating a model of DNA and include a typed explanation of how it represents DNA.

In this activity, participants plan and conduct a plant growth experiment while considering the role of data quality in automated systems in agriculture. The timing of the activity is highly dependent on the seed variety that you are growing and the level of familiarity that participants already have with basic plant science and scientific investigation concepts, but will likely take several weeks. This activity is part of the Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection that contains resources for formal and non-formal agricultural educators working with middle school aged youth. Published as Open Educational Resources, all resources are provided in durable (pdf) and customizable (MS Word) formats. They are hosted on  GoOpenVA in a unique resource collection, Ag Cybersecurity Virginia Tech, at https://goopenva.org/curated-collections/143 and on on Virginia Tech’s stable repository, VTechWorks at https://doi.org/10.21061/cyberbiosecurity

In this lesson, students will be introduced to the idea of decomposition. Specifically the lesson caters to math word problems, but could be easily modified to any subject (as found in the modificaitons section of the lesson plan). Students will engage with each other and the vocab to work through an easy process to decompose word problems into manaeagable pieces as a strategy to solve. All activities are low prep and can be modified to your needs. This can be a stand alone lesson or expanded by using Part 2 and Part 3 to deepen understanding through coding activities. 

This lesson expands upon the ideas of decomposition by using GameChangineer to incorporate commands to create a coded mini game from decomposing word problems. Students will assist the teacher in this guided lesson on how to create commands and use the website before engaing independently in Part 3. Activities are low prep with modifications included, but do require organized planning to implement effectively. If you have not done a lesson on decomposition, it is suggested you use Part 1 to help student's gain the necessary understandings of the processes used in this lesson. 

This is the final part of an extended lesson on decomposition. Students will create a word problem to decompose and then use GameChangineer to create a mini game that is reflective of the word problem and its solution. Students will be using the plan, design, and review process thourhgout their creations. A rubric and self reflection tool for the final products are included. Activities are low prep with modifications included, but do require organized planning to implement effectively. If you have not done a lesson on decomposition, it is suggested you use Part 1 to help student's gain the necessary understandings of the processes used in this lesson. If you have not done a lesson on writing commands and using GameChangineer, it is suggested you use Part 2 before implementing this independent activity. 

Students will create an informational poster, collage, slide show, cartoon, or video clip of a specific ecosystem in our watershed. Requirements are as follows:pick a specific tributary, estuary, or wetland. show at least 4 abiotic and 4 biotic factors plus the location that you choseinclude 4 or more pictures to help show the parts of the ecosystem.  cite the sources with the website, title of the site, author, and publishing dateA rubric is included

Overview:  I created this lab activity to provide my students with a fun way to learn about the components of the plant and animal cell.  Students will investigate and understand that all living things are composed of one or more cells that support life processes, as described by the cell theory. A key idea includes that the cell structure and organelles support life processes (SOL LS.2b).

Students will create a program using Sphero Bolts to demonstrate how energy moves through a food web. They will explain the interactions between different organisms and how energy is transferred in a biological community.