Click on the links below to download lesson plans for particular grade levels. At the Elementary school level, the themes are all in the same .pdf and the high school materials are broken out by theme. Click on the red links and let us know how it goes!
For questions and feedback please contact Carly Pierson at carlypierson@email.arizona.edu
- Unit 1: Plants on Manzo Campus
- Unit 2: Chicken Observation
- Unit 1: Chickens
- Unit 1: Chicken Observation
- Unit 1: From Waste to Resource
- Unit 2: Composting
- Unit 1: The Aquaponic System
- Unit 1: Life Cycle of Flowering Plants
- Unit 2: Desert Tortoise
- Unit 3: Native Plants
- Unit 4: Desert Biome
- Unit 1: Chickens
- Unit 2: Measurement
- Unit 3: Lizards
- Unit 1: Precipitation and Water Conservation
- Unit 2: Saguaro Germination
- Unit 1: Plant Exploration
High School
In this 2-3 week ecology unit students explore biodiversity in the classroom and the field, with the goal of contributing quality observations to the iNaturalist citizen science project and developing scientific questions. Students will learn techniques scientist use to measure and monitor biodiversity by making observations, identifying native plants and animals, and calculating diversity indices. All or some of these lessons can be combined to prepare students for their field observations and exploration of patterns of biodiversity in their environment, and finally communicating their findings from the field. Extension of these activities can lead to longer-term biodiversity enhancement projects defined by the students themselves. The use of field journals is recommended.
Lesson 1: Introduction to Biodiversity
Lesson Plan
Lesson 2: Measuring Biodiversity - The Shannon Diversity Index
Lesson Plan
Lesson 3: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Resilience
Lesson Plan
Lesson 4: BioBlitz Project and Field Journal Introduction
Lesson Plan
Lesson 5: Using Field Guides to Identify Native Species
Lesson Plan
Lesson 6: Describing and Identifying Plants
Lesson Plan
Lesson 7: Plant Walk and Collection - Native vs. Non-Native
Lesson Plan
Lesson 8: Introduction to iNaturalist - Webquest
Lesson Plan
Lesson 9: Making iNaturalist Observations
Lesson Plan
Lesson 10: Schoolyard BioBlitz
Lesson Plan