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Formal Education Programs

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE LESSON PLANS - GRADES 6-8

Click on the links to access to PDF files of lesson plans written by classroom teachers.

Aquatic Insect Poetry
Written by Tracey Pawloski, Springdale Jr./Sr. High School This Language Arts lesson crosses the curriculum with flair! Utilizing poems from Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleishman, students work cooperatively to use selected poems about aquatic insects to learn about the appearance, adaptations, and movement of the insects.

Create a Cartoon
Written by Tracey Pawloski, Springdale Jr./Sr. High School This Language Arts lesson combines learning and practicing the steps of the writing process with the creation of a character based on aquatic life found in and along the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, with a nod toward that famous cartoon sponge!

Introduction to River Unit
Written by Tracey Pawloski, Springdale Jr./Sr. High School This plan was composed to serve an entire grade level with an introduction to a two-week multidisciplinary unit about the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, culminating with a display of completed student projects and activities during an annual Education Celebration Night, and a field trip on the RiverQuest fleet. One resource used is WQED Multimedia's "The Mon, The Al, and The O."

One Day at Telon Marsh
Written by Tracey Pawloski, Springdale Jr./Sr. High School This lesson utilizes Sally Carrighar's book One Day at Telon Marsh as a springboard toward understanding about how ecosystems support a web of life.

RiverQuest Internet Scavenger Hunt
Written by Aimee Metz, Perrysville Elementary School Students follow a web-quest to gather information about RiverQuest and the environmental science activities that happen onboard. Students use their information to compose a persuasive letter to the school board.