Fortifying the K – 8 Curriculum

With

INTERDISCIPLINARY ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES

Kindergarten

Suggested field trips
/
  • Howell Living History Farm (farm animals, history)
  • GardenStateDiscoveryMuseum (senses, music, earth history)

Plants

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  • Windows on the World (B, p. 133)
  • Traveling Seeds (NC, p. 46)
  • Have Seeds Will Travel (PLT43)
  • Get in Touch with Trees (PLT2)
  • Meet a Tree (SN, p. 26)
  • Literature Tie-ins: How a Seed Grows– Helene Jordan
The Rose in My Garden – Arnold Lobel

Senses

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  • The Peppermint Beetle (PLT3)
  • Sounds Around (PLT4)
  • Sounds (SN, p. 38)
  • Bat and Moth (SN, 94)
  • Duplication (SN, p. 44)
  • Blindfold Walk (SN, p. 25)
  • Camera (SJ, p. 105)
  • Unnature Trail (SN, p. 40)
  • Literature Tie-ins: My Five Senses – Aliki
What Does the Rain Play? – Nancy Carlstrom

Nutrition

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  • Bean Sprout Sandwiches (NC, p. 46)
  • Pass the Plants Please (PLT16)
  • Magic Bread (PS, p. 17)
  • The Garden Show, a Musical (
  • Literature Tie-in: Growing Vegetable Soup – Lois Ehlert

Water / Weather

/
The Water Log (PWet, p. 19) –keep through 6th grade
Adopt a Tree (PLT21)
  • Harvest Blanket (PS, p. 3)
  • Make a Weather Wheel (NS)
  • Literature Tie-ins: In the Small, Small Pond – Denise Fleming
The Summer Noisy Book – Margaret WiseBrown; The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree – Gail Gibbons; Water, Water Everywhere – Rauzon

Farm Animals

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  • Farm Barnyard (PS, p. 35)
  • Butter Making (PS, p. 49)
  • Literature Tie-in: Wake Up, Wake Up! – Brian and Rebecca Wildsmith

First Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association (plant/animal systems, butterfly house)
  • Mercer County Park (plant/animal systems, seasons)
  • Washington Crossing (plant/animal systems, seasons)

Plant/Animal Systems

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  • Wildlife is Everywhere (PW, p. 49)
  • Everybody Needs a Home (PW, p. 59)
  • Tree Imagery (SJ, p. 98)
  • Signs of Fall (PLT78)
  • Tree Factory variation (PLT63)
  • Picture This! (PLT6)
  • Scavenger Hunt/Memory Games
  • Literature Tie-ins: A Tree is Nice - Janice Udrey
Monarch Butterfly - Gail Gibbons
One Hundred Hungry Ants – Bonnie MacKain
The Big Seed - Ellen Howard
Crinkleroots 25 Mammals Every Child Should Know –
Jim Arnosky
The Gift of the Tree – Alvin Tresselt
Hiding Out: Camouflage in the Wild - James Martin

Weather

/
  • The Thunderstorm (PWet, p. 196)
  • Feathered and Furry Forecasters (NS)
  • A House of Seasons (PWet, p. 155)
  • Literature Tie-ins: Dark Cloud Strong Breeze – Susan Patron
Spring – Ron Hirschi
Winter – Ron Hirschi
Seasons – Heidi Goennel

Second Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex and Greenhouse (plants/recycling)
  • Lebanon State Forest (plants)
  • Academy of Natural Sciences (earth history)
  • Poricy Park (earth history)

Plants

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  • Nature’s Palette (B, p. 129)
  • Recycling (PLT83)
  • Make your own Paper (PLT51)
  • Looking at Leaves (PLT64)
  • Tree Lifecycle (PLT79)
  • Energy Play (B, p. 168)
  • Duplication (SN, p. 44)
  • Literature Tie-ins: Where Does the Garbage Go? – Paul Showers
Rachael Carson – William Accorsi
The Lorax – Dr. Seuss
The Great Kapok Tree – Lynne Cherry
June 29, 1999 – David Wiesner
Weather
/
  • Water Match (PWet, p. 50)
  • Fold-out Cloud Book/Windblown Poetry (NS)
  • Literature Tie-ins: A Moon for Seasons – Ann Turner (poetry)
Sky Words – Marilyn Singer
Weather Words and What They Mean – Gail Gibbons
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – Judi Barrett

Earth History


/
  • Making Mystery Fossils (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 40)
  • It’s About Time (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 29)
  • Dinosaur Facts and Fiction (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 9)
  • What’s In a Name? (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 10)
  • Ancient Days Travel Agent (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 27)
  • Build a Box-O-Saurus (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 52)
  • Sizing up the Dinosaurs (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 7)
  • The Span of Time (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 28)
  • Fossil Hunt (NS: Digging into Dinosaurs, p. 41)
  • Literature Tie-ins: Dinosaur Dream - Dennis Nolan
Living With Dinosaurs - Patricia Lauber
Draw 50 Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals -
Lee Ames
Fossils Tell of Long Ago – Aliki
The Enormous Egg – Oliver Butterworth

Third Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Philadelphia Zoo (animal classification)
  • NJ State Aquarium (animal classification)
  • Forsythe Wildlife Refuge (animal classification, food chains)
  • Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association (food chains, animal classification)
  • Washington Crossing (food chains, animal classification)

Chemistry
/
  • Molecules in Motion (PWet, p. 47)
  • Making a Natual pH indicator (EPA Acid Rain Sourcebook – - make “invisible ink” by writing with lemon juice, then misting with cabbage water!
  • Effects of Acids on Metals (EPA Acid Rain Sourcebook)
  • Deadly Skies (AW, p. 142)
  • Literature Tie-in: The Science Spiders Learn Acid-Base Chemistry – Kathleen Kain

Animals
/
  • Migration Headache (AW, p. 94) (w/aquarium)
  • Salt Marsh Players (PWet, p. 99) (w/ Forsythe trip)
  • Marsh Munchers (AW, p. 58) (w/ Forsythe trip)
  • Fashion a Fish (AW, p. 88) classification (w/aquarium), art
  • Grasshopper Gravity (PW, p. 4)
  • Hooks and Ladders (AW, p. 76)
  • Birds and Worms (PLT25)
  • The Thicket Game (PW, p. 120)
  • Are You Me? (AW, p. 14)
  • Animal Clue Game (SJ, p. 52)
  • What’s for Dinner (PW, p. 96)
  • Owl Pellets (PW, p. 100)
  • The Fallen Log (PLT23)
  • Set Up an Aquarium (AW, p. 211)
  • Literature Tie-ins: What is a Bird?, What is a Fish?, etc. - Robert Snedden Bird Watch, A Book of Poetry - Jane Yolen The Aquarium Take-Along Book - Sheldon Gerstenfeld
The Perfect Spot - Robert Blake
Frogs – Gail Gibbons
From Tadpole to Frog – Wendy Pfeffer
The Gift of the Tree – Alvin Tresselt
A Log’s Life – Wendy Pfeffer
Rocks, Minerals and Soils
/
  • Nature’s Recyclers (PLT24)
  • Soil Shakes (PS, p. 71)
  • The Rotten Truth (PS, p. 79)
  • Edible Earth Parfaits (
  • Literature Tie-ins: Under your Feet – Joanne Ryder
Earthworms, Dirt and Rotten Leaves – M. McLaughlin
Astronomy
/
  • Star Party (Astronomy-to-Go)
  • Make a Constellation Viewer
  • Whirling and Twirling (NS: Astronomy Adventures, p. 22)
  • A Matter of Gravity (NS: Astronomy Adventures, p. 29)
  • Literature Tie-in: The Magic School Bus, Lost in the Solar System –
Joanna Cole
Postcards from Pluto – Loreen Leedy
My Place in Space – Robin Hirst

Fourth Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Hamilton-Trenton Marsh (habitats)
  • PSE&G (at the Marsh) (electricity)
  • Bordentown Water Supply & Sewage Treatment Plant (pollution)
  • Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex & Greenhouse (plants, ecology, recycling)
  • SBMWA Organic Farm (food chains, pollution)
  • Rosedale Park – stream study (pollution, habitats)

Plants

/
  • Leaf Batik Quilt (PLT64)
  • Water Plant Art (AW, p. 12)
  • Air Plants (PLT28) photosynthesis, math
  • Plant a Tree (PLT31)
  • Adopt a Tree (PLT21)
  • How Big is Your Tree (PLT67) measurement, math
  • Trees as Habitats (PLT22) role in ecosystem
  • Maple Seed Mix-up (NS)
  • Plant Hunt (OB)
  • Plant Patterns (OB)
  • Seed Dispersal (OB)
  • Tree Factory (PLT63) structure/function, photosynthesis
  • Poet-Tree (PLT5)
  • Looking at Leaves (PLT64)
  • Sunlight and Shades of Green (PLT42) photosynthesis
  • Flower Power (PS, p. 227) structure/function
  • Posy Poetry (PS, p. 225)
  • Class demo - bromothymol blue/plant/snail
  • Literature Tie-in: The Great Kapok Tree – Lynne Cherry

Ecology

/
  • Habitat Lap Sit (PW, p. 61)
  • Habitat Pen Pals (PLT7)
  • Dynamic Duos (PLT26)
  • Oh Deer (PW, p. 36) habitats, math
  • Can’t We Share (B, p. 114)
  • Environmental Exchange Box (PLT20)
  • Talking Trash, Not! (PLT37) recycling (w/BCRRC trip)
  • Every Drop Counts (PLT38) water conservation, math, (w/water treatment trip)
  • The Long Haul (PWet, p. 260) water conservation, math, (w/water treatment trip)
  • Air to Drive (PLT85) photosynthesis, pollution, mathematics
  • Sum of the Parts (PWet, p. 267) pollution (w/water treatment trip)
  • Deadly Waters (AW, p. 146) pollution
  • Literature Tie-ins: A River Ran Wild - Lynne Cherry
A Wetland Walk – Sheri Amsel
Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell
Electricity/Energy
/
  • Renewable or Not? (PLT14)
  • Flip the Switch for Wildlife (PW, p. 323)
  • Cu/Zn lemon battery (
  • Energy Patrol at your school (
  • Solar energy options (
  • Tie to photosynthesis (light energy is converted to chemical energy, which then can be converted to kinetic energy by your muscles)
  • Literature Tie-in: The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip –
Joanna Cole
Amazing Sun Fun Activities – Michael Daley

Fifth Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association (pond study- microworlds)
  • SBMWA Organic Farm (nutrition, “natural” chemicals in food vs. human-introduced chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers)
  • Hamilton-Trenton Marsh (microworlds, food chemistry, water cycle)

Microworlds

/
  • Micro Odyssey (AW, p. 64)
  • Microtrek Treasure Hunt (PW, p. 82)
  • Literature Tie-in: Greg’s Microscope - Millicent Selsam

Force and Motion

/
  • State of the Watershed- stream velocity measurement (NJW, p. 90)

Food Chemistry

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  • What’s in a Plant? (HTM)food chemistry, edible and medicinal plants, early American history
  • Pass the Plants, Please (PLT 16) nutrition
  • Sunlight and Shades of Green (PLT42) starch test

Weather

/
  • Poetic Precipitation (PWet, p.182) water cycle, language arts
  • Imagine! (PWet, p. 157) water cycle, language arts
  • The Incredible Journey (PWet, p. 161) water cycle
  • A Drop in the Bucket (PWet, p. 238) water cycle, human impacts, math, geography
  • Capture, Store and Release (PWet, p. 133) water cycle, human impact
  • Just Passing Through (PWet, p. 166) water cycle, human impact
  • Wetland Metaphors (AW, p. 54) water cycle, human impact, language arts
  • Water Models (PWet, p. 201) water cycle, geography
  • Wet Vacation (PWet, p. 206) weather data, language arts, geography, art
  • Deadly Skies (AW, p. 142) acid rain

Sixth Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Delaware Bay Schooner: A.J. Meerwald (macroecosystems, history)
  • Hamilton-Trenton Marsh (macroecosystems, tide)
  • Lebanon State Forest (macroecosystems)
  • Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex & Greenhouse

Macro Ecosystems

/
  • Habitat Rummy (PW, p. 14)
  • Oh Deer (PW, p. 36) habitats, math, phys ed
  • How Many Bears can Live in This Forest? (PW, p. 23) habitats, math
  • Quick Frozen Critters (PW, p. 122) predator/prey, adaptations, phys ed
  • Muskox Maneuvers (PW, p. 133) predator/prey, phys ed
  • Web of Life (PLT45) interdependence
  • Eco-Enrichers (PW, p. 102) interdependence
  • Air to Drive (PLT85) pollution, mathematics
  • Plant a Tree (PLT31) pollution antidote!
  • What did Your Lunch Cost Wildlife? (PW, p. 68) environmental education, social studies
  • Ethi-Reasoning (PW, p. 205) environmental education, social studies
  • Improving Wildlife Habitat in the Community (PW, p. 447) environmental education, social studies
  • The Man Who Planted Trees (IGC, p. 110) ecology
  • Rain Reasons (PLT29) ecology, geography, math
  • Our Changing World (PLT86)
  • Dragonfly Pond (AW, p. 154)pollution
  • Air to Drive (PLT85) pollution, math
  • Life in the Fast Lane (PWet, p. 79) wetlands
  • Common Water (PWet, p. 232) pollution, US history
  • Wild Words (PW, p. 41) language arts
  • Animal Poetry (PW, p. 282) language arts
  • Drawing on Nature (PW, p. 285) art
  • Water Canaries (AW, p. 38), pollution, abiotic/biotic factors
  • Seeds in a Teacup (HTM)
  • Habitat Photo-Challenge

Matter

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  • Metric Capers (OB) measurement
  • H2Olympics (PWet, p. 30) physical properties
  • Adventures in Density (PWet, p. 25)
  • Making a Natural pH indicator (EPA Acid Rain Sourcebook – - make “invisible ink” by writing with lemon juice, then misting with cabbage water!
  • Signs of Fall (PLT78) chromatography
  • Cold Cash in the Icebox (PWet, p. 373) physical properties, US history
  • Reaching your Limits (PWet, p. 344) water treatment, ecology (combine with field trip to sewage treatment plant)

Astronomy
/
  • Star Party (Astronomy-to-Go)
  • Tied to Tides at the Hamilton-Trenton Marsh (HTM)

Seventh Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Rosedale Park (invertebrates)
  • Hamilton-Trenton Marsh (environmental studies)
  • Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association (environmental studies/orienteering)
  • NJ State Aquarium (classification)

Exploring Life Sciences

/
  • Deadly Skies (AW p. 142) scientific method, environmental studies
  • Renewable or Not? (PLT14) environmental studies
  • Resource-Go-Round (PLT82) environmental studies, world geography
  • Paper Civilizations (PLT93) environmental studies, world history, language and visual arts
  • Make Your own Paper (PLT51) environmental studies, world history, language and visual arts
  • Where are the Cedars of Lebanon? (PLT94) environmental studies, world history, language and visual arts
  • Go for the Green (EM75) environmental studies
  • Bye, Bye Birdie (EM120) environmental studies, world geography
  • The Hunger Banquet (EM91) environmental studies, world geography
  • Power of the Pyramids (EM12) environmental studies, world geography, math
  • The World in the Shopping Mall (IGC, p. 63) environmental studies, world geography, economics
  • Let’s Even Things Out (PLT72) cell studies (osmosis/diffusion)
  • Macroinvertebrate Mayhem (PWet, p. 322) invertebrates

Eighth Grade

Suggested field trips
/
  • Franklin Institute (physical science)
  • Academy of Natural Sciences (watersheds)
  • Bordentown Sewage Treatment Plant (water quality)
  • PSE&G (at the Marsh) (energy)

Exploring Physical Science
/
  • Energetic Water (PWet, p. 242), energy- forms and changes
  • Energy Pipeline (PW, p. 105), energy-forms and changes, environment
  • Flip the Switch for Wildlife (PW, p. 323) energy and the environment
  • To Dam or Not to Dam (AW, p. 134) energy and the environment, debate, drama
  • Energy Sleuths (PLT39) energy and the environment
  • Waste Watchers (PLT73) energy and the environment, math Solar
  • energy options ( environmental studies

Matter/Chemistry of Matter
/
  • Where are the Frogs (PWet, 279) acid/base,acid rain, ecology
  • Effects of Acids on Metals (EPA Acid Rain Sourcebook)
  • Chemistry Meets Biology (see attached “Ideas for Cool Science with Plants”)
  • Reaching your Limits (PWet, p. 344) water treatment, ecology, math
  • What’s the Solution (PWet, p. 54)
  • Solutions and Pollution Module (SEPUP))

Earth Processes
/
  • Topo Twister (NJW, p. 75) contour map
  • A Dynamic Watershed (NJW, p. 71) watersheds
  • Branching Out! (PWet, p. 129) watersheds
  • Watershed (AW, p. 172) watersheds, math, mapping
  • Rainy Day Hike (PWet, p. 186) watersheds, mapping, NPS pollution, (w/water treatment trip)
  • A-Maze-ing Water (PWet, p. 219) watersheds, NPS pollution, (w/water treatment trip)
  • Sum of the Parts (PWet, p. 267) NPS pollution (w/water treatment trip)
  • Water Canaries (AW, p. 38), water quality monitoring
  • Watch on Wetlands (PLT71) mapping, water quality, writing, debate
  • Soil Stories (PLT70) sedimentation, math
  • Wetland Soils in Living Color (PWet, p. 212)
  • The Pucker Effect (Pwet, p. 338) groundwater, government
  • Investigating Groundwater – The Fruitvale Story Module (SEPUP)
  • Great Water Journeys (PWet, p. 246) ocean currents, world history

KEY AW - Aquatic Project WILDB – Bridges to the Natural World

EM – Earth Matters

HTM – Hamilton-Trenton Marsh Resource Manual

IGC – In the Global ClassroomNJW – New Jersey WATERS

NS – Nature ScopeNC - Nature with Children of All Ages

OB – OBIS (Outdoor Biological Instructional Strategies)

PS – Project SeasonsPLT - Project Learning Tree

PW - Project WildPWet - Project WET

SJ – Sharing the Joy of NatureSN – Sharing Nature with Children

SEPUP - Science Education for Public Understanding

Note: Activities listed in boldface type are those that are directly supplied in the workshop materials. Other activities may be found in the sources listed.

Sources

Aquatic Project WILD. Dr. Cheryl Charles, 1987. Western Regional Environmental Education Council, Boulder, CO.

Bridges to the Natural World. Patricia F. Kane, Dale A. Rosselet and Karl Anderson, 1992. New Jersey Audubon Society, Franklin Lakes, NJ.

Earth Matters – Studies for our Global Future. Pamela Wasserman, editor, 1998. Zero Population Growth, Inc., Washington, D.C. (202) 332-2200.

Hamilton-Trenton Marsh Teacher’s Guide and Resource Manual, Mary Leck and Patricia Quinby, 2000. Sponsored by D&R Greenway and Rider University. (see )

In the Global Classroom, Graham Pike and David Selby, 1999. Pippin Publishing, Toronto, Ontario.

Literature-Based Science. Christine R. Hefner and Kathryn R Lewis, 1995. Oryx Press, Phoenix, Arizona.

Nature With Children of all Ages. Edith A. Sisson, 1982. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

New Jersey WATERS. Dale Rosselet, 1999. New Jersey Audubon Society, Bernardsville, NJ.

Outdoor Biological Instructional Strategies. Lawrence Hall of Science, 1982. Delta Education, Hudson, New Hampshire. (603) 889-8899.

Project Learning Tree. Kathy McGlauflin, 1986. Western Regional Environmental Education Council and the American Forest Foundation, Washington, DC.

Project Seasons. Deborah Parrella, 1995. Shelburne Farms, Burlington, VT.

Project Wet. Dennis Nelson, 1995. The Watercourse and Western Regional Environmental Education Council.

Project WILD. Dr. Cheryl Charles, 1983. Western Regional Environmental Education Council, Boulder, CO.

Ranger Rick’s Nature Scope (a series of titles). Judy Braus, 1986. National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC.

Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP) – materials distributed by

Lab-Aids, (800)381-8003, .

Sharing the Joy of Nature. Joseph Cornell, 1989. Dawn Publications, Nevada City, CA.

Sharing Nature with Children. Joseph Cornell, 1979. Ananda Publications, Nevada City, CA.