Learners explore the topic of renewable energy with a focus on agriculture and biogas. Understand how biodigesters operate on farms with the background information that is provided. Includes a simple experiment than can be done as a class or individually by each learner.

Through the activities within this toolkit, students will gain an understanding of the importance of nature and how all living things are connected. These resources are geared towards students in grades 6-8.

This resource examines the biodiversity and the complexity of the various life forms that make up Canadian forests. The emphasis is on helping students appreciate the relationships and interdependence of all species in this ecosystem. Students learn how they can affect forests and understand ways to preserve and maintain their diversity. Themes include biotechnology, natural and introduced pests, species at risk, habitat loss and fragmentation, protected areas, climate change and traditional indigenous knowledge. Lessons can be summarized as follows:

Lesson One- It's What Inside That Counts ( 1x90min)

Students learn the basics of biodiversity by studying the arrangements of fauna and flora in a field investigation of the schoolyard. Teams will visit three assigned "habitat" sites and record living and non-living components. After discussing results, students are asked to create a poem or story about living in one of the habitat sites.

Lesson Two- Too Hot, Too Cold,...Just Right ( 2x45min)

This lesson focuses on how climate change impacts population numbers. After a discussion on how climate changes are driven by human activity, students are guided through a role play simulating the effects of rising temperatures on Arctic, Mid-latitude and Tropical biomes. After a wrap-up with discussion questions, students are asked to write a short story on an assigned topic.

Lesson Three- What Our Elders Say (1x60min, 1x90min)

After looking at how a Canadian Aboriginal legend relates to biodiversity, the students read and perform a play based on the "Legend of The Sky Sisters". Students then write their own legend incorporating an environmental message.

Lesson Four- Barrier To Biodiversity (2x60min)

After reviewing as a class how human activity can lead to habitat loss and fragmentation, students have to write and present stories in the form of a power point presentation, poster, public service announcement or skit describing how individual plants or animals are subject to, and respond to, stress in their habitat.

Lesson Five- Off Limits (4x45min)

Students investigate officially protected areas and create a class newspaper that contains articles which focus on the role of protected areas in helping maintain diversity. In this exercise they explore the social, economic, and environmental impacts of protected areas.

Lesson Six- To Be Or Not To Be (2x60min)

Students work in groups to produce a "species at risk" game board which focuses on the habitat impacts of: change/modification, over-exploitation of resources, poorly regulated commercial harvest, disruption of migration routes/breeding behaviors, contamination, and the introduction of exotic species.

Lesson Seven- Unwelcome Guests (2 x 60min)

Students develop a "Futures Wheel"(a graphic description of the inter-relationships and impacts of a single decision or event) focusing on exotic and invasive species in Canada.

Lesson Eight- Timberland ( 1x90min)

A role playing activity is used to show how biotechnology can be used as a tool to help maintain forest biodiversity. Using a timber-theft crime story students will complete a report (including a CSI sheet and victim profile) to assist them in understanding techniques used in biotechnology.

This resource can easily be adapted to include no technology.

An inquiry-based project to map the land in your community. The key concepts in this unit are grounded in Indigenous beliefs of interconnectedness, connectedness, and respect for all things.

The driving inquiry questions for this unit are:
1. How can respect for the land be shown?
2. What do we look for when setting up a camp?
3. What stories or teachings are connected to key locations in and around our community?
4. How has the land around our community changed over time?
5. Who do we share our community’s lands with?

Students in grades 4-6 engage in a series of activities (both inside and outside the classroom) designed to inspire a sense of environmental stewardship. Each of the activities is intended to have children explore their profound connection to nature and experience the power of individual and collective action.

Students explore the daily choices, they, their families, their school and their communities make; the impact of those choices on nature; and the role they and others may take in protecting nature.

The activities are fun, hands-on, and thought provoking. Students have opportunities to share what they are learning with their fellow students, family, and community and to create their own “class foundation” to collectively act on their concerns and passions.

The resource consists of 16 cross-curricular lessons on a range of issues from which teachers may select according to the dictates of their time and curriculum.

This site from the University of Saskatchewan provides a collection of videos, activities, and experiments that align with the grade 6 science units: Diversity of Life, Understanding Electricity, Principles of Flight, Solar System.

Honouring the Buffalo: A Plains Cree Legend is a useful educational tool for social studies/treaty and language arts/literacy curriculum teaching. Included on the website is a resource guide, educational guide (questions), audio recordings, and curricular connections. There is a book trailer as well as an exerpt in English and in Cree.

This resource aims to support educators, school administrators, and community members facilitate more culture-based learning on the land. It was created by four Dene and Metis education resource developers, hired by the Dene Nation in summer 2020.

The lessons in this document can be used as stand-alone activities to bring more cultural learning into classrooms and to get students learning outdoors during the regular school day. However, in order for students to build deeper connections with the land, culture and language, the ideal practice would be to bring them out on the land for more extended experiences. The lessons in this document can be used as part of multi-day culture camps, for example, or other outdoor excursions.

The “Camp Logistics” section of this document aims to facilitate this type of extended on-the-land learning. It provides sample gear lists, safety protocol suggestions for organizing a camp. Section A of the appendix also includes sample schedules or organization materials to help with this.

Lessons in this document can be used as starting points for a whole week of activities on the land, for example. Since each community is different, we encourage educators to reach out to cultural knowledge holders in their own community, to explore other activities that would connect with the ones described here. For example, the lessons on Labrador tea and sweetgrass in this document could turn into a week-long medicine camp, in which students learn about the protocol around harvesting and processing several different types of plant medicines with the guidance of local Elders.

This resource includes a teachers guide consisting of 9 lessons to help students explore wetlands and a wide variety of ecological concepts, and a student project guide for Grades 4 to 6 to support the lessons. Developed by Ducks Unlimited.

Link to student journal: https://resources.aitc.sk.ca/Portals/0/AITC/Resources/ClassResources/Wetland%20Ecosystems%201%20Student%20PDF.8ZdII1.pdf

Resources for Rethinking. provides immediate access to more than 1200 quality classroom resources.

Developed by Learning for a Sustainable Future, R4R.ca connects teachers to lesson plans, books, videos and other materials that explore the environmental, social and economic dimensions of important issues and events unfolding in our world today. R4R resources have been reviewed by experienced classroom teachers and matched to relevant curriculum outcomes for each province and territory. Use the search engine to find resources and read the reviews. Most of these materials can be downloaded immediately.

To begin: Select your province on the right side of the screen. Add any other filters you wish to explore to narrow your search and have fun exploring the amazing resources!

Saskatchewan is renowned for having some of the most abundant and productive waterfowl habitat in North America. Situated within the pond-rich Prairie Pothole Region, ducks hatched and raised in our province disperse throughout the entire continent and beyond. Working alongside agricultural producers, industry groups, governments, and the public, we strive to ensure wetland values are appreciated and accounted for, and support our partners in achieving a sustainable balance between conservation and development.

Enthusiastic and knowledgeable interpreters offer a unique opportunity for active, experiential, land-based learning. Most programs can usually be adapted for any grade level, however, suggested grades are included. School programs include hands-on learning that complements the Saskatchewan curriculum and makes a lasting impression on children of all ages.

Bookings are accepted starting on Tuesday, January 3, until Tuesday, May 23, on a first-come, first-served basis. Program times vary by park. This information can be found in your booking form. Canoe and kayak programs are available at select parks and are typically available starting June 1, subject to park conditions.

School groups are not required to pay a program fee.

This hands-on project is an impactful way to show students how truly immense our solar system is! You get to decide if you want your model to show scale planet sizes or the scale distances between planets. You can combine a planet-size model of one scale with a distance model of another scale. But if you want size and distance to be the same scale, you’ll need to spread your model across at least half a mile!
Specific directions on how to calculate size/distance scales are included.

Tomatosphere™ offers an excellent opportunity to have your students think and act like scientists as they practice their inquiry skills and develop understandings of the nature of science and the concept of a fair test.

In the spring, participating classrooms receive two packages of tomato seeds. One package contains seeds sent into space or treated in space-simulated conditions. The other contains untreated "control" seeds. Students plant the seeds and conduct experiments to explore the effects of the space environment on the germination of tomatoes. Through Tomatosphere™, students learn how to conduct a scientific experiment and compare the number of seeds that germinate for the two groups of seeds.

While completing the Tomatosphere™ program, students investigate how to supply space exploration missions with life-support requirements—food, water, oxygen and a way to consume the carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts—while also discussing the many issues and research involved in space exploration.

Teachers can expand on the basic Tomatosphere™ Seed Investigation by connecting it to studies of plants, space, nutrition, math or the environment, depending on grade and curriculum.

This resource effectively illustrates the ways in which animals are important to the health and future of the planet. Four lessons demonstrate how human activities, including those related to climate change can result in habitat fragmentation and threaten the viability of entire ecosystems. The resource includes a teacher's guide, background information, student activity pages, videos and extension ideas for individual, group and community action.

Activity One: What’s your View? (1 x 60 minutes)

Teachers set up a 'four corners' activity in which students read a variety of statements concerning animal welfare and decide if they agree or disagree. The class then discusses as a group the importance of animals in sustaining healthy ecosystems and the value of their relationships with humans.

Activity Two: Video (1 x 60 minutes)

Students watch a video called “Why Animals Matter” and complete a short quiz to check their understanding of key concepts raised in the video. A discussion follows on what can be done to make the world a better place for animals. Suggestions for extension activities are included.

Activity Three: Eco-investigation (3 x 60 minutes)

Students go outside to study local biodiversity. Working in groups, they select a 2m square sample site near the school yard and determine the variety of plant, fungi and animal life found. The inventory includes the abiotic characteristics of soil, rocks, water sources as well as any evidence of human disturbance. Students are also asked to take notice of the resources that species need to survive (food, water, cover and space) and how humans have impacted these resources.

Activity Four: Understanding Habitat (3 X 60 minutes)

After a discussion on the inter-dependency of the four core elements of a habitat, the class is invited to brainstorm ideas as to the causes and effects of habitat fragmentation and the importance of wildlife corridors. Students then review a newspaper article describing how habitat fragmentation due to road construction in parts of India has impacted elephant populations. Four groups of students take on the role of stakeholders in a wildlife corridor project for the benefit of these elephants. Groups must develop a persuasive statement to reflect their point of view. Peer evaluation and class discussion follow.

An extension activity suggests students research the habitat requirements of a wild animal, how these needs can be threatened by human disturbance and what solutions should be considered.