Students explore the loss and gain made in the stock market as they invest a sum of money and report the results as percentages instead of points.

Learners practice combining sentences using the conjunction handout provided. They search magazines and newspapers to identify combined sentences that use conjunctions. Finally, these are rewritten again as two separate sentences.

Second graders use their senses to explore a prairie or imaginary prairie. They draw pictures to represent the five senses and discover how an artist describes non-visual sensations in a visual way.

Third graders explore the biodiversity that exist on the prairie. Through reading or listening to books, they keep track of vocabulary words associated with the prairie on an 'Alphabet Poster'.

Sixth graders pick a native animal and write a classified housing ad to match the animal's habitat requirements, paste it on posterboard and then try to match each habitat with the animal it represents.

Seventh graders construct a large mural of a praire showing plants, and animals that would live there.

Ninth graders take note of the ways in which word choice, rhythm, language and narrative voice, as well as point of view in a poem can be used to evoke a time and place. They use their insights to create a poem of their own.

Eleventh graders compare the artistic values of Terry Evans' photography with LandSAT images and other images made for purely scientific, government and commercial purposes. They consider the artistic choices made in aerial photography.

Twelfth graders explore the changing concept of "prairie" through written and artistic works. They write their own poem or essay describing the prairie after discussing how differently people perceive the prairie.

Students carefully observe prairie plants and record their observations in a science journal. They examine the root systems of grasses and flowers and surmise how these plants can grow together on the prairie.

Second graders explore what life in the Chicago area was like hundreds of years ago. They discuss how settlers impacted the environment, and why there are no longer herds of buffalo in the Chicago area today. They read an article and...

Third graders consider the habitat needs of living things and how extensive farming in an area can affect the plants and animals of a region. They participate in a simulation to show how changing the habitat in one area can greatly...

Fourth graders investigate the bison's struggle for survival. They discuss the importance of bison while participating in an role playing activity showing how important the food supply and surroundings are to their survival.

Fifth graders study maps of the Chicago area looking at defining characteristics and place names. They investigate settlement patterns by looking at the maps.

Sixth graders examine the prairie food chain while designing a rescue strategy for an endangered species. They compare their strategy to that of a professional conservation expert.

Seventh graders investigate what pesticides are and why people use them. They examine the effect of pesticides on prairie grasses and what alternatives can be used.

Eighth graders interview a person who explains the lifestyles of people who lived on the prairies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They examine how today's lifestyles impact the environment and write up what they learned.

Tenth graders study the role that places like the Joliet Arsenal played in how women were view in American society during and after World War II. They interview a person from the World War II era about the job they performed and how...

Eleventh graders study wildlife management and identify the appropriate government agencies that are in charge. They examine different wildlife management techniques. They write a letter showing interest in the activities of one of the...

Twelfth graders research the history of how a particular environmental issue moves through the Conservation Movement. They create timelines that show the progression of public sentiment and the legislation about the issue.

First graders build a habitat for crickets after studying animal survival needs. They care for and observe the crickets in the classroom habitat.

Second graders observe images of prairie ecosystems and discuss the needs of living things. They create a prairie habitat in a closed jar to observe the water cycle and plant growth.

Third graders examine soil samples and explore the what happens in each layer of the subsoil. They work in cooperative groups to create a scroll that shows what takes place in each layer, and discuss why much of the activity is in the...

Fourth graders sort seeds and predict what conditions are needed for them to germinate. They keep the seeds moist, observe and measure their growth and graph the results. As the seeds start to grow students compare and contrast the each...