Elementary School Lessons
Snohomish Conservation District offers three lesson series for elementary school classrooms. Watershed Week explores how water moves through our urban and natural landscapes, providing ecosystem services and picking up pollution along the way. Wheat Week uses an agricultural lens to teach classrooms about plant DNA, energy systems, the water cycle, and other foundational environmental science concepts. Harvest at Home walks students through the fundamental needs of plants, different types of gardens and how to take care of them. We ask that teachers plan together so we can teach lessons to multiple classes per day.
Watershed Week
Individual lessons or as a four-part series, one lesson Monday through Thursday.
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How are trees and fish connected? This lesson walks students through the relationships native vegetation, macroinvertebrates, and important species like salmon. After learning about aquatic macroinvertebrates and local fish species, students participate in a food web activity to further their understanding of riparian ecosystems.
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What can water bugs tell us about pollution? Focusing on the health of a hypothetical stream habitat, students will investigate stream bugs in the classroom. Then, using a game of tag as a model, students will learn about macroinvertebrate habitat and their environmental stressors. The bugs in the water can provide helpful clues about the health of the stream!
PLEASE NOTE! This lesson includes a running game, and will need access to a large space (usually the playfield or the gym) for the game.
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Eggs, alevins, fry, oh my! Students will learn the life cycle of Pacific salmon and identify natural and manmade threats to this important fish. They will learn a handy trick to remember the five types of salmon in Puget Sound. During an action-packed lesson, we'll also identify ways to protect the local ecosystems that support salmon life in Snohomish County.
Please note: Our PowerPoint is not available with this lesson plan because it contains salmon photos that cannot be shared without a permit. Feel free to search for your own photos to use alongside the lesson plan below!
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Where does the water go when it rains? Students will learn about green storm water engineering solutions that are being used to help reduce water pollution and alleviate flooding in our urban environments.
Wheat Week
Five-part series, one lesson Monday through Friday.
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Explore wheat as a system and discuss how inputs and outputs affect the plant as a whole. Create wheat terrariums to observe throughout the week.
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Learn about the water cycle and play a game where students travel to various locations as a water drop.
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Differentiate between soil textures based on particle size and permeability. Discover how soil is made and discuss its properties.
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Learn about Norman Borlaug’s contributions to feeding the world in the 1970's. Explore plant breeding and DNA through a wheat germ DNA extraction.
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Thresh a wheat plant and learn how it transfers energy to humans. Wrap up terrarium observations and find out how to care for wheat plants at home.
Harvest at Home
Individual lessons or as a four-part series, one lesson Monday through Thursday.
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Learn about different types of gardens, what they each do best, and design your very own dream garden!
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Discuss the different nutrients and components a garden needs to stay healthy and put that knowledge into action with a game of Decomposition Tag!
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Plants have bodies just like we do! Learn the different parts of a plant, common plant families, and plant your own seed so you can watch them grow.
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Seeds are complex structures that grow into a plant. Learn the different parts of a seed by dissecting one, find out how those parts help the plant grow, and discuss how seeds travel to new habitats.
Ready to sign up for Watershed Week or Wheat Week? Email us at education@snohomishcd.org to get started!
