3-5 Lesson Plans

Build a Tree – creative dramatics exercise on tree growth.
Changes at Log City - art and social studies look at death using the book Lifetimes.
Eco-enrichers – classroom study on role of earthworms.
Forest Poetry – exercise making a group poem.
Garbage in the Garden -students study decomposition through composting.
Life in a Log - hands-on examination of rotting logs.
Mature Forest Mime – vocabulary charades game.
Meet a Tree – observation and memory exercise on individual characteristics of trees.
Meeting the Fire Triangle - Students make a physical model of the Fire Triangle and discuss the components.
Meeting the Fire Triangle 2 - This activity is a brief guided discussion that describes combustion and wildland fire.
Old Growth Forest Mural – components of old growth forests and related conservation issues.
Trees: the Inside Story – 3D art project on parts of trees.
Tree Parts - Class discussion of tree parts and their functions, then students construct small trees incorporating all the parts it will need to live.
Up the Down Tree House – role play of life, death and decomposition in the forest.

Balance of Nature Pyramid – physical education activity on ecological systems.
The Bear Facts - geography and independent reading & reporting on new bear facts.
Beaver Succession Mural – mural of changes in a beaver pond area.
Meadow Madness – outdoor game on the changes in a beaver meadow.
Models of Succession – applying succession modeling to human towns.
Visual Vocabulary – pantomime on ecological concepts.
What’s that Habitat? – art activity on WGIPP animal habitat components.

Boundaries and People – mapping watersheds on large and small scale maps – including W-GIPP map.
Create a National Park - What are national parks and why are they protected?
Rock Ranking - F.O.S.S adapted math activity on comparing and contrasting rock sizes, shapes, and colors.
Rock Stories - multicultural introduction to rock types adapted from Keepers of the Earth.
Turning Parks into Islands – Y2Y (Yukon to Yellowstone) -adapted activity that role-plays fragmentation issues around parks.
You Are Here – mapping play places and fitting them into the W-GIPP watershed context .

Carbon Cycle Capers – fast-moving tag game on the carbon cycle.
Climate Mime-it - climate concepts charades game.
Predicting the Future – probability exercise on prediction of future climate.
Puzzle It Out – art and puzzle exercise on climate interactions.
Snug in the Snow – creating a diorama of life under the snow.
Track Traces – art project with animal tracks.
Tracks Along the Trail – field trip examining real tracks and their stories.
What is Winter? - earth's movement around the sun causes the seasons.
Winter is Coming! - A running game about hibernation, migration, and resistence.
Winter-time Temps – examining microclimates under the snow.

The Work House Program is a science and Indian education curriculum for use in the classroom and in Glacier National Park. Work House consists of five interrelated units that present oral histories and parallel western science explanations. The student readings are at 6th-8th grade level but the lessons can be used for many grade levels.

Last updated: February 6, 2020

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West Glacier, MT 59936

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