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Lesson plans, activities, and other information
for science teachers and students

Students viewing live moths in petri dishes
Photograph by Angela Hulsey
Campers at Sandy Creek Nature Center
learn about local moth diversity

Campers learn about local moth diversity
Photograph by Angela Hulsey
This camper studies a local species at a
summer camp activity

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Goals

A goal of Discover Life is to involve individuals in scientific studies of the natural world around them. By working with scientists, resource managers, and educational specialists, in conjuction with support from volunteers, businesses and local communities, we are improving classroom technology and resources, training teachers, and developing lesson plans and research protocols that teachers and students can use both to learn and do science. Our objectives are that students

  • become excited about science and technology by participating in studies that give them practical, hands-on experience;
  • think more creatively, ask innovative questions, and independently discover and document new findings about life;
  • learn about research by doing it and by interacting with mentors;
  • are challenged to understand how to design experiments, collect data, and draw conclusions based on their analyses;
  • develop the curiosity that will motivate them to persist and try new methods and approaches when their initial ones fail;
  • gain the information-age skills of collecting, processing, and presenting data using up-to-date software and equipment;
  • retrieve, analyze, and synthesize information from libraries and other sources rather than simply memorizing facts;
  • contribute original, high-quality data to scientific studies, particularly of species that live in their local communities,
  • and, in turn, share their knowledge, help teach others, and voice their diverse opinions of how to modify and attain our goals.

Updated: 1 March, 2016
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