With a continued focus on the Sonoran Desert, students are introduced to the concepts of food chains and food webs through a PowerPoint® presentation. They learn the difference between producers and consumers and study how these organisms function within their communities as participants in various food chains. They further understand ecosystem differences by learning how multiple food chains link together to form intricate and balanced food webs. At lesson end, students construct food webs using endemic desert species.

Students will observe organisms in their ecosystem and describe the flow of energy in food webs

Students will explore the outdoor classroom finding objects and determining how to form different letters using them.

Students will explore the garden for different forms of energy including mechanical, electrical, light, thermal and sound energy.

Students take a closer look at cars and learn about some characteristics that affect their energy efficiency, including rolling resistance and the aerodynamics of shape and size. They come to see how vehicles are one example of a product in which engineers are making changes and improvements to gain greater efficiency and thus require less energy to operate.

Students will use knowledge of aquatic and terrestrial environments to identify fossils and predict environmental changes over time.

Students will explore the components of soil and make a model of sedimentary rock layers and fossil fuels.

Students will be able to describe the shares using the words halves and fourths. They'll be able to describe the whole as two of, or four of the shares.

Students will go on a scavenger hunt around the garden demonstrating and recording ways that different objects can move.

Students will use their knowledge of geometric shapes to find real world examples outdoors.

In this lesson, students will observe various aspects of the outdoor classroom to experience the way birds, insects, and objects interact with gravity.

In this lesson, students will observe, compare different objects, and be able to identify the properties of specific materials.

The marine environment is unique and requires technologies that can use sound to gather information since there is little light underwater. The sea-floor is characterized using underwater sound and acoustical systems. Current technological innovations are allowing scientists to further understand and apply information about animal locations and habitat. Remote sensing and exploration with underwater vehicles allows scientists to map and understand the sea floor, and in some cases, the water column. In this lesson, the students will be shown benthic habitat images produced by GIS. These imaged will lead to a class discussion on why habitat mapping is useful and how current technology works to make bathymetry mapping possible. The teacher will then ask inquiry-based questions to have students brainstorm about the importance of bathymetry mapping.

Students will read the provided complex text about habitat in the outdoor classroom and explore the area to make connections to the content in the text and draw inferences from the text.

Students will use the short, informational text provided to guide them in examining the animal and insect habitats in their outdoor classroom. They will then be able to use their experience to summarize the information from the text.

Students will experiment with different areas of the garden that absorb heat from the sun the best.

Students will experiment with different areas of the garden that absorb heat from the sun the best.

Students will explore the outdoor classroom for natural examples of heat transfer through conduction, convection, and radiation.

Students will take temperature readings and collect anecdotal evidence to determine how different materials absorb the sun's heat.