Native Prairie with Purple Phlox

Earth Day 2021 – Restore the Earth With Native Plants

The theme of Earth Day 2021 is “Restore Our Earth.” Explore the differences between native, non-native, and invasive plants; how invasive plants threaten the environment and why native plants sustain it — and what your classroom can do to get involved.

Parking ramp with plants on the rooftop

Innovative Ways to Create More Urban Green Spaces

Creating more green spaces can not only add natural beauty to cities, but it can also improve the health and well-being of its residents. Get your students inspired to add green spaces to urban areas.

Snowflake

Winter-Themed STEM Activities

The cold winter season provides many opportunities to add fun and interesting STEM activities to your lesson plans. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Fallen tree in a forest

What Happens to Trees that Fall in the Forest

In dying, a tree plays an essential role in sustaining life around it. Here are some classroom activities to explore decomposition and how a fallen tree provides for other life in the forest.

child-photographing-the-autumn-woods

Virtual Makeover: The Closer You Look

Colorado PLT Coordinator Danielle Ardrey shares how to adapt the PLT Activity “The Closer You Look” for remote instruction. Students will go outdoors or view pictures to take a closer look at trees and their parts.

young-boy-listens-outdoors

Virtual Makeover: Sounds Around

Learn how to adapt our “Sounds Around” student activity for remote instruction, allowing students to tune in to the everyday sounds of nature from home or a nearby outdoor space.

Spider in the middle of a spider web

Spider-Inspired Classroom Activities for Halloween

Are you ready to add some spooky science to your fall lesson plans? We have gathered a whole cauldron of creepy, crawly spider science activities to enhance your lessons. Try these 11 Halloween activities inspired by our eight-legged friends. Examine spider webs outdoors, build a spider habitat, consider how a spider would adapt to life in space, and more!

Virtual Makeover: Looking at Leaves

Many PLT activities are easily adapted to virtual learning, as we illustrate in this new monthly feature in the Branch. Check out this adaptation for Looking at Leaves from Colorado’s PLT Coordinator