Learning about John Muir's life can serve as a launching pad to science-based environmental studies through plant and animal habitats, ecosytems, earthquakes, avalanches, glaciers, geology, weather, biodiversity, and forests, as we discover that, as John Muir said, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."
These lesson plans are aligned to the California Academic Content Standards for Science for each grade level.
Kindergarten - Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8
Grades 9-12
John Muir traveled all over the world in his study of wild plants and animals and the natural environments in which they live. This lesson plan introduces the concept of habitat to first grade students.
John Muir was a successful fruit rancher as well as a naturalist. He understood how important fertile soil is for plant growth. In this lesson, students will learn about the source material for soil and will examine various soil samples to determine their composition and ability to hold water. Students will evaluate samples as to their ability to support plant life.
John Muir traveled all over the world learning about the plants and animals that inhabit the various life zones. In this lesson, students learn about various plants and animal species that live in diverse environments.
In John Muir's travels around the world, he found plants and animal species that could naturally be found nowhere else. In this lesson, students investigate and identify both the living and nonliving features of an ecosystem which make them unique.
California Science Standard Grade Four, Life Sciences:
3a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living and nonliving components.
3b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Throughout his life John Muir had many adventures that brought him in close contact to nature's most severe weather conditions, including thunderstorms, blizzards, and floods. In this lesson, students gain and understanding of various kinds of severe weather, including thunderstorms, blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, and flooding.
California Science Standard Grade Five, Earth Sciences: 4c. Students know the causes and effects of different kinds of severe weather.
John Muir experienced two tremendous earthquakes during his lifetime. In this lesson, students investigate the causes of earthquakes and where they typically occur, and to study important earthquake events that have affected our world in recent history.
California Science Standard Grade Six, Earth Sciences:
1d. Students know that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust called faults.
1e. Students know major geologic events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and mountain building, result from plate motions.
John Muir understood that Yosemite Valley and similar valleys were formed by the slow action of glaciers, during a time when many believed such valleys were formed by sudden cataclysmic events. This lesson plan helps students to understand the powerful geological phenomenon of glacial activity.
California Science Standard Grade Seven, Earth and Life History: 4a. Students know Earth processes today are similar to those that occurred in the past, and slow geologic processes have large cumulative effects over long periods of time.
Among John Muir's many thrilling and extreme adventures was his experiencing an avalanche firsthand. This lesson plan explores the causes of avalanches.
California Science Standard Grade 8, Physical Science - Forces:
Students know:
2c. when the forces on an object are balanced, the motion of the object does not change.
d. how to identify separately two or more forces acting on a single static object, including gravity, elastic forces due to tension or compression in matter, and friction.
e. when the forces on an object are unbalanced the object will change its motion (that is, it will speed up, slow down, or change direction).
California Science Standard Grade 8, Investigation and Experimentation:
9. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations.
Students will:
a. plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis.
For much of his life, John Muir struggled to save and protect the Giant Sequoia trees of the southern Sierra. This lesson plan students will consider opposing views on how fire management should be conducted in the Giant Sequoia ecosystem and evaluate the merits of each position.
California Science Standard Grades 9 - 12, Life Sciences (Ecology):
6b. Students know how to analyze change in an ecosystem resulting from changes in climate, human activity, introduction of nonnative species, or changes in population size.
California Science Standard Grades 9 - 12, Investigation and Experimentation:
1m. Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the literature, analyzing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues include ...land and water use decisions in California.
Acknowledgments: These Science Lesson Plans for Grade K - 8 were written by Janet Wood, M.S. Geoscience Education. The Lesson Plan for Grade 9-12 was written by Joe Fontaine, retired high school science teacher, former President of the Sierra Club, and John Muir Award winner; with additions by Janet Wood and Harold Wood.
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