Science · Grade 9

Living Earth SEL activities

36 ready to use activities that teach Living Earth content and build one Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skill, about 20 minutes each.

Matched to textbook chapters: California HMH Science Dimensions: The Living Earth.

Ecosystems: Interactions and Energy

• Who Gets to Be a Scientist? Self-awareness · Week 1Students map the questions they already ask about the desert around them and name the scientist identity they bring into Living Earth.
• Who Eats Whom in the Desert Social awareness · Week 2Students model energy flow through a desert food web and reflect on who depends on them and whom they depend on.
• Carrying Capacity and Limits Self-management · Week 3Graphing population growth up to a carrying capacity, then naming the limits on students' own energy and time.
• Counting Life Fairly Responsible decision-making · Week 4Students compare biodiversity counts from two sampling methods and practice noticing when excitement or doubt shapes a conclusion.
• Cooperation in Nature Relationship skills · Week 5Arguing from evidence that group behavior like flocking and herding helps survival, then setting team norms that help a lab group thrive.
• Partners in the Desert Social awareness · Week 6Explaining the partnership between the yucca and the yucca moth and noticing the quiet partnerships that hold a classroom together.

Matter and Energy in Living Systems

• Sunlight Into Sugar Self-awareness · Week 7Modeling photosynthesis as an energy transformation and naming what refuels students' own energy.
• Breathing Out Energy Self-management · Week 8Modeling cellular respiration and practicing slow breathing as a tool to steady the body before a test.
• Building Blocks of Life Self-management · Week 9Explaining how carbon from sugar becomes proteins and fats, and how small daily actions build larger goals.
• Cycling Carbon Social awareness · Week 10Modeling the carbon cycle through photosynthesis and respiration and tracing how one person's choices cycle through a community.
• Energy Pyramids and Waste Responsible decision-making · Week 11Calculating energy loss up a food pyramid and weighing food choices with care rather than guilt.
• Life Without Oxygen Relationship skills · Week 12Explaining aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the Salton Sea and practicing clear, kind explanations with a partner.

Evolution and Earth's History

• Clues in Shared Ancestry Self-awareness · Week 13Comparing anatomical and DNA evidence for common ancestry and reflecting on the family and community roots students share.
• Survival in the Heat Self-management · Week 14Explaining the adaptations of desert pupfish and naming the personal adaptations students use to handle stress.
• Natural Selection by the Numbers Responsible decision-making · Week 15Analyzing trait frequency data across generations and separating evidence from assumption when making decisions.
• Earth Shapes Life Social awareness · Week 16Arguing how Earth's surface and life changed together over time and recognizing how surroundings shape people's stories.
• Extinction and Resilience Relationship skills · Week 17Evaluating claims about how environmental change leads to decline or new species, and how groups rebuild trust after setbacks.
• Semester Reflection: My Growth as a Scientist Self-awareness · Week 18Students explain how the factors of evolution changed a real population, contrast that with how they grew as learners this semester, and set goals for the spring.

Inheritance and Variation

• The Code Inside Us Self-awareness · Week 19Explaining how DNA codes for proteins and reflecting on which traits are inherited and which are chosen.
• Traits and Family Stories Social awareness · Week 20Asking questions about chromosomes and inherited traits while using respectful norms for discussing family differences.
• Sources of Variation Responsible decision-making · Week 21Arguing whether meiosis, replication errors, or environmentally caused mutations best explain inherited variation, and pausing on strong feelings before choosing a claim.
• Probability of Traits Self-management · Week 22Using Punnett squares and probability to predict traits while practicing calm when outcomes feel uncertain.
• Genetics and Ethics Responsible decision-making · Week 23Evaluating news claims about gene editing and discussing who should decide how the technology is used.
• Breeding for a Hotter Valley Relationship skills · Week 24Teams explain how growers select heat tolerant date and citrus varieties and share roles fairly in the investigation.

Structure, Function, and Health

• Systems Inside the Body Self-awareness · Week 25Modeling interacting body systems and mapping where emotions show up in the body.
• Keeping Balance in the Heat Self-management · Week 26Planning an investigation of the feedback mechanisms that cool the body and practicing a personal feedback loop to cool strong emotions.
• Cells That Grow and Repair Relationship skills · Week 27Modeling mitosis and tissue repair and learning simple steps to repair a strained friendship.
• Specialized for a Job Social awareness · Week 28Explaining how cell differentiation gives cells different jobs and recognizing the different strengths classmates bring.
• Healthy Choices, Healthy Systems Responsible decision-making · Week 29Analyzing data on sleep and memory to make one evidence based health decision.
• Valley Fever and the Body's Defense Social awareness · Week 30Communicating how the immune system responds to soil fungi in desert dust and how to share health information with care.

Ecosystem Stability and Human Impact

• When Ecosystems Change Self-awareness · Week 31Arguing whether the Salton Sea ecosystem can recover and noticing how hope and worry both shape our thinking.
• Humans and Biodiversity Responsible decision-making · Week 32Designing and evaluating a solution that reduces human impact on a desert habitat and advocating for it honestly.
• Invasive Species Relationship skills · Week 33Simulating the removal of invasive tamarisk and collaborating as a team to compare strategies.
• Stewards of the Valley Social awareness · Week 34Gathering information on local conservation careers and considering the perspectives of farmers, tribes, and residents.
• Reflecting on Living Earth Self-awareness · Week 35Students revisit their week one scientist map and explain how their thinking and confidence have changed.
• Gratitude for Our Living Community Relationship skills · Week 36Students write thank you notes connecting a classmate's contribution to how cooperation helps living systems thrive.

RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.