Science · Living Earth

SEL activities for California HMH Science Dimensions: The Living Earth

31 RoseThread Connect activities matched to the chapters of California HMH Science Dimensions: The Living Earth (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Each one teaches the chapter's content and builds one Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skill in about 20 minutes.

We look only at each book's table of contents (chapter titles and topics) to suggest activities that fit the flow of your course. We don't use or reproduce any textbook content, and your edition's chapter order may differ slightly. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by these publishers.

Unit 1: Living Systems

• Carrying Capacity and Limits Self-management · Living EarthGraphing population growth up to a carrying capacity, then naming the limits on students' own energy and time.
• Counting Life Fairly Responsible decision-making · Living EarthStudents compare biodiversity counts from two sampling methods and practice noticing when excitement or doubt shapes a conclusion.
• When Ecosystems Change Self-awareness · Living EarthArguing whether the Salton Sea ecosystem can recover and noticing how hope and worry both shape our thinking.
• Humans and Biodiversity Responsible decision-making · Living EarthDesigning and evaluating a solution that reduces human impact on a desert habitat and advocating for it honestly.

Unit 2: Carbon in the Earth System

• Sunlight Into Sugar Self-awareness · Living EarthModeling photosynthesis as an energy transformation and naming what refuels students' own energy.
• Breathing Out Energy Self-management · Living EarthModeling cellular respiration and practicing slow breathing as a tool to steady the body before a test.
• Building Blocks of Life Self-management · Living EarthExplaining how carbon from sugar becomes proteins and fats, and how small daily actions build larger goals.
• Cycling Carbon Social awareness · Living EarthModeling the carbon cycle through photosynthesis and respiration and tracing how one person's choices cycle through a community.
• Life Without Oxygen Relationship skills · Living EarthExplaining aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the Salton Sea and practicing clear, kind explanations with a partner.

Unit 3: Ecosystem Interactions and Energy Flow

• Who Eats Whom in the Desert Social awareness · Living EarthStudents model energy flow through a desert food web and reflect on who depends on them and whom they depend on.
• Partners in the Desert Social awareness · Living EarthExplaining the partnership between the yucca and the yucca moth and noticing the quiet partnerships that hold a classroom together.
• Cycling Carbon Social awareness · Living EarthModeling 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 · Living EarthCalculating energy loss up a food pyramid and weighing food choices with care rather than guilt.

Unit 4: Evidence for Evolution

• Clues in Shared Ancestry Self-awareness · Living EarthComparing anatomical and DNA evidence for common ancestry and reflecting on the family and community roots students share.
• Survival in the Heat Self-management · Living EarthExplaining the adaptations of desert pupfish and naming the personal adaptations students use to handle stress.
• Natural Selection by the Numbers Responsible decision-making · Living EarthAnalyzing trait frequency data across generations and separating evidence from assumption when making decisions.
• Earth Shapes Life Social awareness · Living EarthArguing how Earth's surface and life changed together over time and recognizing how surroundings shape people's stories.
• Extinction and Resilience Relationship skills · Living EarthEvaluating claims about how environmental change leads to decline or new species, and how groups rebuild trust after setbacks.

Unit 5: Mechanisms of Inheritance

• The Code Inside Us Self-awareness · Living EarthExplaining how DNA codes for proteins and reflecting on which traits are inherited and which are chosen.
• Traits and Family Stories Social awareness · Living EarthAsking questions about chromosomes and inherited traits while using respectful norms for discussing family differences.
• Sources of Variation Responsible decision-making · Living EarthArguing 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 · Living EarthUsing Punnett squares and probability to predict traits while practicing calm when outcomes feel uncertain.

Unit 6: Genetic Variation and Evolution

• Cooperation in Nature Relationship skills · Living EarthArguing from evidence that group behavior like flocking and herding helps survival, then setting team norms that help a lab group thrive.
• Semester Reflection: My Growth as a Scientist Self-awareness · Living EarthStudents 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.
• Sources of Variation Responsible decision-making · Living EarthArguing whether meiosis, replication errors, or environmentally caused mutations best explain inherited variation, and pausing on strong feelings before choosing a claim.
• Breeding for a Hotter Valley Relationship skills · Living EarthTeams explain how growers select heat tolerant date and citrus varieties and share roles fairly in the investigation.

Unit 7: Structure and Function in Living Things

• Systems Inside the Body Self-awareness · Living EarthModeling interacting body systems and mapping where emotions show up in the body.
• Keeping Balance in the Heat Self-management · Living EarthPlanning 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 · Living EarthModeling mitosis and tissue repair and learning simple steps to repair a strained friendship.
• Specialized for a Job Social awareness · Living EarthExplaining how cell differentiation gives cells different jobs and recognizing the different strengths classmates bring.
• Valley Fever and the Body's Defense Social awareness · Living EarthCommunicating how the immune system responds to soil fungi in desert dust and how to share health information with care.

Unit 8: Ecosystem Stability and the Response to Climate Change

• Extinction and Resilience Relationship skills · Living EarthEvaluating claims about how environmental change leads to decline or new species, and how groups rebuild trust after setbacks.
• When Ecosystems Change Self-awareness · Living EarthArguing whether the Salton Sea ecosystem can recover and noticing how hope and worry both shape our thinking.
• Humans and Biodiversity Responsible decision-making · Living EarthDesigning and evaluating a solution that reduces human impact on a desert habitat and advocating for it honestly.
• Invasive Species Relationship skills · Living EarthSimulating the removal of invasive tamarisk and collaborating as a team to compare strategies.
• Stewards of the Valley Social awareness · Living EarthGathering information on local conservation careers and considering the perspectives of farmers, tribes, and residents.

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.