NASA
The Heat is On: Urban Heat Islands, Detection Strategies, and Mitigation Solutions
It's sure getting hot out there! Scholars analyze satellite data on land use and surface temperatures, and then learn how to ground truth satellite data through an activity. They apply technology to identify urban heat islands and...
Curated OER
The Urban Heat Island Effect - Lesson 2 (Grade 5)
Fifth graders use the scientific process to examine how when various surfaces are exposed to similar environmental conditions, surface temperatures may vary. They conduct an experiment to show the relationship between surface and...
Curated OER
The Urban Heat Island Effect - Lesson 2 (Grades 8-9)
Students use the scientific process to show that when various surfaces are exposed to similar environmental conditions, surface temperatures may vary. They examine the "urban heat island" phenomenon and analyze why it increases energy...
Curated OER
Feeling the Heat
Pupils record temperatures at different locations around campus. They examine the results and draw conclusions about how materials and colors affect the amount of heat produced. They also analyze Los Angeles' temperature records over a...
Curated OER
Urban Changes
Students explore how landscapes undergo constant changes with urban development. They plan and build their own "city" by including features that have minimal resource demands to sustain the city itself.
Curated OER
Urban Heat Islands: An Introduction to Energy Transfer and Transformation
Elementary school physical scientists explore kinetic mechanical energy by dropping a golf ball on different surfaces. They discuss how human made materials might react to light differently from nature made materials. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
Feeling the Heat
Students investigate the urban heat island effect. In this urban heat island effect lesson, students learn how trees, grass, asphalt, and other things on the school grounds effect temperature. They use the information to generalize it to...
Curated OER
Landscaping and Urban Forestry - Lesson 4 (Grades 5-6)
Young scholars discuss reasons to plant trees and the best locations for cooling. They analyze two homes identifying types and locations of trees, and location of the central air conditioners. The benefits of shade, the process of...
National Academy of Sciences
Global Warming: Facts and Our Future
According to the United Nations, climate change affects every country on the planet. This research project encourages scholars to explore the factors that affect climate change from different perspectives: climate scientist, policy...
Curated OER
Water Pollution Lesson Plan: All Messed Up
Students map and calculate the area of the school parking lot and then the volume of water falling on the school parking lot. They map the route surface runoff will take to the nearest water body and describe the roles that human...
Center Science Education
Feeling the Heat
What is an urban heat island? Middle school meteorologists find out by comparing temperatures at different locations on campus. They relate their findings to what might be happening in a concrete jungle and how it impacts local weather....
Curated OER
Geography of the Wasatch Front
Students identify the three main types of urban environments by learning characteristic land-cover types. They examine and analyze a thermal image of Salt Lake City. Then they predict surface and air temperatures from aerial photos.
Curated OER
Landscaping And Urban Forestry - Lesson 4 (Grades 8-9)
Students discuss reasons to plant trees and the best locations for cooling. They study two homes and identify types and locations of trees and determine the placement of the central air conditioners. The class plans a landscape design...
Curated OER
Geography of the Wasatch Front
Pupils examine and discuss urban geography and land-cover types along the Wasatch Front. They analyze thermal images, create collages, and predict surface and air temperatures from aerial photos in the Salt Lake City Valley.
Michigan Sea Grant
Water Quality
Learners observe water samples and measure the samples' water quality. Students develop their own criteria for measuring water quality and test for temperature, acidity, oxygen levels, turbidity, conductance, sediment and hardness.
Captain Planet Foundation
Solar Cooking Race
Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.
Curated OER
The Mathematics of Convection: Nature's Model for Energy Production
High schoolers conduct a series of experiments to investigate density, buoyancy and climate. In this math lesson, pupils design and build a hot air balloon to demonstrate convection. They research and write a paper about solar chimneys.
Kenan Fellows
Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – The Importance of Water
Water is essential for life—and understanding the importance of clean drinking water is essential in understanding sustainability! Show your environmental science class the basics of water testing and treatment through a week-long...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Carbon Footprint
Unplugging from technology for one day per week will decrease your carbon footprint—are you up to the challenge? Part two in a series of three allows individuals to explore their personal carbon footprints. By first taking a quiz at home...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Ecological Footprint
You can lower your ecological footprint by recycling! Lesson four in this series of five has individuals, through the use of a computer, calculate their ecological footprints. Through discussions and analysis they determine how many...
Curated OER
How can my breakfast help the birds?
Sixth graders design farms with a bird's habitat in mind. In this farm lesson plan, 6th graders research how sun grown coffee destroys a bird habitat, and then they make their own farm with a bird's habitat being preserved. They then...
Curated OER
Whose Breakfast isn't for the Birds?
Students explore coffee production. In this cross-curriculum rainforest ecology instructional activity, students research regions where coffee comes from and investigate how the native birds in the rainforest are effected by coffee...
Curated OER
All Messed Up
Pupils begin the experiment by mapping and calculating their school parking lot. They calculate the volume of water falling on the lot and map the route the water runoff takes. They discuss the roles that humans play in affecting water...