Curated OER
Plants and Ecosystems
The relationships within and between ecosystems can be explored. after examining an area for living and non-living things learners complete the same examination in the forest ecosystem. Students identify abiotic and biotic elements in an...
Curated OER
Can You Adapt?
Using the Montana State Quarter, learners engage in activities designed to help increase their understanding about how animals must change their social and physical behaviors in order to adapt to their environment. Excellent worksheets...
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Excuse Me, Is This the Way to the Drainpipe?
Elementary kids read and color the story of Willy Wetsworth, a drop of water, as he describes the journey that he and his friends take to provide fresh water to houses. He tells his story to Martha Merriweather, a little girl, and...
Bonneville
Learning About Solar Updraft Towers
Give it up for updraft towers. Pupils learn about solar updraft towers by first watching a video. They then research these structures on their own and think about how the toys they made in the previous instructional activity use the same...
Bonneville
Let's Build Our Wind and Solar Energy Toy
Who says toys can't be educational? The fourth of five parts in the Solar Updraft Towers unit has scholars create toys that run on solar and wind energy. The devices need to be solar updraft towers that can be placed on a warm surface...
Bonneville
Wind Power: A Hands on Experience
Turn a learning experience into a fun lesson. Future engineers create blades for a wind turbine using card stock. Using a fan, they test how well the blades help the wind turbine turn. The goal is to build blades that are effective...
Bonneville
Where Does Energy Go?
Convection currents aren't just a bunch of hot air. The second of five lessons in the Solar Updraft Towers unit focuses on energy transfer and convection currents. Young scientists watch six demonstrations that illustrate how warm air...
Bonneville
Informative Writing: Where Does Energy Come From?
Get energized about all the different sources of energy. A research project has scholars investigate a renewable or non-renewable energy type of their choice. They write a report on their findings and decide on a way to publish their work.
NASA
Air Temperatures Around the World: Student Activity
Check out climate anomalies just like NASA climatologists! Investigators use a GISTEMP map from NASA to analyze one month of climate anomalies. Scientists look for data extremes and generate possible explanations for observable patterns.
British Council
A Green Classroom
Go green! Scholars compare pictures of two classrooms. They discuss how one classroom is more environmentally conservative than the other, and then make a list of ways they can make their own classrooms greener.
Bonneville
Probes of Prior Knowledge
A bright future learning about electricity awaits. Future scientists conduct two probes to investigate electrical energy. The first requires them to think about how electricity is made, while the second has them identify appliances that...
PBS
Watershed Management: Ways of Watersheds | UNC-TV Science
Inspire young conservationists to protect the environment with a short activity on water quality and watersheds. Participants discover the importance of watershed management, learn about water quality problems, and discover possible...
PBS
Terrific Trees
Engage in a shady activity to practice measurement techniques. Classes venture outside to collect measurements of various trees, using different strategies to measure the height, trunk circumference, width, and crown size. Then they...
PBS
Bogged Down
Enjoy a hands-on lesson that will certainly hold water with your classes. Young scientists design an experiment to determine the materials that absorb water the best. They test both man-made and nature-made materials and conduct...
PBS
Sink or Swim?
What's with all the numbers on plastic products? Learners complete an in-depth analysis of the physical properties of the different plastic types. They connect the properties of the plastics to uses and test their observation skills by...
PBS
Plants Count
Changes to habitats mean changes to resources. Groups examine aerial maps to predict areas of low and high plant resources. After formulating a plan, they visit the areas to collect data about the plant resources and then share their...
PBS
Light Bulb Challenge
Efficiency equals money where homes are concerned. A comparative lesson asks learners to measure heat output of incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs. They follow their investigation with calculating the cost of using the two...
PBS
Going Green
Trash is where it's at! Using bags of garbage collected from the school, learners sort the contents into categories based on type of material and collect data on the results. The data may include weight, volume, and/or percent of the trash.
PBS
Blowin’ in the Wind
Wind energy is making a comeback recently, and classes will want to take part! A hands-on lesson asks groups to build their own windmill that will lift a cup with varying weight. They use their windmill designs to experiment with angles,...
PBS
Bird is the Word
Tracking area birds can tell a lot about an ecosystem. Learners use that understanding as motivation to observe and record bird populations in their area. They use journaling to store their information and ultimately choose one bird as...
PBS
All Tangled Up
It is a tangled web the ecosystem weaves. Learners begin an activity on ecosystem interactions by building a food chain and then a food web with yarn as a group. To finish, they research local environmental changes that may impact the...
PBS
Star Power
Let there be light—or maybe not. Pupils learn about light pollution with an investigation of constellations. They create constellation boxes and experiment with different levels of light. Observations are then made about the lighting in...
DiscoverE
Everyday Engineering: Water Pollution Clean Up
Water, water, everywhere, but pollution is a major problem. Scholars design a filtration device or process that removes dirt and other particles from water. They use various household objects such as marbles, cotton balls, or coffee...
Museum of Science
Garden in a Glove
Calling all green thumbs! Using a clear plastic glove, pupils create a plant nursery. Learners plant different types of seeds in a moistened cotton ball that is placed into each of the fingers in the glove. Leaving the seeds there for...