K20 Learn
Filling Our Land with Landfills: Solid Waste Disposal
New ReviewThough it comprises only 5 percent of the world's population, the US generates 40 percent of the world's waste. Scholars learn about landfills, their safety, and other solid waste methods. They use experiments and research to learn more....
Beyond Benign
Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiesel
Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources and have become crucial to the livelihood of countless individuals. Young chemists investigate an alternative method of generating energy by performing a series of activities that lead to the...
PBS
Teacher Planning Kits for New School Routines | End of Year
Support your end-of-year instruction with planning kits from PBS. Five planning kits are provided: Special Lessons and Collections; Planning Sheets for Pre-K through 5 and 6-12; Summer Bonus Resources; and Relevant Professional Learning...
California Academy of Science
Optimal and Sustainable: Renewable Energy Revamp
More than 100 cities around the world have shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Scholars investigate a city wanting to make this switch, but needs help determining how to make the shift. Groups consider all options,...
California Academy of Science
Building Better Buses: Transportation Design Challenges
Scholars learn about a series of three challenges when they design a bus system for a small town. They determine the bus routes and then figure out the best type of fuel to use before considering the cost of going electric. Learners...
Kenan Fellows
Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – Soil
Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Gorongosa: Making Observations Activity
Do you have young scientists wanting to make new discoveries rather than just completing the same experiments? Young scientists use their observational skills to identify animals and patterns in animal behavior. Through tracking...
Science 4 Inquiry
It's Not All Visible
Electromagnetic waves travel though empty space, something no other wave type can accomplish. Young scientists learn more about the entire spectrum of electromagnetic waves. They sort cards and apply their knowledge to create models of...
K20 LEARN
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Seventy thousand different types of soil exist in the United States alone. Young scientists learn about the importance of soil to the food supply. They test soil for a variety of factors and determine the best place to set up a community...
Bozeman Science
NGSS Practice Posters
Begin the year with an emphasis on the NGSS practice standards. The resource provides an 8x10 size poster for each standard. When hung in a classroom, learners have a consistent reminder of what it means to be a scientist.
Nature Works Everywhere
Recording the Rainforest
Animals have evolved to communicate in different frequencies so they can hear each other throughout the rainforest. The first lesson in a three-part series begins by exploring an interactive story map online about the Borneo rainforest....
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...
Space Awareness
The Intertropical Convergence Zone
Young scientists know it is hotter along the equator, but why is it also rainier? Through the process of completing two experiments and a worksheet, scholars discover the answer is the intertropical convergence zone. First, they...
Gobal Oneness Project
Passionate Pursuits
Not all technology is digital. Teach learners about the low-tech maker movement with a photo essay about six artisans from California and two articles about the local creator movement. After tackling the photo essay in small groups,...
Global Oneness Project
Exploring Cultural Sustainability
Small groups learn about a present-day nomadic culture in Mongolia and the threats to its existence by exploring a photo essay. The resource includes thoughtful discussion and writing prompts about cultural sustainability, the...
Global Oneness Project
On the Verge of Displacement
By having scholars tackle this interdisciplinary lesson, they'll see how social studies and environmental science are related as they explore the impact that the construction of a dam will have on the population and ecosystem of the Omo...
Global Oneness Project
Learning with Nature
Think outside the box - and think about education beyond the classroom walls - with a resource that has your critical thinkers watching a video about a nursery in Scotland that lets youngsters roam wild in a forest. Viewers reflect on...
Cornell University
Fibers, Dyes, and the Environment
Nanofibers can be made through electrospinning or force spinning in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Pupils study the role of fibers and dye on the environment through a series of five hands-on activities. Then,...
Global Oneness Project
Living with Less Water
Did you know that California produces two thirds of the fruits and nuts consumed in the United States? That it produces almost one third of the vegetables? Did you know that scientists warn that California is facing the onset of a...
National Wildlife Federation
The Tide is High, but I’m Holding On… Using ICESat Data to Investigate Sea Level Rise
Based on the rate of melting observed from 2003-2007 in Greenland, it would take less than 10 minutes to fill the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium. The 17th instructional activity in a series of 21 has scholars use the ICESat data to understand...
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...
National Wildlife Federation
Is It Getting Hot in Here, or Is It Just Me?
Currently, only 2.1% of global warming is felt on continents, while over 93% is felt in the oceans. The fourth lesson in the series of 21 on global warming is composed of three activities that build off one another. In the first...
National Wildlife Federation
It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's...CARBON!
An interesting lesson takes pupils on a trip through the carbon cycle. A reading passage allows scholars to take notes and make choices about what happens to the carbon on its journey. This third lesson in a series of 21 discusses...
National Wildlife Federation
Climate Solutions – A Call to Action!
The final lesson in the 21-part series on climate change focuses on energy solutions to the consumption problem. Using data specific to their school, pupils make recommendations, follow up on actions, and carefully track progress....