Unit Plan
National Library of Medicine

Your Environment, Your Health: Runoff, Impervious Surfaces, and Smart Development

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Can a sidewalk increase the amount of pollution in local streams? Scholars learn the answer to this question though research and experimentation in the fifth unit in the six-part series. Pupils study runoff, impervious surfaces, and the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Soil Runoff Challenge

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students find ways to decrease soil runoff for an African Village as a part of a Peace Corps project. In this soil runoff lesson, students play a soil runoff challenge online. Students complete online activities and view a slide show to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 3 - Water Above the Ground

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students define surface water, drainage basin or watershed. They investigate what affects runoff in a drainage basin. They complete lab sheets and worksheets.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Watershed Investigations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the components of a watershed and the factors that affect it. They read a topographical map and use geometry to determine the area of a watershed. Students estimate the volume of a body of water and perform runoff...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Hard" Data from Space

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students use satellite images to analyze development patterns within Baltimore City. They prepare a land cover map for Baltimore indicating the prevalence of impervious surfaces and explore how these patterns affect water pollution.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Earth: The Water Planet

For Teachers 6th
Students elicit data on the water cycle, ocean topography, and island formation in this six lesson unit. The ocean floor and the properties of water are examined through a variety of discussions and hands-on experiments.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When It Rains it Drains

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars examine the major paths of water on the Earth's surface, and to investigate the many factors that contribute to those paths. Students demonstrate their understanding of a watershed by identifying the defining features of a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Are We?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students list and describe three types of surface water pollutants. They observe the effects of various water pollutants on algae growth. Three causes of each surface water pollutant is listed.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Land Development and the Environment

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine the relationship between land development and the environment. In this environmental stewardship lesson, students explore how population density, land development, transportation, and impervious surfaces take their toll...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

N, B, and T: Pollutants Three

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore nutrient, bacterial, and toxic surface water pollution. They identify the amount of water they use each day and summarize the kinds of substances that cause water pollution. They predict what will happen in water...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Correlation Chapter 1

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students compare ways in which people form different cultures think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions. They identify examples of change and recognize examples of cause and effect relationships. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drought

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students gain knowledge about the impact of drought in agriculture. They investigate soil types, water flow, and various erosion conditions which occur during a drought and see how farming practices changed after the 1930's.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Non-Point Source Pollution

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students study non-point source pollution. They research the concept of bio-degradation and/or Nutrients/Fertilizers and discuss how non-point source pollution impacts the environment. Afterwards, they participate in an interactive...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Journey of a Raindrop to the Chesapeake Bay

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students explore the water cycle and the path a single drop of water would take if it traveled from their schoolyard to the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Our Watershed System

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine how watershed systems are made up, and visit the Susquehanna watershed system and map out the system. They evaluate the order of watercourses in their area.