Eighth graders discuss the responsibilities of businesses to protect local wetlands. In groups, they participate in numerous activities and create a model of a wetland to discover how it functions. They are given a quiz to end the lesson.

What does it mean to be a good steward? Middle school environmentalists learn to care for their state's waterways through research, a guest speaker, and poster activity. Groups must locate and learn more about a river basin and the human...

Students examine health and safety issues in the workplace. They, in groups, discuss how health and safety issues effect their lives.

What are the factors that limit growth and expansion? As part of their study of Catalina Island, class members view the West of the West's documentary Magic Isle and research William Wrigley and the Santa Catalina Island Company. After...

Intended as a follow up to the Protecting Your Drinking Water activity, young environmentalists use their assessment of the a hypothetical town's water supply to debate the installation of underground chemical storage tanks. With...

How can both individuals and governments respond to climate change and take responsibility to reduce its effects on our environment? Here you will find three lessons filled with discussion, debate, and role-playing...

One hundred metric tons of CO2 can accumulate in one acre of forest over time—that's a lot of carbon! In the activity, groups of middle school learners determine what makes forests important. They then solidify the concept by using a...

If someone yelled for eight years and eight months, they could produce enough energy to heat one cup of coffee. A lesson on energy encourages scholars to research 10 different energy sources in groups before playing a game. Twenty...

Sixth graders investigate the ways in which human beings impact the environment and ecology through the calculation of their own ecological footprint, discussion questions pertaining to biodiversity and potential imbalance hazards, and...

Students perform an experiment involving reverse transcriptase-polymerized chain reaction HIV replication to better examine the biotechnology used by scientists in pharmaceutical research of infections diseases like HIV. Students examine...

Elementary schoolers discover how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings. They take a close look at some of the materials used: sand, salt, water, and shredded paper and evaluate the efficiency of each material. An incredible...

Students identify the food groups and agricultural sources of pizza ingredients. They construct a construction paper pizza, identify the crops grown for pizza ingredients, and make and eat English muffin pizzas.

Use this lesson plan to discuss inventions that have changed your class's world and have impacted society. Middle schoolers investigate important inventions of their time and design an invention in a simulated business atmosphere. Modify...

Middle schoolers examine the economic benefits, environmental losses and dangers of the shrimp farming industry on the coast of Ecuador. They read a script, role-play people involved in the shrimp business, and write an essay of the pros...

Here is a well-designed science lesson that shows learners that everything that organisms do in ecosystems, including running, breathing, burrowing, growing, requires energy. After a thorough discussion of their own eating and drinking...

Through inquiry and exploration, 4th graders will learn and understand the functions of open and closed circuits. They will break into 2 groups, define vocabulary, hypothesize how to light a bulb, then test their hypothesis 4 different...

What is a natural resource, and what resources did the Lewis and Clark expedition seek? After reading an article on the mapping of the west, learners get into small groups to discuss the important natural resources of the period. They...

Students work in groups to create a description of a farm animal. Other classmates try to guess the animal. The class discusses what farmers need to provide for each animal on their farm (food, shelter, veterinary care). Students...

learners discuss the importance of light and the consequences of living without it. Using a plant as a demonstration, students predict and observe what happens to a plant when it does not receive enough light. In groups, they experiment...

In this critical thinking worksheet, students evaluate different scenarios to decide how the person or business in the scenario could help reduce air pollution. Students work in cooperative learning groups to decide what strategies could...

Twelfth graders examine  local, state, and/or national animal welfare organization.  In this Social Studies lesson, 12th graders research their identified organization.  Students develop a planned intervention...

Students read a story problem about the issue of hazardous waste and pollution in a fictional town. In groups, they create a topographical map and predict how the water might flow and determine the place of contamination. To end the...

Students explore plastics and what plastics students use to pack a lunch. In this plastics lesson plan, students observe each other pack lunches and take note of all the plastics used in packing the lunch. They discuss the impact of...

Middle schoolers understand the importance of trees to the environment and their community. In this Earth Day lesson plan, students discuss the value of trees and plan a project to plant trees. Middle schoolers understand the role of an...