Curated OER
Green Roof Design
Students design a heat and water conserving "green roof". In this urban environmental lesson plan, students will design a heat and water conserving "green roof" to improve a building's energy profile.
Curated OER
Elmer's Glue Crew
Young scholars practice cleaning up the environment by identifying wasteful behaviors in their school. In this arts and crafts activity, students create "eco-inspector" binoculars using Elmer's glue, plastic wrap, and construction paper....
Curated OER
Natural Hazards
Learners evaluate the hazards of naturally occurring events. After watching a video concerning safety hazards, students work in groups to discuss the safety issues involved in taking a trip to a mountainous region. Recommendations are...
Curated OER
Energy Panel Hearings: "Your Town", Saskatchewan
Tenth graders access information to participate in a debate about whether a power plant should be placed in their town. They research an assigned point of view.
Curated OER
Managing Your Energy Budget
Pupils experience an inequitable resource distribution and electronically calculate their own Ecological Footprint. The assess their resource use and learn more about sustainable living strategies in a video tour by Penn State...
Cornell University
Bacteria Take Over and Down
Bacteria outnumber all other forms of life on Earth. Scholars observe the growth of bacteria in petri dishes to understand their role in maintaining good health. Then, they observe the growth of bacteria after they introduce...
Curated OER
Transportation and Environment
Students make an eco-friendly vehicle to help make transportation better for the environment. In this transportation lesson, students learn how transportation inventions are bad for the environment. They then see how engineers have tried...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Introducing Ecosystem Services
Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Introducing Ecosystem Services
Ecosystems provide many things humans not only use but also need in order to survive. The last lesson in the series of seven introduces scholars to the idea of ecosystem services, that ecosystems provide humans with many things we need....
Population Connection
The Carbon Crunch
Carbon is in the air; should we care? Teach the class why it is important to pay attention to carbon levels and how the world population and various countries across the globe affect the carbon levels in the atmosphere. High schoolers...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Diseases
During a cholera outbreak, scientists presented two theories; one theory was based on miasma and the other on germs and contaminated water. The lesson looks at the scientific process for finding the real culprit.
Rainforest Alliance
Investments in Forest Carbon
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...
Curated OER
Spaceship Earth
Middle schoolers develop an understanding of our planet as a system by designing a very-long-duration space mission in which the life-support system is patterned after that of earth.
Curated OER
Land Assessment
Students work in small groups on a problem based learning activity. Students are presented with a problem of buying land to use for educational purposes only and must determine if it is feasible to buy it based on soil analysis and plant...
Curated OER
Water Cycle Reading and Writing
Here is a great way to get pupils to express a scientific concept in a fun way. After hearing the story of Walter the Water drop and learning facts about the water cycle, the class will write a creative expository piece describing what...
Curated OER
Protecting Natural Resources
Third graders recognize what our natural resources are and their importance. For this natural resource recycling lesson, 3rd graders understand why it is important to recycle and conserve natural resources. Students can explain how...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Hand Washing Experiment
An engaging experiment allows scholars to understand why the recommendation is to wash for 20 seconds with soap and water — while making them aware of their own habits!
Curated OER
Pond Ecology
A lab activity is a great way to incite thoughtful questioning and scientific processes. Pupils will collect organisms with a Petri dish, make observations, sketch the organism, ask questions, then attempt to identify the specimen...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Withering Plants - Stressing Over Lost Water
Expectant earth scientists examine the bottom side of a leaf and learn the role of the stomata. They consider the gas exchange that occurs through these structures and relate how the climate is changing to its impact on food crops. This...
Curated OER
Sound Busters
Fourth graders engage in a study of sound pollution at their school. After a class discussion on what noise pollution is, learners are asked if they think there are areas of their school or community where noise pollution is a problem....
Curated OER
Peregrine Falcon
Young environmentalists study the effects that pesticides have on birds, such as the peregrine falcon. They also look at predator/prey interactions. Some wonderful in-class activities accompany an inventive lesson. After an activity that...
Curated OER
Fish and zooplankton habitat through remote sensing
Students are exposed to the variety of ways in which scientist use remote sensing and it used in everyday life. They investigate about zooplankton and fish. Students list the two important groups of organisms in both aquatic and marine...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Faces of Climate Change
You know global warming is real when your squirrel feeder is full of popped corn instead of kernels! Activity two in a series of five allows learners to explore climate change through the eyes of another. After briefly analyzing their...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 2: Why Are There Cities? A Historical Perspective
Students investigate the importance of food surpluses to the historical development of urban ecosystems.