TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Cellular Respiration and Population Growth
Two lessons and their associated activities explore cellular respiration and population growth in yeasts. Yeast cells are readily obtained and behave predictably, so they are very appropriate to use in middle school classrooms. In the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Glaciers, Water and Wind, Oh My!
This hands-on activity explores five different forms of erosion (chemical, water, wind, glacier and temperature). Students rotate through stations and model each type of erosion on rocks, soils and minerals. The students record their...
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Association of Environmental and Science Professors
Has recent newsletters as well as general information on environmental engineering. It also has a section devoted to jobs and opportunities in the field.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Windmill of Your Mind: Distributed Energy Goes to School
Students research the feasibility of installing a wind-turbine distributed energy (DE) system for their school. They write a proposal (actually, the executive summary of a proposal) to the school principal based on their findings and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Capillarity Measuring Surface Tension
Young scholars are presented with a short lesson on the difference between cohesive forces (the forces that hold water molecules together and create surface tension) and adhesive forces (the forces that causes water to "stick" to solid...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Recycled Towers
Students learn about material reuse by designing and building the strongest and tallest towers they can, using only recycled materials. They follow design constraints and build their towers to withstand earthquake and high wind simulations.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Make That Invisible! Refractive Index Matching
Students determine the refractive index of a liquid with a simple technique using a semi-circular hollow block. Then they predict the refractive index of a material (a Pyrex glass tube) by matching it with the known refractive index of a...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Does Media Matter? Infiltration Rates and Storage Capacities
Students gain a basic understanding of the properties of media- soil, sand, compost, gravel- and how these materials affect the movement of water (infiltration/percolation) into and below the surface of the ground.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Making "Magic" Sidewalks of Pervious Pavement
Students use everyday building materials- sand, pea gravel, cement and water- to create and test pervious pavement. Groups are challenged to create their own pervious pavement mixes, experimenting with material ratios to evaluate how...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Off the Grid
Students learn and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They also learn about our nation's electric power grid and what it means for a residential home to be "off the grid."
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: All About Water!
Students learn about the differences between types of water (surface and ground), as well as the differences between streams, rivers and lakes. Then, they learn about dissolved organic matter (DOM), and the role it plays in identifying...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Battling for Oxygen
Using gumdrops and toothpicks, students conduct a large-group, interactive ozone depletion model. Students explore the dynamic and competing upper atmospheric roles of the protective ozone layer, the sun's UV radiation and harmful...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Washing Air
Students observe and discuss a simple model of a wet scrubber to understand how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: What's Gotten Into You?
In this activity, students use models to investigate the process and consequences of water contamination on the land, groundwater, and plants. This is a good introduction to building water filters found in the associated activity, The...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Trig River
Students learn about and use a right triangle to determine the width of a "pretend" river. Working in teams, they estimate of the width of the river, measure it and compare their results with classmates.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Light Intensity Lab
Students complete this Beer's Law activity in class. Students examine the attenuation of various thicknesses of transparencies. From this activity, students will understand that different substances absorb light differently. This can...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Green Infrastructure & Low Impact Development Technologies
Students are introduced to innovative stormwater management strategies that are being used to restore the hydrology and water quality of urbanized areas to pre-development conditions.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Career Profile: Environmental Compliance Inspector
If you care about the environment and are interested in a career which protects it, you might want to investigate the career of environmental compliance inspector. These inspectors are employed by governmental agencies as well as large...
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National Environmental Education Foundation: Environmental Education Week
Find many activities, resources, and even webinars that celebrate environmental education and its coordination with engineering.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source: Environmental Preservation Progressive Era
This collection uses primary sources to environmental preservation in the Progressive Era.
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The Environmental Careers Organization
Have you considered a career in environmental science? This organization gives a comprehensive look at opportunities in this career area.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Pea Soup Ponds
In this activity, students will learn how water can be polluted by algal blooms. They will grow algae with different concentrations of fertilizer or nutrients and analyze their results as environmental engineers working to protect a...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Where Does All the Water Go?
The best way for students to understand how groundwater flows is to actually see it. In this activity, students will learn the vocabulary associated with groundwater and see a demonstration of groundwater flow. Students will learn about...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: How Full Is Full?
During this activity, students will learn about porosity and permeability and relate these concepts to groundwater flow. Students will use simple materials to conduct a porosity experiment and use the information to understand how...