Curated OER
Snack Attack: Food Packaging Activity
Students design and create packaging material for food. For this snack attack lesson, students design a package to protect a food item from heat and water. Students consider costs of materials, design, and test the package to see if it...
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You Be the Judge
Young scholars research and evaluate a case considered by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. They watch a Bill Moyers video, conduct a debate, and write about the decision they would make if they...
Curated OER
Is That Legal? A Case of Acid Rain
Develop an environmental case study! Elementary learners discover how a case study is used as an analysis tool. The goal of this activity is to show pupils how techniques of persuasion (including background, supporting evidence,...
Curated OER
Construction of a Microscale Fuel Cell
Fuel cells are being called the "energy source" of the future. Allow your high school chemistry class to construct a miscroscale fuel cell, complete with all components to generate energy. This engaging activity will allow them to apply...
Curated OER
Fitting In-Animals' Adaptations to Their Environment
In this animals' adaptation to their environment worksheet, students read for comprehension and ability to apply knowledge. In this T-Chart and creative activities worksheet, students answer three questions.
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Rockets on a Shoestring Budget
Students, operating under simulated budget constraints, build pop-rockets and launch them. Working in pairs, they complete budget worksheets and use their "Blast Off Bucks" to pay for the construction. They then redesign their rockets...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Capillary Action
Explore capillary action from different perspectives. In the fourth installment of a nine-part series, scholars perform several experiments to observe capillary action. They look at the meniscus of water in a glass, observe capillary...
Teach Engineering
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of several garbage patches around the world where garbage accumulates naturally. As part of a GIS unit that combines oceanography, environmental science, and life science, class members investigate...
Teach Engineering
Properties of Mixtures vs. Solutions: Mix It Up!
Now it becomes crystal clear why the unit is called Mixtures and Solutions. The fifth installment of a six-part unit explores mixtures and solutions. After viewing a demonstration on mixing pebbles with water, salt with water, and...
Teach Engineering
Microbes Know How to Work!
Scholars harness the power of microbes with an engaging activity that uses yeast to break down sugar in water. Multiple setups of the same experiment lets learners determine which temperature results in the fastest rate of sugar...
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Hydrology: Flood Mitigation
Twelfth graders discuss the factors that affect flooding. In this environmental science lesson plan, 12th graders analyze rainfall data about flooding. They complete a scavenger hunt worksheet using the internet.
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Who's Down the Well?
Students identify several sources of contaminants to groundwater. They discuss the movement of possible contaminants through that groundwater from outside sources. They describe how environmental engineers analyze contaminants to...
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How Full is Full?
Young scholars examine porosity and permeability and relate these concepts to groundwater flow. They use simple materials to conduct a porosity experiment and use the information to understand how environmental engineers decide on the...
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Rights or Fights
High schoolers identify and explain the four doctrines of groundwater use law. Students compare and contrast the doctrines of groundwater use law; High schoolers also research and decide on a groundwater case based on the groundwater...
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Earth's History
Seventh graders study the law of superposition by creating models of fossils in layers of rock. They examine how fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock which leads to the study of geologic history in those rocks.
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Designing an Ecologically Sound City
Fifth graders design an "ecologically sound" city. They write laws for the city to help make all citizens aware of their ecological responsibilities and propose alternative power sources for light and heat.
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Parallel Timelines
Twelfth graders research the history of how a particular environmental issue moves through the Conservation Movement. They create timelines that show the progression of public sentiment and the legislation about the issue.
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Examining a Hazardous Waste Site
Young scholars identify activities that produce hazardous waste. They examine how contaminants are spread in air and water. They work together to create a model to show how the contaminants move through water.
Teach Engineering
Chromatography Lab
Groups use alcohol and chromatography paper to separate the color components of black ink. The purpose of the activity is to allow the class to become aware that mixtures exist in hidden places.
Teach Engineering
Capillarity – Measuring Surface Tension
How do cohesion and adhesion work together? The third installment of a nine-part series teaches young scientists the difference between adhesion and cohesion. They also learn how cohesion and adhesion work together to cause capillary...
Teach Engineering
Density Column Lab - Part 2
Groups suspend objects within layers of liquids to determine the densities of different liquids and compare them to the densities of objects calculated in Part 1. The groups then carefully test their calculations by layering the liquids...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Winning Guest Village in the Saguaro National Park
Don't desert a resource on the desert! Scholars work in groups to build on their ideas from the previous lesson to design a sustainable guest village in the Saguaro National Park. Each group produces a PowerPoint presentation to share...
Curated OER
Power, Work and the Waterwheel
Middle schoolers use a two-liter bottle, dowel rod and index cards to design and construct a water wheel. They then calculate the power created and measure the work done by the water wheel in Watts and Joules.
Curated OER
Nutrition: It's In Your Hands
Fourth graders use this activity to focus on their health, nutrition and the state of the environment. In groups, they examine the various types of land, water and air pollutants and compare and contrast a food chain with and without a...