Is river pollution affecting the number of visitors to Riverside Center, and is the factory built upstream the cause of the pollution? Let your class be the judge, literally, as they weigh the statistical evidence offered by the factory...

Decide on the most efficient plan to supply drinking water. The second project-based learning task in a two-part series builds upon the first project. Pupils revisit the wells to supply drinking water, but they must make sure the...

Explain the timing of a lake cleanup to the EPA using calculus. A project-based learning opportunity has learners compare rate functions to compute a total change. Their solutions explain the time needed to rid a lake of pollutants.

Lead the way in learning about lead contamination. Pupils first read several articles about the Flint water crisis and the EPA's rules for lead concentration. They use provided data from 71 Flint water wells to compute the 90th...

Statistically, waste may become a problem in the future if people do not take action. Using their knowledge of statistics and data representation, pupils take a look at the idea of waste generation. The four-part unit has class members...

Groundwater is an essential natural resource, not to mention a fascinating topic to study. Here is a series of twelve amazing lessons on the water source and how we use it in our daily lives. Concepts require higher math and physics...

Introduce the topic of water conservation with a little drama. Dressed as snowflakes, hail stones, or rain drops class members dramatize the events in a narration of the water cycle. The series of lessons that follow focus on...

It's shark week! In this problem, young mathematically minded marine biologists need to study the fish population by analyzing data over time. The emphasis is on understanding the average rate of change of the population and drawing...

Here is an activity that presents a real-world problem about the relationship between crude oil production and the gas mileage of modern automobiles. After learners write functions to describe the relationships, they are asked to...

An interesting example of a discrete function and how it is applies to the real world. This could easily make a good collaborative lesson plan with an environmental science class. Practice reading a table and drawing a scatter plot make...

Students participate in a number of activities that reinforce the knowledge they have learned from previous units over waste management.

Students observe and describe, both orally and in writing. the different forms of water on the surface of the Earth and measure the approximate size of an iceberg. They also estimate and measure the amount of ice that floats above the...

A lesson on classification and sorting is here for you. Elementary schoolers participate in an interactive computer game in which they sort books by theme. They take a trip to the library to observe and discuss how books are sorted, and...

The article for this lesson no longer accessible through the links in the lesson plan, but can be found in the National Center for Biotechnology Information website. After reading it, environmental science young scholars answer questions...

Students use real data to create an algebraic equation. They explain how the build up of small levels of contaminates can quickly become detrimental to species higher in the food chain.

In this radon gas activity, students read about the harmful effects of radon exposure over time. They use a map that shows radon gas zones to answer 3 questions about exposure to the gas and the amount of radiation that humans get from...

Students take a survey of energy-consuming appliances in their homes and calculate the daily cost of operating these machines. They identify those appliances that consume the most energy and consider ways to reduce the amount of energy...

Young scholars examine how to calculate the part-per-million and part-per-billion units used to measure contaminant concentrations in the environment. They calculate ratios, take a quiz, analyze a sample chemical spill, and determine if...

Middle schoolers Use data sets from MY NASA DATA to produce graphs comparing monthly and yearly ozone averages of several U.S. cities. They analyze and evaluate the data and predict trends based on the data. In addition, they discuss and...

Sixth graders gather and graph information regarding the pH of rain. Working cooperatively with an internet partner, 6th graders gather and record information about the pH of the rain in their local area. They graph this information...

Students will compare the data for different locations that they select and investigate trends over the course of a number of years. This will give the students an opportunity to apply statistical measures (mean, median,mode) to data...

Students assess the environmental impact of their transportation choices. They keep a transportation journal and use a website to calculate vehicle emissions for themselves and their class. They evaluate their transportation choices.

Students determine the areas of New Jersey and the US that are likely to have high radon concentrations. Students draw a map of their own neighborhood that show soil associations in their neighborhood.

Students produce manufactured good, barter for sales, encounter government officials, make choices about emissions, trade carbon credits and share findings in order to understand how carbon trading could affect industry from an economic...