Channel Islands Film
Restoration Channel Islands Debate
Introduce learners to the debate format with an activity that uses the National Park Service's controversial Channel Islands restoration program as a topic. Class members learn how to generate provocative debate questions, how to prepare...
Channel Islands Film
Once Upon a Time (Saxipak’a): Lesson Plan 4
How did the environment and natural resources found on the Channel islands influence the culture of the Chumash? Archaeology meets technology in an activity designed for middle schoolers. After viewing West of The West's documentary Once...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ocean Acidification
Human impacts on the environment can sometimes be difficult to measure, especially under water! An activity centered on ocean acidification gives science scholars the opportunity to examine the effects of carbon dioxide on marine life....
Curated OER
Germs and Your Body
Students study germs and ways your body fights against disease. In this germs lesson students complete an activity that demonstrates where germs can get into your body.
Curated OER
Elephant Seals - Evolution
Students create posters or skits based on specific adaptive characteristics of elephant seals.
Curated OER
Off the Grid
Students examine the advantages and disadvantages of renewable and non renewable energy sources. In this engineering lesson students explain what it means for a house to be "off the grid".
Curated OER
Passive Solar Design
Students study what passive solar design is for buildings and structures. In this solar design lesson students identify passive solar design techniques.
Curated OER
Clean Energy: Hydro-power
Students read about and discuss renewable and non renewable energy and identify how a dam produced energy using hydro-power. In this water energy lesson plan, students look at diagrams and pictures of water energy technology.
Michigan Sea Grant
Wetlands
Wetlands may not sound particularly ornate, but they are as important as any habitat! With a hands-on activity, young scientists build a wetland model and observe its many functions in action. They discover the importance of wetlands to...
Curated OER
Seasoning the School Year
Students observe the changes a class tree goes through as the seasons change and record observations in journals. They investigate changes in the weather, changes in the length of the day, and how that affects people. They create...
Michigan Sea Grant
Food Chains and Webs
Starting with a simple food chain, young scientists interpret the difference and interrelatedness between herbivores, carnivores and producers. They answer questions related to cause and effect of food chain disruptions, including the...
Michigan Sea Grant
Water Quantity
It may be tricky for a young mind to conceptualize that less than 1% of all water on earth is useable for humans to drink. Simulating the amount of fresh water available on earth by removing measured amounts of water from a five-gallon...
Curated OER
I Feel Renewed!
Students participate in a simulation of the equal and unequal distribution of the earth's renewable resources. They discuss renewable resources and how food resources can increase and decrease, participate in the simulation, and analyze...
Curated OER
Make Your Own Recycled Paper
Paper Lesson Plan - Students discover how paper is made. Working together, they make their own paper. This activity introduces students to recycling; what it is and its importance. Students study the process of how paper is made, and...
Curated OER
This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land
Students review and evaluate the ways land is covered and used in their local community. They consider the environmental effects of the different types of land use. Students act as community planning engineers to determine where to place...
Curated OER
What Color is Your Air Today?
Students investigate air quality. They analyze Air Quality Index data tables, interpret the graphs, complete a worksheet, and discuss trends in air quality.
Curated OER
Let's Bag It
Young scholars observe and discuss a vacuum cleaner model of a baghouse to better understand how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution. They give examples of when the use of a baghouse is...
Curated OER
The Search for Secret Agents
Students embark on a scavenger hunt around the school looking for indoor air pollution and mapping source locations. They predict and observe sources of indoor air pollution, understand and give examples of technologies we use related to...
Curated OER
Keep Spreading the News
Students examine the significance of communication in an engineer's life. They develop a list of ways engineers communicate with others, and write a book, newspaper, or story about engineers' role in the environment.