Curated OER
Beyond Organic?
Pupils examine the critiques of organic agriculture and its production and marketing approaches. In this sustainable agriculture instructional activity students study how the ideas about ethics of the food system are changing.
Curated OER
The State of the Planet
Learners address four different environmental topics (water issues, the threat of food shortages, human population growth, and global warming) as they watch a film and discuss the future of the earth. In groups, they complete various...
Curated OER
The Trail of a Snack Food
Students identify some of their favorite snack foods. Using this information, they discover the resources needed to produce the food. In groups, they research different alternatives to make their favorite food in order to protect the...
Curated OER
Toward a Sustainable Agriculture
Your class considers a case study of a sustainable agro-ecosystem and view a PowerPoint presentation about a sustainable farm. They complete a case study worksheet. Extension activities are included.
Curated OER
Energetic Energy: A Child?s Guide to Responsible Energy Use
Students explore how energy transforms into heat. In this energy instructional activity students create models and find a need for fuel to make a Stirling engine.
Curated OER
Biomass: The Energy of the Future
Students research renewable fuels. In this alternative energy lesson, students compile information and create a comparison chart on renewable resources. This lesson includes additional suggested readings, vocabulary, and a Biomass...
Curated OER
How Much Radiation is Around You?
Students examine the use, misuse and fear of radiation. They read an article about radiation on food and discuss the positives and negatives of this process. They answer questions to complete the lesson.
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Production of Biofuels Set to Rise
In this ESL worksheet, students read or listen to an article about the production of biofuels. Students complete all or some of the 100 activities available here including discussion, listening, vocabulary and comprehension.
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 5: In Defense Of Cities
Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...
Curated OER
Cooking with the Sun
Students explore using energy from the sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. This excellent two-day lesson has groups of students build and test a variety of solar cookers....
Curated OER
Make Your Own Biodegradable Plastic Stuff
Students identify the four basic natural resources. They distinguish bettween renewable and non-renewable resources. Pupils recognize that all natural resources are needed by living plants and animals. Students list consequences for...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Students discover that material and energy uses by a city come from outside the city boundaries. They realize that the pathway of these material is linear instead of cyclical as they are in natural ecosystems.
Curated OER
Sources of Energy
Fifth graders take a close look at how energy changes from one form to another within their surroundings. They also study the ten different sources of energy and determine which are renewable and which are non-renewable. This seven-page...
Curated OER
What is pH and Why is It Important?
Students investigate about acids, bases, and pH and relate this information to the problem of acid deposition. They use pH paper, students test common household substances to determine whether they are acidic, basic, or neutral. Pupils...
Curated OER
Green Chemistry
The principles of pollution control on a molecular level are summarised here. The reasoning and study behind the principles are described, and your class will undestand how some techniques are developed to be more efficient.
California Academy of Science
Composting: A Scientific Investigation: California Academy of Sciences
Garbage, recycle, compost: Does it really matter where we put our trash once we are done? By making detailed observations over seven weeks, kids will see which materials break down naturally to become a healthy part of the soil, and...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
Dive into the power of the sun with a two-part activity. Budding scientists model the greenhouse effect in a hands-on activity, and then participate in a skit that explores the earth's energy balances and what really occurs in the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Carbon Footprint
Unplugging from technology for one day per week will decrease your carbon footprint—are you up to the challenge? Part two in a series of three allows individuals to explore their personal carbon footprints. By first taking a quiz at home...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Ecological Footprint
You can lower your ecological footprint by recycling! Lesson four in this series of five has individuals, through the use of a computer, calculate their ecological footprints. Through discussions and analysis they determine how many...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is important, for without it, life on Earth would not exist. An activity that includes modeling the greenhouse effect and acting out the Earth's energy balance makes up the first part in a series of seven lessons....
Curated OER
Prairie People
Eighth graders interview a person who explains the lifestyles of people who lived on the prairies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They examine how today's lifestyles impact the environment and write up what they learned.
Curated OER
Human Impact Starts with?
What kind of effects do humans have on their environment? Review key anthropogenic vocabulary with a fill-in-the-blank handout. You may wish to use this as an ongoing glossary, review before a test, or even create a crossword puzzle or...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...
Curated OER
Cooking with the Sun!
Students access prior knowledge of solar energy and understand that solar energy produces heat. In this solar cooker lesson, students complete grade appropriate experiments using the heat of the sun. Students complete a worksheet on...