Curated OER
Re: Forest Station
Students read an online article to explore rainforests of the world starting with the Barro Colorado reserve in the Panama Canal. They participate in a mock international summit about rainforest conservation issues.
Curated OER
Genetically-Modified Food
Students investigate the pros and cons of genetic engineering. They watch a short Bill Moyers video, conduct Internet research, create a poster, participate in a pro/con debate, and write an essay expressing their personal feelings on...
Curated OER
Feeling the Heat
Students investigate the urban heat island effect. In this urban heat island effect lesson, students learn how trees, grass, asphalt, and other things on the school grounds effect temperature. They use the information to generalize it to...
Alabama Learning Exchange
The Sun and the Earth
Third graders study and diagram the positions of the Earth and sun during the four seasons. They predict weather for cities in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Curated OER
Heat Pollution and Communities
Students examine thermal pollution by collecting temperature data on the school's photovoltaic panel. Students collect data for four consecutive days and retrieve information from other classes that meet at different times of the day. ...
Curated OER
Understanding Biodiversity Via Ecological Footprints
Sixth graders investigate the ways in which human beings impact the environment and ecology through the calculation of their own ecological footprint, discussion questions pertaining to biodiversity and potential imbalance hazards, and...
Curated OER
The Nutrient Cycles
Students investigate the circle of sea life by creating nitrogen compound models. For this oceanography lesson, students discuss sea creatures and where their waste goes. Students identify nitrogen cycles in the ocean by...
Curated OER
Coral Reef Conservation
Students conduct discussions on current threats to coral reefs around the world and write letters to conservation organizations urging support for coral reef protection.
Curated OER
The Cream of the Crop
Young scholars read and discuss article, "Simple Method Found to Vastly Increase Crop Yields," then research the basic components of conventional and organic agricultural methods. They, in groups, organize and present their research to...
Curated OER
Greenhouse in a Bottle
Students create models of the greenhouse effect using recycled 2-liter bottles. They discuss how their models compares to the real greenhouse effect the earth experiences.
Curated OER
State of the Planet's Wildlife
Students view and discuss a video about the challenges facing wildlife on the planet Earth. They define key terms, watch the video, and answer discussion questions about the film.
Curated OER
Endangered species
Students define the following words: extinction, endangered species, meteorite collision, glaciation and climate warming. They investigate that there are 307 species on the endangered list, and an average of 10-20 species are added each...
Curated OER
Going the Way the Wind Blows
Students examine the cause and effect relationship between geography and ancient civilizations. After reading an article, they determine how new findings can help scientists examine the migration patterns of these civilizations. Using...
Curated OER
Sea Level Trends ~ Ocean Front Property: An "Immerging" Market
Young oceanographers take a look at sea level data from several cities over a few centuries. They use the data to fuel a discussion about what kind of changes are taking place and the impact they are having on the coastal ecosystems....
Curated OER
Environment or Economy?
Students develop counterarguments to John Mizzoni's article on business sustainability. In this economics vs. environment lesson, students present examples of greenwashing and support them with rationale. They also discuss whether...
Curated OER
Fractional Distillation
Students brainstorm the different uses of petroleum distillates. In this chemistry lesson, students explain the process of fractional distillation. They analyze the impact of oil extraction to the environment.
Curated OER
Introduction To Orbital Mechanics
Students use NASA drawings to build a model satellite for a specific mission. They design a set of drawings for their satellite showing its subsystems as well.
Curated OER
Technology-Lesson 3-Putting Technology to Work
Students explain the use of different technologies based on their resolving power. Explain how technologies are used to solve scientific and health-related problems. Explain the concept of using right tool for the job and develop a multi...
Curated OER
Bridges: Local, National and Global Connections
Fifth graders examine the role of bridges in commerce and transportation. They create a schedule for building a bridge and how much money it would take to build one.
Curated OER
Chinese Inventions A Selected History of Science and Invention in China
Students study the history of Chinese technology by identifying when and where items were invented or discovered.
Curated OER
Trouble in the Troposphere
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...
Curated OER
Radiation Reassessed
Students investigate the dangers of radiation by exploring recent nuclear tragedies. In this scientific debate lesson, students define the idea of radiation "half life" and determine if low doses of radiation are truly damaging to...
Curated OER
America the Bountiful
Fifth graders explore the impact exploration and colonization of North America had on human history. In this American colonies lesson, 5th graders compare differences between colonial areas. Students investigate the global impact of...