Students explore energy production by participating in a class discussion. In this renewable energy instructional activity, students discuss the differences between solar, coal, wind and fossil fuel energy sources and why some are better...

Take photos of human activities that impact air quality. Collaborative groups present one of the photographs, identifying how the activity contributes to air quality and what can be done to minimize the impact. As one in a series of...

What rights are guaranteed to students? Do they align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations in 1948? Middle and high schoolers present persuasive arguments about the rights they believe...

Galapagos Penguins are the only penguins on earth that live north of the equator (in the wild). In this last lesson plan a discussion on how the Galapagos islands developed their populations and diversity sparks the introduction. Two...

Many people know about chemical pollution, but are all chemicals bad? The third unit in a series of six addresses chemicals common in everyday life. Scholars learn about the chemicals found in their own homes, chemical safety, and...

When Captain John Smith visited the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1608, what types of animals and habitats did he encounter? Your young historians will analyze primary source documents to answer this question, as well as compare...

When it comes to the environment, no variable is constant. Class members graph behavior over time for the thneeds produced over truffula trees chopped down over the course of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. 

Is progress progressing too fast? So believes the Lorax, the eponymous character from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. Young environmental science young scholars read the book and debate the arguments of the Lorax and the Once-ler regarding...

Do your part to make manufacturing more manageable. A capstone project challenges each group to identify and research a manufacturing process for a product. To complete the activity, they create a presentation for business and community...

Community leaders try to make choices that protect the community and the environment. Little ones learn about how tribal communities look to their chief to guide the decision-making process. Your class will become part of the community...

Hydrology hopefuls learn about their local watershed. Through discussion and online interactives, they see that their habits affect the water supply. The lesson concludes with a pledge to filter out bad water usage habits. It makes a...

High schoolers examine the "quiet crisis," the lack of clean water, by reading articles and viewing video clips. They discuss the situations in Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, and Nepal. There are two options for the activity, but one of them...

An informative set of slides inspects the Willamette River. Hydropower dams, agriculture, and the presence of major cities on its banks have led to increased bacteria, temperature, and mercury content as well as skeletal deformities in...

Sprouting scientists explore the concept of density by making mass and volume measurements for five different liquids. From these measurements, they calculate densities. They apply their learning to explain Galileo's thermometer works...

Does the human body evolve as quickly as human culture? With a stellar 15-minute video, explore the trait of lactose intolerance. Only about 1/3 of human adults seem to still have the enzyme lactase and therefore, the ability to digest...

A read-aloud anthology closely examines human impact on the Earth while boosting reading comprehension skills. Through stories, scholars examine the concepts of natural resources, pollution, garbage, and recycling and brainstorm...

Is qualitative or quantitative research more convincing when it comes to climate change? In the eighth lesson during this 21-part series, scholars begin by performing a quantitative analysis of deforestation and urbanization. Then, they...

Earth science explorers design an experiment to demonstrate that the albedo of a surface affects its temperature. They test to find out if moisture on the surface affects temperature. They discover whether or not concrete or asphalt heat...

It is recommended that you conduct this fabulous experiment as a whole-class demonstration. Collect air samples from the environment, human exhalation, and car exhaust, then compare them for carbon dioxide content using bromthymol blue...

How does nature's hierarchy relate to our local human environment? Answer this question, along with others, as the class visually depicts the natural hierarchy provided by nature. Pupils discuss each piece of the pyramid and its energy...

Class members use an air quality monitor to measure the amount of gas-phase pollutants emitted by different sources. Groups choose three different sources and make predictions about what the monitors will detect. Teams then expose...

Discuss with learners why farms are growing in size and why there is sometimes conflict between farmers and their non-farming neighbors. Read the article, "Living With the Farm Next Door," and then craft letters to the editor from the...

Introduce ecology classes to biodiversity and interdependence in ecosystems with a PowerPoint presentation. Then, they get up-close and personal with the invertebrate world by collecting insects, classifying them, and graphing their...

Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...