Curated OER
Reading a Local and National Weather Map
High schoolers practice reading a national and local weather map. Using this information, they work together to make predictions about the weather for the next few days. They discuss the use of symbols and maps as a class and discuss...
Newspaper Association of America
Community Connections with Geography and the Newspaper
Understanding geography and government begins at the local level. Using maps and the parts of a newspaper, a unit plan introduces the concept of community. It starts with the creation of classroom and school maps, and then moves through...
Curated OER
Local River Life
Learners identify rivers in their county, state, or province, and
research various kinds of animals and plants living in or near the rivers.
They write short summaries about the animals and plant life, draw pictures, and compile...
Curated OER
Pollute Locally, Spread It Globally
Students examine the rate of pollution throughout the world through an interactive program. They define air quality and the air quality index. They examine fuel economy and its impact on the Earth and renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Curated OER
Water Quality of Local Lakes
Students research the quality of water in a regional lake of West Bloomfield in the past and present. They compare conditions of the lake, past and present. They then give examples of local and regional human activities that may have had...
Energy for Keeps
The Energy Times
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
Curated OER
Recycling: Problem solved or problem ongoing?
Students research on the Web, magazines, and newspapers the extent of waste and recycling situation has been solved. They focus on the community, get facts and figures to show how recycling goes on there.
Curated OER
TV Weather Announcers
Elementary schoolers collect and record weather data for their local area using data from newspapers, Web sites, and television reports. The read and record data daily, and groups prepare a presentation on their findings for the entire...
Curated OER
What's Your Temperature?
Learners take a look at the local newspaper and focus on the weather section. They get into small groups, and each one looks at the same map, but of a different part of the country. They must prepare a presentation that shows how...
Curated OER
Peace Corps Challenge—Solving the Water Quality Issue
Students create a Wanzuzu newspaper. In this Peace Corps lesson plan, students participate in a discussion regarding water pollution in Wanzuzu. Students conduct further research about the issue and create newspapers that detail the...
Curated OER
Proud to Recycle Worksheet
In this recycling worksheet, learners put a check mark next to the items from a list that are recycled in their local area. They determine which items are curbside recyclables and which are drop-off items. They examine pictures of...
Curated OER
Touring Through the Beginning of Earth
Young scholars simulate the role of reporters and research two major theories on how the Earth was formed. They create and write a series of newspaper articles on the theories of beginning life on Earth for the newspaper's front page.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Recent Weather Patterns
Decide whether weather is changing! A two-part activity first challenges classes to review the differences between weather and climate. Once finished, individuals then analyze historical data to determine if climate change is happening...
National Park Service
News Bearly Fit to Print
There are an average of three human fatalities by bears in North America every year, which is low when you compare it to the 26 killed by dogs and the 90 killed by lightning annually. The lesson encourages researching human-bear...
Curated OER
Water: Read All About It!
Students discuss newspapers and water and work in groups to develop their own paper focusing on water issues. In this journalism instructional activity, students discuss the value of newspapers and water as an issue. They work as a group...
Curated OER
Operation Weather Station
Students work in cooperative groups to create a working weather station. Tkey use the weather station to collect weather data over a one-week period. Students compare the data from their weather station to actual weather information...
Curated OER
Pressures and Responsibities
Young scholars recognize some of the physical dangers of smoking. They discuss personal responsibilities regarding smoking and peruse magazines and newspapers to find at least one tobacco advertisement.
Curated OER
Frogs Losing Ground
Students explore an exhibit through an interactive program on frogs. They can listen to the different sounds frogs make and the different types of frogs. They search for the types of frogs they find in their local area.
Curated OER
Activity #7 Recycling of Newsprint
Students illustrate the paper recycling process. They collect and weigh all the newspapers that come to their house in a week's time. Pupils multiply this number by all the weeks in a yeat and again by an estimate of the number of...
Curated OER
Weather Timeline
Students create a timeline of historical weather events in Bedfordshire, England. In this local weather instructional activity, students interview elders, research the Internet and newspapers to gather information about weather events of...
Curated OER
Weather
Students read a weather map. Using the local newspaper, Columbus Dispatch, small groups investigate that air has pressure and that temperature and pressure are inversely related in weather. They display their findings on a graph or...
Curated OER
Local Environmental Issues: Pollution
Third graders discuss the ways in which human interaction with the environment and production of waste products contribute to pollution. Through a pollution demonstration, they explain how various groups of plants and animals can be...
Curated OER
Meteorology
Fourth graders study how atmospheric conditions change while naming the things that make the weather change. They investigate the affects of air masses, weather fronts and high/low pressure by looking at weather maps from newspapers.
Curated OER
Current Events and Fish
Fifth graders examine current events impacting aquatic life in their communities. They search for newspaper, magazine and television reports for information about aquatic life in local bodies of water. Students can write letters to...