Curated OER
Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum
Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...
Curated OER
Is That Legal? A Case of Acid Rain
Develop an environmental case study! Elementary learners discover how a case study is used as an analysis tool. The goal of this activity is to show pupils how techniques of persuasion (including background, supporting evidence,...
Baylor College
Dust Catchers
In class, your emerging environmentalists construct dust catchers. They take them home for a week or two, and then bring them back into class to examine under a magnifier. From this activity, they learn what makes up dust and that...
Curated OER
Creating Public Awareness - Indoor Air Quality
Students design a poster about indoor air quality. In this indoor air quality lesson plan, students make a billboard that tells the occupants of a building about at least one air quality problem.
Curated OER
Air Matters
Students research the affects that particulate matter has on the quality of our air and our health. Students analyze a streaming video on air pollution and complete an internet research assignment to find ways to reduce particulate...
Curated OER
Webquest: Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease in Ghana
Students examine the impact of Guinea Worm Disease. For this world issues lesson, students take on the roles of Peace Corps Volunteers. Students will apply their knowledge of the Guinea worm life cycle to create a plan for eradicating...
Curated OER
Final Project Presentations: Water Quality
Pupils synthesize the information they have been researching on water quality to evaluate the potential health risks in a region with arsenic contamination. They prepare and present a persuasive speech that incorporates visuals.
Baylor College
Fungus Among Us
In order to learn that mold spores can be found in the air, observers grow bread mold and make observations for a few days. Afterward, they participate in a class discussion to arrive at the knowledge that bread spores are present in the...
Curated OER
Air Terms: The Flash Card Game
Fifth graders define vocabulary words regarding air quality. In small groups, they match magazine pictures or create illustrations for definitions and terms, and share the flash cards with their group.
Curated OER
The Awful 8: A Play
Young scholars perform a play that presents the causes and effects on people and the environment of the eight major air pollutants.
Curated OER
Dust Busters to the Rescue
Students examine the importance of cleaning up and preventing indoor air pollution. They investigate how cleaning can reduce the harmful health effects of indoor air pollution.
Curated OER
Sample Activity From The Water Sourcebook
Students explore septic system failures and contamination of groundwater. The complete a worksheet to explore the basic parts of a septic system. In a lab situation, students simulate a septic system failure. They explore coliform...
Curated OER
Toxic Transmission
Students read article, "Toxic Transmission" and discuss technology pollution, specifically cell phone pollution and its ripple effects in other parts of the world.
Curated OER
Air Quality Trivia Time
Middle schoolers identify and analyze what the Air Quality Index (AQI) is and how it works. They review ways that "unhealthy" or "hazardous" days could be prevented and draw and color something that they can do to help reduce air...
Curated OER
Environment: Assess Your Habitat's Health
Students research their ecozone in Canada and label on maps various parks and wildlife areas. They role-play as doctors with their ecozones as patients and search for symptoms from pollution, urbanization, loss of habitat, and decline of...
Curated OER
Nutrition: It's In Your Hands
Fourth graders use this lesson to focus on their health, nutrition and the state of the environment. In groups, they examine the various types of land, water and air pollutants and compare and contrast a food chain with and without a...
Curated OER
Environmental Health Hazards and Children
Students are introduced to the environmental hazards their community is facing. In groups, they develop a list of the ways humans have changed the Earth and how these changes have lead to environmental hazards. They record their...
Baylor College
What Is a One Part Per Million Solution?
Water may appear to be crystal clear, but there could be dissolved substances present. Lab groups make a one-part-per-million of a food coloring solution to demonstrate this concept. As part of an outstanding unit about water, this...
Curated OER
Good News - We're on the Rise!
Students build and observe a simple aneroid barometer to discover changes in barometric pressure and weather forecasting. They graph changes in barometric pressure for two weeks and make weather predictions.
Curated OER
Caution: Fix It!
Students explore the concept of environmental stewardship. In this science lesson plan, students investigate events that have harmed coastal resources and how human activity has restored coastal resources.
Carnegie Mellon University
Transportation
Teach your environmental studies, life science, or engineering class how an internal combustion engine works using the first few slides of the accompanying presentation. Then, focus in on the resulting carbon emissions. Finally, take a...
Curated OER
Diesel Bus Case Study
Students research the diesel retrofit program underway in Norwich, Connecticut and identify the health risks of diesel fumes - in particular the emissions of fumes from school buses. They outline ways of reducing diesel emissions.
Curated OER
Groundwater: Cleaning Up
Students research the various aspects of groundwater contamination that threaten health and human safety. They create a model and display that informs other about the health and safety risks. Students illustrate ways in which these...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Investigating Issues That Matter
Pupils are able to become more informed about the dangers of water contamination by sharing their prior knowledge with each other. They discover the importance of communicating these dangers to the public.