Curated OER
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Students explore organic and inorganic objects. In this environmental lesson plan students perform a composting experiment using flowers in different soils. Students record their observations.
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Trash Inventions
Second graders develop a plan to recycle trash. For this environmental science lesson, 2nd graders sketch their invention and construct it. They present the final product in class.
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Eco-Detectives
Students explore natural decomposers. In this decomposing lesson, students participate in a WebQuest to discover how nature handles decomposition. Students compare natural methods for decomposition with recycling efforts.
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Everything's Connected
Students explore how trash decomposes. In this ecosystem lesson, students discuss new vocabulary words, such as producers and consumers, and think critically to answer how landfills work.
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Carbon Footprint Estimator
Young scholars discover what a Carbon Footprint represents. For this sustainable lifestyle lesson, students determine their Carbon Footprint as an individual and as a class. Young scholars use a the Internet to calculate how many earths...
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Reusing Winter Waste
Young scholars use waste materials to build a snowman decoration. In this reusing lesson, students create a new object out of disposable items left over from the holidays. Young scholars discuss ways of cutting down waste. Students...
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The Environment and You
First graders examine the human environmental impact and discover ways to lessen effects. They create a pollution damage flow chart and write down what they think Mother Earth might say. They create inventions from recyclable materials.
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Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
Students determine the importance of recycling to reduce waste, to employ trash in useful ways, and to save the environment. They estimate the percentages of landfill waste that items constitute, based on what they found in their own...
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Trash Bashing
Students define trash, garbage, or solid waste, discuss ways of disposing of trash, list examples of biodegradable materials, and have trash relay race in order to sort trash into appropriate containers labeled biodegradable, reusable,...
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After the Garbage Can: Where Does Our Trash Go?
Young scholars explore how waste disposal has changed over time and what the current issues are. In this disposal activity students collect data and create graphs.
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It's Not Easy Being Green
Young scholars complete a unit that focuses on their school's waste production. They conduct a litter survey, collect the waste produced in their classroom for a week and generate a waste-audit, and identify how their school can...
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Environmental Fair
Students investigate environmental issues. In this environmental lesson, students find an object that is considered trash and make something useful out of it. Students present their creative project.
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Household Hazardous Waste Identification
Fourth graders learn about reduce, reuse, and recycle and identify household hazardous products. Students learn about less hazardous alternatives and complete an inventory of hazardous materials in a typical household.
PBS
Cloud Clues
It's cloudy with a good chance of learning! An inquiry-based lesson begins with an exploration of transparent, translucent, and opaque materials. Young scientists then connect their learning to the different cloud types as they take the...
PBS
Blowin’ in the Wind
Wind energy is making a comeback recently, and classes will want to take part! A hands-on lesson asks groups to build their own windmill that will lift a cup with varying weight. They use their windmill designs to experiment with angles,...
Curated OER
Recycling
Students examine different "cycles" that are found in nature, such as the water cycle and recycling. They create their own artwork about cycles to be displayed on a bulletin board
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Reclamation and Recycling
Middle schoolers examine the many uses of mined lands after reclamation has been completed and discover the importance of recycling finding the difference between manufacturing with recycled materials and newly extracted materials.
Curated OER
Reclamation and Recycling
Students learn the importance of plants and animals, ecosystems and habitats... and see how these factors guide mining reclamation projects. They then discover the importance of recycling, and the difference between manufacturing with...
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Soild Waste and Recycling
In this unit of lessons, students examine solid waste and recycling. They discover the concept of decomposition. They also observe the decomposition process and make observatins.
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All About Aluminum
Students examine the metal aluminum. In this metal properties instructional activity, students experiment to distinguish between aluminum and other metals. Students assess how aluminum is created and recycled.
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Plastic Polymers
Pupils learn about plastic. In this plastic polymers lesson, students examine the properties of plastic, its variety of uses and how it is recycled.
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So Many Cookies...So Much Packaging
Students explore the way packaging is used in the distribution of goods. For this packaging lesson, students investigate how packaging is used, what resources are used to make it and ways it can be recycled.
Curated OER
Classroom Trash Audit
Students investigate solid waste. In this environmental instructional activity, students collect their own garbage for a day and analyze the weight and the percentage of recyclable items in their trash.
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Lunchroom Trash
Students explore the amount of waste produced by humans. In this ecology lesson, students predict which lunch bag and its contents will produce the most waste. Leftover material is examined, amounts are recorded, and a bar graph is...