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Solid Waste Management
Sixth graders examine the role of packaging of everyday products and urge manufacturers to reduce the amount of it. They also discover how many products they use everyday can be recycled.
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Examining Infiltration Rates of Various Soil Types
Students formulate their own hypothesis, determine which variables are important to test their hypothesis, design an experiment in which they collect data. They utilize instruments and tools to measure, calculate, and organize data.
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Food Chains And Webs
Middle schoolers investigate the concept of soil and all its components. They collect samples from a local site and transplant it into a terrarium. Students identify the organic elements, clay ,silt, and other forms of debris. They also...
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Give Me Back My School: A Back to Basics Approach to Ecological Restoration
Ninth graders research local geography to create successful, ecological school landscaping. They determine soil type, average weather patterns and temperature graphs and use the information to select ideal plants and plant maintenance...
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Horticulture Crops in the agro-ecosystem
Ninth graders apply ecological analysis to fruit and vegetable production systems. In this horticulture lesson students learn about different management practices.
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Can You "Gas" What's Happening?
Learners examine gas production in "soil" samples through hands on activities and class discussions, to determine if the soil samples have contain living or non-living systems.
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Landfills: Building Them Better
Students investigate the three methods of waste disposal. They listen to a teacher-led lecture, answer discussion questions, and write a letter to the E.P.A. from the viewpoint of an environmental engineer.
Curated OER
Water, Water, Everywhere and Always on the Move
Pupils create their own water cycle in a terrarium. In this water cycle lesson, students research the water cycle and complete a worksheet using the Internet. They create a water cycle of their own in a jar with stones, sand, soil, and...
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How Long Until Dirt
Third graders examine the difference between composting and wasting food. They problem-solve what to do about leftovers after lunches so good food doesn't go to waste.They study food storage techniques that are environmentally friendly...
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Vermiculture Food Waste Compost Program for Touchstone School
Students explore the advantages of composting. In this recycling lesson students complete a worm compost project and collect food waste to feed them.
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Look At A Landfill
Young scholars explore how landfills function. In this landfill lesson, students explore the use of landfills and the decomposition process by creating a model landfill. Young scholars discuss pros and cons to landfills and how...
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Forests
Students examine soil in forests looking for animals and insects. They divide the animals based on their number of legs and draw the animal they have collected.
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Water Quality Monitoring
Pupils comprehend the four parameters of water quality. They perform tests for salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and clarity or turbidity. Students comprehend why scientists and environmental managers monitor water uality and aquatic...
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The Rotten Truth
Students study the process of decomposition using lunch leftovers and soil. They complete the inquiry over set periods time as they observe the how composting takes place and finally, they sort the materials into biodegradable,...
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Spinning the Eco Web
Students examine the components and relationships of ecoregions and ecosystem management. They define ecoregion and ecosystem, list ecoregions, and participate in a simulation that demonstrates the connections between parts of the...
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Ecology of the Dump
Students recreate landfills in petri dishes, observe relative biodegradability in a year-long project, and isolate a cellulose degrading bacteria while discovering the need for recycling and the serious problem waste management has...
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Crickets on the Hearth
Middle schoolers investigate how crickets behave in cold temperatures. In this life science lesson, students explain the beneficial and harmful effect of pests. They research ways to properly manage them.
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Landfill Lounge
Students accurately construct a model of a sanitary landfill and identify the parts of the landfill and explain their function. They work in grous using a clear plastic box, modeling clay, soil and a variety of garbage to create their...
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Composting -- Nature's Disappearing Act
Studenst work together to discover the concept of biodegradability. They build a model of a landfill and how different items decompose. They examine how engineers use this information for better waste management.
Forest Foundation
Forest Health
Young foresters examine the strategies, like prescribed burns and thinning, that are employed to ensure healthy forests.
What happened to the frogs?
Students will select ten rubber frogs and determine their pollutant source based on their malformations. Students will write a brief essay on their findings. Students will be engaged in the lesson the entire time!
Curated OER
Agriculture and the Environment
Students investigate the interdependence of agriculture and the environment. They research areas of interdependence and provide examples of situations where farmers are practicing conservation in the local area. Their findings are...
Institute for Applied Ecology
From Salmonberry to Sagebrush - Exploring Oregon’s Native Plants
Take a deep dive into Oregon's ecosystems, plants, and changes from the past to the future. Many hands-on activities in an environmental science unit delight scholars, including creating a field guide for a local park. The in-depth study...
Chymist
Landfills and Recycling
Examine the nature of landfills through experimentation. Scholars build miniature landfills and monitor changes over a six-week period. Observations allow individuals to draw conclusions about the different types of trash and their...