University of Florida
Protecting Our Water Resources
Teach young environmentalists to protect their planet's resources with a set of interactive experiments. Kindergartners and other youngsters learn about watersheds and the water cycle, while older elementary learners focus on fertilizer...
NASA
Rain Gauge Activity
Complete teacher narrative and presentation slides for teaching about Earth's water make up the bulk of this activity. Embedded within the slide show, you will find videos about the water cycle, keeping track of the limited supply of...
Discovery Education
Smoke on the Water
How do clouds form? Learners demonstrate the formation of clouds and the water cycle by testing four different setups in a plastic bottle. They identify the key components of a cloud to help them understand the process of cloud...
It's About Time
The Nitrogen and Phosphorous Cycles
How do we affect the ecosystem, and what can we do to preserve it? Pupils explore chemicals that promote and inhibit plant growth, then discuss the importance of nitrogen and phosphorus to the survival of organisms and describe how...
DiscoverE
Build a Watershed
What's the best way to learn how watersheds work? Build one! Combining engineering, the water cycle, and ecology concerns, the activity is the perfect fit for an interdisciplinary unit. Teams construct a model watershed with simple...
US Department of Energy
Solar Distiller
Explore the sun's ability to distill contaminated water with this simple set of classroom experiments. After filling two glass bowls, one with muddy water and the other with salt water, they are covered with plastic wrap and placed...
Scholastic
What Are Clouds Made Of?
Tiny bubbles, in my...clouds? Offer youngsters a hands-on, visual learning experience when reviewing the scientific concepts of condensation, water vapor, and the collection of droplets that make up clouds.
Science & Plants for Schools
Photosynthesis - A Survival Guide
Young scientists learn what it takes for life on Earth to survive with this series of photosynthesis resources. Offering twelve different activities ranging from independent practice worksheets to in depth scientific...
It's About Time
Volcanos and the Atmosphere
In the summer of 1815, snow fell every month in New England. Was this related to the volcanic eruption of Tambora in Indonesia earlier in the year? Young scientists design their own experiments to research the long-term effect a volcanic...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Rivers
A Reading Adventure Pack showcases a fiction and nonfiction book followed by a series of hands-on activities. First, learners widdle sticks to build a tiny raft, conduct sensory experiments, and create a rap or folk song about rivers and...
Discovery Education
Motion in the Ocean
How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...
Serendip
Where Does a Plant's Mass Come From?
Where does the mass for a growing tree come from? Scholars consider a few different hypotheses and guess which is correct. They then analyze data from different experiments to understand which concepts science supports.
US Environmental Protection Agency
Epa: Thirstin's Water Cycle Activity [Pdf]
This resource presents a simple set of instructions for building a model of the water cycle in a lidded jar.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Lab 6: Air, Water, Land, & Life: A Global Perspective
An investigation that is part of a series of lab lessons that expose students to Earth Systems through research, data, and visualizations. In this lab, students will follow the pathway of water on a big scale and a small scale down to...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Fog Chamber
Create a fog chamber by rapidly expanding air in a jar in this activity. This activity uses a match in a jar to bunch water into tiny droplets.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Making "Magic" Sidewalks of Pervious Pavement
Students use everyday building materials- sand, pea gravel, cement and water- to create and test pervious pavement. Groups are challenged to create their own pervious pavement mixes, experimenting with material ratios to evaluate how...
Other
Port Discovery Children's Museum: Stem at Home: How to Diy Cloud in a Bottle
Do you ever wonder what happens when a cloud gets too full? Find out in this easy and fun experiment.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Just Breathe Green: Measuring Transpiration Rates
Through multi-trial experiments, students are able to see and measure something that is otherwise invisible to them- seeing plants transpire. This information will allow students to consider how a plant's unique characteristics (leaf...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Timing the Tides
Have you ever been to a tide pool during low tide? Some intertidal animals in the low tide zone are left in a tiny pool of water when the tides go out. Other intertidal animals that live in high tide zones may be left to dry out during...