Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Don't Mess with Mercury (Lesson A)
Mercury is the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature. Teach your class this and many more interesting mercury facts by assigning an engaging task. A public relations activity, the exercise informs pupils of the hazards of...
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Don't Mess with Mercury (Lesson C)
The health effects of mercury exposure if the focus of the first of three activities about the properties of metals. Pairs research mercury to write, prepare, and share posters, articles, or PSAs with the class.
Bowland
Speed Cameras
Do speed cameras help reduce accidents? Scholars investigate this question using a series of spreadsheet activities. Along the way, they learn about randomness, probability, and statistical analysis.
Bowland
In the Olympics, are Women Improving Faster than Men?
Will the time come when women outperform men at the Olympic Games?Scholars investigate gender differences in Olympic Games performances. They study the historical participation of women and then analyze data to determine if women will...
Rainforest Alliance
Investments in Forest Carbon
One hundred metric tons of CO2 can accumulate in one acre of forest over time—that's a lot of carbon! In the activity, groups of middle school learners determine what makes forests important. They then solidify the concept by using a...
Rainforest Alliance
Forests of Guatemala
With 90 percent of its land area covered in forests, Suriname, a country in South America, contains the largest percentage of forests throughout the world. Here is an activity that brings classmates together to learn about the...
WindWise Education
Where Do You Put a Wind Farm?
This is not your ordinary farm! Using a case study, small groups study two proposed locations for a wind farm. After researching all the information about the sites, the groups choose a site. Each team member writes up the proposal...
WindWise Education
How Do You Feel About Wind Energy?
Tell me what you really think. The class reviews articles related to wind energy to see how the author uses words, phrases, and images to sway the reader. Through a class discussion, individuals share their feelings from the media...
WindWise Education
Can We Reduce Risk to Bats?
It is just batty! A resource outlines a case study scenario of reducing the risk to bats. Teams learn about the bat populations in the area of the wind farm, then research and propose a solution.
Southwestern Medical Center
Field Epidemiology: Investigation of an Unknown Disease
More than 90 percent of the people in a building have come down with an illness, and it is your job to investigate. Teachers give scientists the data needed to decide what is important and how they can solve the mystery. The exercise is...
Climate Research Facility
Ocean Currents
Young scientists investigate the effects of heating a beaker of ice water by dropping dye into the water and observing how the color circulates.
K12 Reader
Jabberwocky
Readers demonstrate their ability to use word endings and word relationships to identify the parts of speech of the nonsense words in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky."
Stories on the Way
The Temptation of Jesus
Temptation is the focus of this lesson plan, which was designed for the first week of Lent as an introduction to the tradition of Lenten fast. It includes reading of biblical scripture, hands-on activities where learners design cards...
Virginia Department of Education
Geometry and Volume
The history of math is fascinating! Utilize a woodcut primary source image from 1492 and posters from the 1930s to help geometers apply their volume-calculation skills to real-life questions.
World Mysteries
Pascal’s Triangle and Sierpinski Triangle
Your learners will enjoy this one-page, color-coded poster containing Pascal's triangle and its connection to Sierpinski's triangle. By coloring odd numbers orange and even numbers green on Pascal's triangle a pattern evolves,...
Nature New Brunswick
Habitat for Endangered Wildlife and You
Compare and contrast your habitat with that of endangered plants and animals! Learners discuss what a habitat is actually comprised of, describing what theirs looks like. They fill out a graphic organizer explaining what they eat, how...
iCivics
Limiting Government
While this instructional activity includes several nice worksheets to identify and discuss the various limits on government (i.e. a constitution, the rule of law, separation of powers, consent of the governed, etc.), its main value lies...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Tree Rings: Living Records of Climate
Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Mapping Greenhouse Gas Emissions Where You Live
After investigating the US Environmental Protection Agency's climate change website, your environmental studies students discuss greenhouse gas emissions. They use an online interactive tool to look at data from power production...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Getting to the Core: The Link Between Temperature and Carbon Dioxide
Polar ice samples provide scientists with valuable information about the condition of the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years in the past. Of particular interest is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its...
Curated OER
Water in Earth's Hydrosphere
Environmentalists test stream water for temperature, pH, and turbidity. Each group shares their information and then the class makes an overall evaluation of the water quality. A slide show sets the backdrop for the teaching portion and...
Curated OER
Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones
Using NASA's Live Access Server, earth scientists compare the temperature, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index for four different locations. They use the data to identify the climate zone of each location using...
Center Science Education
Glaciers: Then and Now
Cooperative groups compare pairs of photos of Alaskan glaciers. They match a historical photo to the recent photo of the same glacier. The class discusses what conditions are necessary for glaciers to retreat. This abbreviated activity...