Curated OER
Be Water Wise!
Rally your administration and facilities manager to let your class examine the water flow rates in different areas of the school. After the audit, the class researches opportunites for conserving water and writes a report or develops a...
SRI International
Science of Water
Water is crucial to survival. Scholars gain an appreciation for water by reading about it, learning about its atomic properties, and investigating its properties through six stations in a lab activity.
Kenan Fellows
Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – The Importance of Water
Water is essential for life—and understanding the importance of clean drinking water is essential in understanding sustainability! Show your environmental science class the basics of water testing and treatment through a week-long...
Curated OER
9-12: The Movie, "A Civil Action," as a Legal/Environmental Science Case Study
Students analyze information to determine how they can help a community that has been affected by water contamination. In this environmental science lesson, students watch portions of the movie "A Civil Action" and discuss specific...
Curated OER
Water Alchemy
After reading "Aquatic Alchemy," an article about recapturing water for reuse when in space, your class will use calcium hydroxide or hydrated lime to purify cloudy water. Geared toward high school chemistry or environmental science...
Curated OER
Water Meter Reader
Junior high schoolers learn how to read a water meter, track their family water usage, and discuss the amount in class with other pupils. They will interpret real-world data and graph it. It is ideal for increasing awareness and...
Pulitzer Center
Exploring Downstream: Water Resources
The lack of clean water is a life-threatening plight for millions of people around the world. Through an extensive WebQuest, young environment or social studies classes compare our water availability to that of the cxitizens of Ethiopia,...
Curated OER
Determination of Phosphorus Content in River Water
Divide your chemistry or environmental science class into two groups. Each group tests water samples from a river for the concentration of phosphorus using a different method. With chemists, you can use this activity as they learn to use...
Earth Day Network
Staying Green While Being Clean
Clean up the environment with a lesson that focuses on replacing hazardous cleaning supplies with green, environmentally-friendly products. Using a dirty patch of surface as a control area, kids clean other parts of various surfaces...
California Academy of Science
Coral and Chemistry
Using cabbage juice as a pH indicator, future scientists explore the effect of increasing carbon dioxide on the pH of the ocean and relate it to the health of coral reefs. Ideal for an earth or environmental sciences course, this lesson...
Kenan Fellows
Letter Writing to Politicians on Environmental Issues
Let your voices be heard! Pupils research local and national environmental concerns using the Internet. Class members determine an issue they deem important and draft a letter to a local politician expressing their concern about the...
Kenan Fellows
Using Water Chemistry as an Indicator of Stream Health
Will this water source support life? Small groups test the chemistry of the water drawn from two different sources. They then compare the collected data to acceptable levels to draw conclusions about the health of the source. The...
Virginia Department of Education
Molar Heat of Fusion for Water
How can you describe heat of fusion in a way the class understands and relates the importance of this concept to present day issues? In this third lesson of the series, learners conduct an experiment, demonstrating the flow of heat...
Curated OER
The Affect of Water Temperature on Living Organisms
Young scholars examine the environmental impact of global warming. For this environmental science lesson, students design and conduct an experiment about the effect of temperature on paramecia. They write a lab report about their...
California Academy of Science
Sustainable Water Solutions: Weighing the Pros and Cons
Switching indoor water fixtures to low flow reduces water usage by more than 45 percent. This and other solutions to reduce water usage have both pros and cons. Scholars view videos of different solutions, discuss them in small groups,...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Environmental Engineering
A series on environmental engineering introduces the class to issues that environmental engineers work to solve. This first lesson plan focuses on air and land issues, and looks at ways to reduce pollution.
Curated OER
Robo-Lobster
Introduce environmental science or engineering explorers to different forms of sampling. They read an article about "Robo-lobsters," lobsters being studied to help design robots that can used to sniff out pollution in ocean waters. The...
Curated OER
Who Owns Water
Learners role play how water is allocated to different holders of water rights. For this ecology lesson, students identify the different water rights available. They explore problems associated with water use including drought, degraded...
Pulitzer Center
The Global Water Crisis
High schoolers examine the "quiet crisis," the lack of clean water, by reading articles and viewing video clips. They discuss the situations in Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, and Nepal. There are two options for the lesson plan, but one of them...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Water Chemistry
What are the issues surrounding water quality? Viewers of this short presentation gain information about the importance of clean water, the lack of fresh water, water contamination, and ways that engineers treat water.
Curated OER
Water Quality and Watersheds: A GIS Investigation
Requiring more than one class period, this resource takes earth science learners on a journey through a watershed. Using ArcGIS Explorer, an online geographic information system, they view maps of watersheds and surrounding landscapes....
Curated OER
Global Environmental Issues: Air and Water Pollution
Thinking about designing a project for your social studies or environmental science classes? Use an overview of a project that prompts class groups to research an environmental issue.
Curated OER
Fracking: Positive or Negative Impact?
Your teenagers may have heard of fracking, but do they really know what it is? And could they debate the benefits and risks? Educate your environmental science class with a activity about hydraulic fracturing, non-renewable energy...
Curated OER
Water Contamination Challenge
Students play a game to analyze further the effects of water contamination. For this environmental concerns lesson, students play an online game about water contamination and may visit the additional links to further their studies on the...