Playing with balloons, water, oil, and bottles help put this lesson over the top! Participants use air-filled balloons in water tanks to experience gas compression. They also use oil-filled bottles to experiment with buoyancy. Included...

Students collect data by playing a game that illustrates the delicate ecological balance between fishing, fishing regulations and fish populations. They graph and analyze the data and explain how economic decisions can affect the...

Remind your middle school scientists how fox ear size varies depending on the climate they live in; large ears allow heat loss while small ears keep heat in. Discuss how a cold-blooded animal might try to regulate body temperature. Then...

Students demonstrate how chemicals accumulate in fish fat. They study path ways of toxins in the fish's body and ways to prepare fish to avoid consuming the toxins. They examine U.S. and Canada regulations to protect the environment.

Students analyze data to investigate the influence of water depth on size among deep-water crabs. They interpret results from this data, and apply the results regarding appropriate fishery regulations.

Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...

Students work together to identify marine debris. They explain the effect of the debris on various ecosystems. They draw different types of ocean currents as well.

Student explore factors affecting ecosystems. They test local water samples for pH level. After creating a methodology for data collection, they collect data, compare results, and draw conclusions based upon results.

Students begin by using clay to model fertilization and early development of sea urchins and chordates. They move on to mixing live sea urchin sperm and ova together to observe, diagram and record events occurring in fertilization and...

Students make a water sampler and use proper techniques to collect water.They write a essay explaining the inter-relationship of factors such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates in a lake that might cause a...

Learners investigate the effect of temperature on cold-blooded animals, using a 5 x 8 inch index card to represent a dinosaur as their model organism. Students measure temperature changes that occurs at different angles to a light...

Students use DigiScope technology to investigate Daphinia, popularly known as water fleas. They design, conduct, and report on an experiment to determine the effects of varying water temperatures on the heartbeat rate of Daphnia.

Young scholars explore the science and sport of scuba diving. In this scuba diving lesson, students build Cartesian divers and observe their behavior under water pressure.

Students construct and observe a model of two different types of wetlands. In this wetlands lesson, students create a model of a wetland with constant drainage and a wetland that maintains a well-saturated soil. Students observe and...

Learners discover that scuba diving is more than a sport. It's a science that operationally integrates physics, chemistry, physiology, and oceanography. They perform a simple experiment which simulates the air tanks used in scuba diving.

Students examine extreme environments and the characteristics that make them.  In this adaptation lesson students see how animals have adapted to these environments. 

Students examine the health condition of jet lag. Using mealworms, they test the effect of light on the development of them into adults. They answer discussion questions and examine the relationship of age and one's activity level.

Students identify major changes in ocean temperatures during an El Nino season.  In this climate lesson students complete an Internet assignment using datasets to determine periods of El Nino.