City and County of San Francisco
I Want It! I Need It!
Discuss wants and needs with your elementary ecologists and get them to consider what would happen to our natural resources if we all got everything that we want. Learners play a card sorting game and take an ecological footprint quiz on...
Baylor College
Fossil Fuels and the Carbon Cycle
Humans are quickly depleting Earth's fossil fuels and locating them is becoming increasingly difficult! Layered muffins are used for models as young geologists take core samples in order to determine the presence of oil. Consider first...
Curated OER
What is an Ecological Footprint?
Introduce youngsters to the term ecological footprint. Learners identify ways in which humans affect the environment. They look at the problems associated with the use of natural resources, and focus on ways to preserve natural...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Creating an Advertisement
Advertising for the purpose of influencing public policy regarding the use of alternative fuels is the focus of an innovative and engaging lesson. Learners are split up into six team in order to create an advertising campaign that...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Natural Resources
Use this slide show to introduce your class to some of our most useful natural resources. The text beneath the photographs differentiates between renewable and non-renewable resources. The need for conservation of resources and human...
Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education
Popcorn Economics
Scarcity of resources is a fundamental economics concepts that kids need to understand. You'll use a large bag of popcorn to demonstrate this concept. Have the class come up row-by-row to fill their snack bags with popcorn. By the last...
Curated OER
Coal Derivatives by Destructive Distillation
Chemists use the destructive distillation technique to produce three derivatives from a sample of bituminous coal. You will find background information, a materials list, procedures, and sample follow-up questions that you can use in...
Curated OER
Marine Energy
In small groups, energy engineers research and make a topographic map of a marine natural resource. They report to the rest of the class pros and cons of extracting their assigned resource. The two activities may take up to four class...
Curated OER
Mission Possible: Energy Trade-offs
Teams of electrical engineers work together to develop plans for increasing electricity to a fictitious, but growing community. They consider different sources of electricity, both renewable and nonrenewable, the cost of building and...
Carnegie Mellon University
Natural Gas and Pennsylvania’s Future
Beginning with a general discussion about natural gas, methane, and hydrocarbons, a few videos and diagrams are projected to support the lecture. Individuals participate in a brief activity by drinking juice through a straw, and then...
Curated OER
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining
Young scholars explore nonrenewable energy resources. In this coal lesson, students investigate how coal is formed and how it is used as a source of energy. Young scholars mine for "coal" using toothpicks and chocolate chip cookies.
Curated OER
Water Has Many Uses
Students discover numerous uses of water. In this water usage lesson, students interview family members and discover unknown ways water is used in our daily lives. Numerous resources are provided.
Curated OER
Floating Fishes: Fishing Expedition
A referenced PowerPoint is not included, but this lesson can still make an impact with emerging environmentalists. After introducing them to the facts about overfishing, they experiment with a fishing simulation using colored beads and...
Curated OER
Soils: One of Our Natural Resources
"God made dirt, so dirt don't hurt!" In fact, dirt is soil, which is an amazingly dynamic material that we cannot live without! Dig into the depths of soil development, topography, and layers with this PowerPoint. The photos are fuzzy,...
Curated OER
Explore Your Natural Habitat
Young scholars identify habitats and understand why they are important to our environment. In this environmental instructional activity students design their own habitat, observe and record data on the impact their habitat has on the...
Curated OER
The Energy Grab Game
Eighth graders explore the scarcity of energy resources. They also explore the competition for natural resources and the inadequate distribution of natural wealth among the Earth's nations.
Curated OER
Create a Country
Students work in small groups to list features and elements found on a variety of grade- appropriate maps. They develop a class list of map features and elements to draw from as they create a map of an imaginary country.
Curated OER
Ways We Use Trees
Students use the Internet to find the ways we use trees. In this tree lesson, students make a list of the uses of trees and find magazine pictures that show these uses to make a collage. They read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and...
Curated OER
Forests/Natural Resource Management II
Students write about the importance of trees. In this natural resources lesson, students look at deforestation occurring across the globe and present what they learned to the class. As closure, all students write a poem about the...
Curated OER
Water, Glorious Water
Young scholars identify the various uses of water. In this water conservation lesson, students read the book, The Drop In My Drink: The Story of Water On Our Planet and write down their favorite uses of water. Young scholars illustrate...
Curated OER
Energy Source Puzzles
Young scholars identify renewable and nonrenewable resources. In this energy source lesson, students participate in a game to identify the various types of resources. There are various extensions to this lesson, such as tic-tac-toe and...
Curated OER
Art Is More Than Just a Pretty Picture
Students create unique art piece from litter. In this visual art lesson, students learn the importance of recycling and create a unique art piece. Students construct collages.
Curated OER
Activity #9 Extending Oil Well Production
Pupils simulate methods used to extend the effective life of an oil well by extracting less available oil. They identify techniques which can be used and evaluate their effectiveness. Pupils are introduced to rock size and temperature of...
Curated OER
Kentucky Coal, Reclamation and Subsidence
Students read and discuss the information that they read on the "Kentucky Coal, Reclamation and Subsidence." They then answer questions in reference to the reading. Some questions that students answer are: What is reclamation?, Name...