Students create a min-landfill from lunchbox waste to discover what happens when they throw away packaging and scraps. Using a clear plastic bin, they throw away their trash and layer it with scoops of soil. Students observe what types...

Third graders listen as the teacher reads the book "Roxaboxen" to them. They discuss the main characters and other aspects of the story. They discuss the characteristics and properties of the soil in Roxaboxen. The discussion is applied...

Third graders simulate weathering and erosion using sand and soil. They define weathering and the ways in which surfaces become weathered. Working as a class, 3rd graders complete various activities that demonstrate physical and...

Students are shown many ways in which Mono Lake water and distilled water are different. They demonstrate that the survival of common soil bacteria declines as pH increases. Students examine the behaviors, adaptations, energy transfer,...

Students list items they know and want to know about water on personal K-W-L charts. They describe what happened during the warm up activity in their science journal. Students travel to four different stations and perform the different...

In this adobe instructional activity, students read about adobe soil and how it was used for building because of its insulating properties. Students complete 3 short answer questions.

Students study soil management and issues relating to agriculture and the environment. In this agriculture and environment lesson, students define the terms farmer, environmentalist, and activist. Students use a Venn diagram to compare...

Students experiment with bean growth in varied conditions.  In this plant biology activity, students plant beans in soil and in spun cellulose (absorbent material in diapers) and measure the growth of their seedlings. They...

Students decorate small styrofoam cups with faces and plant grass seeds in the cups in this Science and Art lesson for the early-elementary classroom. Emphasis is placed upon the science of seed growth. The lesson includes resource links.

Students explain what the term watershed is by creating a model. In this science, geography lesson, students demonstrate how the water moves in a watershed. Additionally, students learn about point source and nonpoint source pollution....

Students observe the growth of a seed, predict what will happen when seeds are planted without soil, and conduct an experiment using a hydroponics system.

Students use a microcomputer connected to a light sensor and temperature probe to explore the reflection and absorption of radiation for different surfaces. Students follow instructions in this guided inquiry based lab and are then asked...

Learners investigate the story "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle. This story is used to introduce the children to the concept that seeds change and grow into plants when conditions in the environment including temperature, light, water and...

Students show how constant irrigation, with repeated evaporation of water that left salts in the soil, eventually ruined much farming land in southern Mesopotamia. They discuss the idea that with the development of irrigation people...

Seventh graders investigate the temperature change in open and closed containers. In this earth science instructional activity, 7th graders relate this lab activity to greenhouse effect. They create a line graph from data collected in...

Third graders examine a bag or box of soil containing items that they dig for. Their task is to become detectives to make conclusions about the area from which the items came as real archaeologists do.

Fourth graders create a model of Utah wetlands using clay, sponges and soil. They identify the value the wetlands have to plants and animals. They simulate rainfall to observe how wetlands help filter silt and pollutants from the water.

Students investigate water as an agent of change. They conduct an experiment involving a mound of soil, observe and record any changes that occur when ice melts on the mound of dirt, and create a drawing of the changes that take place...

Middle schoolers collect and study information about worms. They discover how an earthworm helps process and loosen the soil. They write in their journals as well.

Students study the geologic history of terrain, soils, and drainage patterns. They recognize ecological processes that determine the dynamic nature of habitats. They investigate the influence of human activity on the landscape.

Students collect samples of rainfall, cloud condensation, and water that trickles through the soil. These samples are tested for pH, conductivity, and the presence of sulfates, nitrates, calcium, and magnesium.

Students understand the concepts of absorption, swellability and solubility and recognize that science is all around us in our everyday lives and is fun to explore.

Third graders examine the natural circulation of water from oceans, lakes, and rivers to evaporation into the air, and then to condensation to produce rain falling back to the soil as components of the water cycle.

Students explore acid rain. In this science lesson plan, students demonstrate phenomenologically the effects of acid rain on our environment and perform long-term "real-time" experiments.