Curated OER
Is That Natural?
Students examine how they use and waste natural resources. They participate in a class discussion about natural resources, in small groups complete a worksheet identifying ways students misuse natural resources, and create an...
Purdue University
Design of an Earthen Dam for a Lafayette Neighborhood
How do dams support bodies of water? Scholars engage in a hands-on STEM activity where they design, build, and test dams to learn about bodies of water and how humans use natural resources. They learn how criteria and constraints affect...
Curated OER
Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources
Fifth graders, after brainstorming why conservation of resources is important, distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources. They make a list of different types of natural resources on the board and then sort them into two...
Teach Engineering
Biomimicry and Sustainable Design - Nature is an Engineering Marvel
Discover how copying nature can be beneficial to humans. Scholars read articles about examples of biomimicry and its potential applications. Along the way, they learn about Nature's Nine Laws and how they relate to biomimicry. This is...
Curated OER
Basics of Environmental Science
Ninth graders explore environmental concerns of the community and identify the basic needs of people, wildlife and domestic animals. Working both individually and in groups, they also define natural resources and compare and contrast...
Curated OER
Natural Inquirer Ecosystem Article Lesson
Students discover new ways to preserve the ecosystem by completing graphic organizers. In this environmental activity, students read an article from the Natural Inquirer in small groups and fill out a graphic organizer based on the...
Curated OER
Waste Watchers
Students recognize the importance of saving energy to save natural resources. In this saving energy lesson, students complete a worksheet to find types of electricity meters in their homes. Students use meter readings to calculate energy...
DiscoverE
Build a Watershed
What's the best way to learn how watersheds work? Build one! Combining engineering, the water cycle, and ecology concerns, the activity is the perfect fit for an interdisciplinary unit. Teams construct a model watershed with simple...
Curated OER
What Makes a Home "Energy Efficient"?
Students research and report the costs and benefits of making their own homes more energy efficient. In this energy conservation lesson, students explore energy efficient technologies and design over several days. They complete a home...
Curated OER
Natural Inquirer Lesson Plan - Bio Energy Edition
Students investigate energy use by discussing the pros and cons of oil use. In this energy source lesson plan, students portray different individuals in the fictional town of Heatville and argue why they should or should not switch from...
Curated OER
Fill In The GAPP
Youngsters discover what recycling is and identify things that can be recycled. They use both video and Internet resources to aid them in their study. This is a well-designed lesson with excellent activities and a nicely-written letter...
Discovery Education
Cushion It!
Sugar cubes, collide! Groups design protection systems using bubble wrap to protect sugar cubes from being destroyed by falling batteries in the STEM lesson. They consider how the experiment relates to collisions in real-world...
Curated OER
Cell Wall Recipe: A Lesson on Biofuels
Biotech engineers discover that changes in the DNA code for cell wall formation can help create crops better suited for biofuel production. They extract DNA from wheat germ. They decode paper strips with codes and relate the activity to...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Winning Guest Village in the Saguaro National Park
Don't desert a resource on the desert! Scholars work in groups to build on their ideas from the previous lesson to design a sustainable guest village in the Saguaro National Park. Each group produces a PowerPoint presentation to share...
Curated OER
TE Activity: The Great Divide
Students simulate the distribution of nonrenewable energy resources using cookies. They determine how the world's growing population effects the equitable distribution of these resources. They look at how engineers work to develop...
Curated OER
Illegal coffee threatens wildlife
Students, after reading an article from the World Wide Fund for nature on coffee possibly being grown illegally in an Indonesian national park and being sold to major coffee brands, answer several worksheets to text questions about the...
Curated OER
Panther Scavenger Hunt
Students research the Internet to fill out their scavenger hunt sheet. In this research lesson students search the Internet for answers to the questions on the scavenger hunt worksheet.
Teach Engineering
Working Together to Live Together
Whose home is it anyway? Design teams plan a housing development in which they must also protect a native species. The teams consist of a project manager, civil engineer, environmental engineer, and graphic designer. Teams present their...
Curated OER
Stop Heat from Escaping
Students explore the uses of insulation and describe how insulation helps to conserve energy. They work in groups and use plastic, wool, paper and aluminum to experiment with the heat-retaining properties of various materials.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Amazing Adaptations - Probing Pinnipeds
Fourth graders collect data about the habitats of pinniped adaptations using digital probes. They determine how pinnipeds make adaptations to their natural environment by completing an experiment to determine how human and pinniped...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Cool Views
Pupils define preservation and conservation before listening to an article read by the teacher about John Muir and Gifford Pinchot, famous environmentalists. They complete a Venn diagram before deciding which side of this environmental...
Curated OER
Protecting Agriculture's Tools
Students brainstorm which tools farmers can control and why. They discuss how to conserve water, air and soil. They discuss the role of farmers and how they feed the world.
Curated OER
Exploring National Marine Sanctuaries
Students research marine ecosystems by creating class presentations. In this oceanography lesson, students research the different locations of marine sanctuaries by identifying them on a transparency map in class. Students create...
Curated OER
The Earth is a Changin'
Students view examples of different types of erosion. In this erosion lesson, students discuss the different types of erosion and how erosion changes Earth. Students explore erosion and the effect it has on engineering.