Take a deep breath and have your class construct working models of a lung! Using 500ml plastic bottles as the chest cavity, and balloons for the lung and the diaphragm, learners work in groups to make a model. The models help them to...

This is the introductory instructional activity in a series about air quality. Why is it so important that we breathe clean air? How can we make sure we're keeping our air clean? A discussion is the central idea of the instructional...

High schoolers research to answer questions related to deep sea diving. In this deep sea diving lesson plan, students answer questions on a worksheet using the Internet. They discuss pressure, gas laws, and the physiology of diving in...

Crazy fact: Some animals can survive months without oxygen. An online resource describes some unique ways animals collect oxygen and even live without it for an extended time. Learners read about these special animals and use pop-up...

Fifth graders become familiar with how the diaphragm expands to draw air into our lungs and contracts to exhale carbon dioxide. They also label the major parts of the respiratory system through the use of interactive Internet research...

Fifth graders examine the function of the lungs and create a model of the lungs. Using a plastic cup, drinking straw, plastic bag, small balloon, and a rubber band, they follow step-by-step directions to construct simulated lungs. ...

Students define several laws of pressure and see how they relate to scuba diving.  In this ocean explorer activity students answer questions and complete an activity. 

Young scholars use adding machine tape to plot increasing ocean depths and deep sea historical events.

Young learners compare the breathing patterns of different animals in this pinniped lesson. They examine the breathing pattern of California sea lions and northern elephant seals. Pupils collect, compare and analyze data concerning...

Students explain the parts of the body that are involved in breathing and explore lung function.  In this model lung lesson students make a model of a lung then interpret and explain it. 

Elementary schoolers play a respiratory relay toss in order to take in the respiratory system! They also create their own question cards based on several kid-friendly online articles about breathing and the health of the lungs. They use...

Students demonstrate how to use math skills to measure their lung capacity. In this human biology lesson, students use a clear plastic container, measuring cup and rubber balloons to demonstrate how the lungs work. Students estimate the...

High schoolers discuss metabolism. In this metabolism lesson, students evaluate evidence form a research report and discuss the basis for hypothetical metabolic adaptations to low-oxygen environments in the anchialine caves.

Second graders gain an understanding of how plants produce oxygen and that the oxygen we breathe comes from trees and plants. After a lecture/demo, 2nd graders discuss the ways plants produce oxygen and the detrimental effects of cutting...

Second graders explore how plants produce oxygen.

In this respiratory system worksheet, students compare how much air a person can typically exhale in one breath as compared to others. Then they develop a questionnaire to test their subjects and respond to the questions proposed.

Students read The Lorax and discuss how human actions can affect the environment. They conduct a simple experiment to see how much air pollution is in the air that they breathe.

Students construct a sanitary mini-landfill and an open mini-dump. Over a thirty day period, they compare the two methods and determine landfills are envorinmentally safer. They observe a demonstration of burning waste. They create...

Young scholars explore the outdoors. For this poetry lesson, students spend time outdoors and write a poem about what they felt and saw. Young scholars can do this activity in pairs or alone. Students blindfold their partner to focus on...

Students construct their own diagrams outlining the pathway of carbon and oxygen in our atmosphere. They listen to a lecture on the carbon cycle while drawing an example of the carbon cycle on the board. Students comprehend that CO2 is...

Students explore how pitch changes when using instruments that are plucked, blown, and hit. In this sound and pitch lesson, students blow across the top of bottles that are filled with water to create sound. Students use recorders...

Meteorologists view an animated video by the Environmental Protection Agency to learn how the carbon cycle works, and then move into groups to analyze and graph actual data of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from Hawaii's...

Follow the path to the sea floor. Pupils play an online interactive board game to reach the bottom of the sea. Participants must match descriptions of creatures to a property of water dealing with oxygen, food, light, or density to move...