National Wildlife Federation
When It Rains It Pours More Drought and More Heavy Rainfall
Which is worse — drought or flooding? Neither is helpful to the environment, and both are increasing due to climate change. The 16th lesson in a series of 21 covers the average precipitation trends for two different climates within the...
Curated OER
Floods and Flash Floods
Junior geologists, hydrologists, or meteorologists simulate what happens during the flooding of a river and demonstrate factors that contribute to flash flooding. This outstanding resource provides a vocabulary list, online resources,...
Curated OER
Defining Drought
High schoolers examine the hydrologic impacts of drought. Humans can change the course of the water cycle, to some extent, to meet their needs, but can they do so without imposing risks on the plants and animals?
Curated OER
Extreme Weather and Mapping
In this environment learning exercise, students read an article about extreme weather conditions and mapping it out. They respond to 10 multiple choice questions about what they read. Then, students explain how droughts can occur and the...
Curated OER
What are Natural Disasters?
There are several types of natural disasters: quakes, floods, avalanches, and more. This slide show gives a brief explanation of each at an elementary-aged child's level. There are no frightening photos from actual natural disasters,...
Curated OER
El Nino
Explore the properties of water and the affects of El Nino. Middle schoolers will learn about the devastation an El Nino can cause as well as the definition of El Nino. Additionally, they will discover the cause of El Nino along with the...
Curated OER
Comparing the Effects of El Nino and La Nina
Students examine the differences between an El Nino and La Nina year. In this investigative lesson students create maps and graphs of the data they obtained.
Curated OER
Defining Drought
Students examine the hydrologic impacts of drought. They look at drought from a variety of prespectives. Students first focus on the scientific definition of drought, including weather patterns, water cycles, water requirements by plants...
National Wildlife Federation
Hot, Hotter, Hottest: Extreme Weather's Impact on Our Resources
How dry is it? It's so dry, the river only runs twice a week! Through an analysis of maps and discussions, pairs learn about droughts across the United States in the ninth of 12 lessons. They then read about, answer questions, analyze...
Curated OER
Investigating the Climate System WEATHER
Young scholars research, interpret, and become able to explain general characteristics of weather in tropical regions. Students observe and compare tropical and mid-latitude weather patterns.
Teach Engineering
Flow Rates of Faucets and Rivers
Go with the flow and use a helpful resource. A set of two activities has learners investigate flow rates. They first determine the flow rate of a faucet by measuring how long it takes to fill a bucket. Using the results, they make a...
University of Wisconsin
Bimodel Botany Bouquet
Gardeners are given an individual plant specimen from a bouquet of local rain garden plants. They group up by their plant type and then make observations together, name the plant, and introduce it to the rest of the class. You then share...
NOAA
Are You Climate Literate?: Play the Essential Principles Challenge
Installment eight of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series tests the class's understanding of climate. Scholars play alone or in small groups to assess their understanding of climate systems, causes of climate...
NOAA
Your Own El Nino
Scholars make a model to discover how the force of trade winds over the Pacific Ocean creates an El Niño. Super scientists observe how the severe weather affects life in water and on land.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Services
The fourth activity in a series of five has classes participate in a jigsaw to learn about global impacts of climate change and then share their new information with a home group. Groups then research impacts of climate change (droughts,...
Curated OER
Severe Weather
Fifth graders identify the causes and effects of several different kinds of
severe weather phenomenon. They read an excerpt from John Muir's book The Mountains of California and research one of the following severe
weather phenomena...
NASA
Observing Monsoon Weather Patterns with TRMM Data
Follow a fabulous slide show on how monsoons form and how satellite technology is being used to observe the phenomena, explaining why they occur. Afterward, visit the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) website to access actual...
Virginia Department of Education
Changes in Ecosystems
How does water pollution affect the environment? Provide your class with the resources to answer this question as they learn about eutrophication and ecosystem changes. Over two weeks, they simulate the effects of pollution on the...
NorthEast Ohio Geoscience Education Outreach
Ecosystems and Change
Pairs of ecologists select an animal and investigate an ecosystem from its point of view. This simple lesson involves Internet research and putting together a presentation of collected information.
NOAA
Communicate!: Create a Unique Message About Climate Change
Scholars use their communication skills to express their take on climate change in the ninth installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They create ways to deliver their messages on a specific aspect of climate by...
Curated OER
Exploring Weather Disasters
Students examine the impact of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and droughts. They conduct Internet research on various weather websites, complete a Weather Disaster Information sheet, save images of weather disasters on Google Images,...
NASA
Write the Book on Weather Metrics
It's not easy to measure the weather. Pupils learn about what all weather has in common—the atmosphere. Scholars discover how a meteorologists must be able to measure aspects of the atmosphere and decipher the data. They then create a...
Curated OER
Myths and Legends on Natural Disasters: Making Sense of Our World
Students explore different natural and manmade disasters through a webquest. In this earth science lesson, students explain their causes. They also discuss how disasters affect society.
Curated OER
Environmental Health Hazards and Children
Students are introduced to the environmental hazards their community is facing. In groups, they develop a list of the ways humans have changed the Earth and how these changes have lead to environmental hazards. They record their...