Curated OER
The Watershed Quest
Students examine their connection to local watersheds. They describe the water cycle and list species living in their local watershed. They also draw a map of their community.
Curated OER
Oil Spill!
Students examine how oil spills are cleaned through an interactive program. They review the facts of oil spills and how the oil spreads. They discuss the short and long term effects of a spill and how they can be avoided.
Curated OER
Creating a Pond Habitat
Students create a pond habitat inside and outside their classroom. In this pond lesson plan, students create a habitat with animals, water, and plants in order to create a proper pond habitat.
Curated OER
Web of Predators and Prey
Students investigate the food chain by researching the Internet. In this ecosystem lesson plan, students view the video "Competitor and Predator" and read a book from the series "The Magic School Bus." Students utilize a...
Curated OER
Bad Algae!
Students explore algal blooms. In this ecosystem and health lesson, students define and describe harmful algal blooms, then discuss ways in which the impact of these algal blooms could be reduced. Students work in groups to...
Curated OER
How Do We Explore Strange Environments?
Students identify and label the different parts of a robot, rover, or a spacecraft. They discuss and record all of the features their robot will need to accomplish its mission and be able to explain why they chose these features to...
Curated OER
Solar System Search
Students research topics related to space and the planets using the Internet. They explore various websites, construct scale models of the solar system, and create a travel brochure using HyperStudio computer software.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle--Model Simulation
Students build a model to simulate parts of the water cycle. They recognize and explain the essential elements of the water cycle.
Curated OER
Ecosystems and Remote Sensing
Young scholars obtain remote sensing data to compare and contrast global biomass data with global temperature data.
Curated OER
Surface Air Temperature Trends of the Caribbean
Students use real satellite data to determine the changes in near-surface air temperature at different times of the year over the Caribbean Sea. They discover how Earth's tilt causes seasonal differences in incoming solar energy. They...
Curated OER
Water Sources in Cape Verde and West Africa
Young explorers study the scarcity and importance of a continuous supply of fresh water in Cape Verde. They research the five main ways that fresh water is obtained in these countries. Each research group prepares a presentation, and...
Ocean Explorer
Looking for Clues
Upper graders become "shipwreck detectives" by studying the debris field from a shipwreck in the Aegean Sea which took place in the 700s. A website is accessed that gives specific information about the debris field, and pairs of...
Curated OER
Building a Documentary Library
Documentary films allow your class to visit new places and gain a deeper understanding of complex issues.
Virginia Department of Education
Succession
The final lesson in a two-part series prompts scholars to create newspaper articles and succession events. Applying their knowledge of the ecosystem and the past examples of succession, they predict what will happen in the future...
Curated OER
Light Stick Chemistry
In groups of three with the lights off and the shades drawn, investigators place inactivated light sticks, in three beakers: one filled with ice water, another with lukewarm water, and the other with room temperature water. They wait...
Curated OER
Winter Wonderland - Winter Olympics and the Water Cycle
After a concise introduction to the water cycle, junior meteorologists access NOAA's average snowfall data. They choose a city to examine in terms of precipitation. Then they look at historical snowfall data and use it to predict snow...
Mr. E. Science
Climate and Climate Change
What factors make up climate? How does longitude and latitude affect climate? What is causing Earth's climate to change? These questions are the topic of a presentation that explains characteristics of climate and climate change.
Curated OER
Fish and Zooplankton Through Remote Sensing
Ecology aces examine sea surface temperature maps and relate temperatures to concentration in fish and zooplankton populations. Take your class to a computer lab and provide experience with actual remote sensing data. Some of the links...
National Park Service
It Was a Very Good Year
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park includes whitebark pines that are over 1,200 years old, meaning they have been there since before medieval times. The second lesson of five details how to read tree rings for climate change and...
Curated OER
Sinking Races
Students build plankton models and compete to see which sinks most slowly. They write, or orally present ,the adaptations they incorporated to slow the sinking rate of their organisms. Race results can be grounds for some prizes!
Global Oneness Project
Witnessing Icebergs
Camille Seaman's photoessay, "Witnessing Icebergs" documents just a tip of the problem of climate change through images of icebergs in both the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions. After viewing the haunting images, viewers respond...
NASA
The Atmospheric Filter
What is the difference between a comet and a meteoroid? An educational lesson includes five demonstrations of how the atmosphere can inhibit our ability to measure many things in the galaxy.
Curated OER
Searching for Meanings Beneath the Surface of the Poem
Young scholars examine poems from Latin America and the Caribbean. They compare different perspectives and subjects in the poems. They research Peace Corps volunteers as well.
California Academy of Science
Fish Forms
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you can add art to any lesson! While little learners are discovering why fish have specific body parts such as, scales, fins, and gills, they start making three-dimensional fish forms. Children...