Concord Consortium
Tire Forces
No need to tread lightly on this piece of tire rubber! Polymer science pupils observe the behavior of rubber with an interesting interactive. Users apply three different levels of force to a sample, then watch how they affect the polymer...
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics...
Curated OER
E-Cycling!
Eighth graders research how and why electronics are recycled. In this earth science lesson, 8th graders determine the types of materials electronic devices are made up of. They produce a creative ad to encourage people to recycle.
Curated OER
Information, Please!
Students examine how aluminum is recycled. In this recycling lesson, students participate in a field trip to a local recycling center to observe the process of recycling aluminum. Students take notes and report their findings.
Curated OER
Save the Earth, it's Everyone's Home!
Students examine trash for items to recycle and reuse. In this trash instructional activity, students explore how people in the community can use recycled and reused items as they play a recycling game.
Curated OER
Dirty Decomposers
Learners explore the ecosystem by conducting a ziploc bag experiment. In this recycling lesson, students identify decomposer organisms in our environment and how they speed up the recycling process. Learners utilize a ziploc plastic bag,...
Curated OER
Trash: Past, Present and Future
Students explore how much trash they create. In this recycling lesson, students define stewardship and conduct an experiment to see how much trash the class produces in a week. At the end of the week the students propose ways to...
Curated OER
What is Plastic?
Students experiment with plastics. In this what is plastic lesson plan, students make a simple polymer and discuss recycling. Students identify various types of plastics.
Curated OER
Recycling Bottles
Students learn how to sort #1 and #2 plastics and how to weigh and read a digital scale. The bags are then collected and weighed on a digital scale and the information is used to make bar graphs. They also write in their journal about...
Curated OER
Recycled Materials
Students identify those materials that can be recycled and possible uses for these materials.
Curated OER
Worms, Nature's Recyclers!
Students study what worms need to survive in different environments. They study how worm composting improves soil and reduce waste. They discuss composting techniques and present a puppet show about a worm's life.
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 5: In Defense Of Cities
Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...
Teach Engineering
Dirty Decomposers
Do not let the class just sit and rot. Pupils learn how decomposition and nutrient recycling is important to an ecosystem. Groups design an experiment to determine how environmental conditions affect decomposition. They develop a poster...
Curated OER
Separation Before Plastic Recycling
Learners participate in a demonstration to test the different densities of plastics, and suggest a method that plastic waste can be separated and collected.
Curated OER
Recycling and Waste Management Debate
Students research issues about how a community should manage its garbage. Students present and debate solid waste management strategies by presenting multiple sides of the issue.
Curated OER
Hooverville Diorama
Fifth graders explore life during the Great Depression. In this Great Depression instructional activity, 5th graders gain an understanding of what life was like during the Great Depression. Students draw conditions that families...
Curated OER
Environment and Recycling Issues
First graders read and understand the text found while conducting internet research. They recognize how literature records information and reflects the human experience. Students also compare and contrast answers to questions. Then...
NASA
Pop Can Hero Engine
Hang a soda can from a string and watch it spin by the force created by water streaming out of slanted holes. This plan provides background information, detailed materials and procedures, discussion questions, a lab worksheet, and...
Curated OER
Real-World Projects: Challenges from the Polymer Industry
Two scenarios are presented for chemistry detectives to decipher. Both require the use of an infrared spectrometer and focus on the examination of polymer materials. In the first, lumps in polyethylene bottles are analyzed. In the...
Curated OER
Rewrite, Revise, Recycle
Students examine different pieces of literature that have a similiar theme. They read an article about reusing ideas for television shows. They work together to create their own program proposals. They also create backstories for one of...
Curated OER
Garbage or Art?
The three R's are, reduce, reuse, and recycle. Third graders use recycled materials to design and create an environmentally themed piece of art. They discuss and examine major art works that were created using recycled materials, then...
Curated OER
Garbage Pizza
Fourth graders explore the concept of waste management. In this recycling lesson, 4th graders identify materials that must be landfilled as well as items that may be recycled or reused.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
The last activity in the series of four has individuals determine steps they can take to reduce their carbon footprints and then analyze their schools' recycling programs. Through a sustainability audit, they identify how and where their...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Ecological Footprint
You can lower your ecological footprint by recycling! Lesson four in this series of five has individuals, through the use of a computer, calculate their ecological footprints. Through discussions and analysis they determine how many...