Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Much CO2 Gas Can Sea Water Hold?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explain the relationship between water temperature and gas concentration. Using a graph, they describe how sea surface temperature changes along with the seasons. They develop a hypothesis and test it by graphing and analyzing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Here Comes Winter!

For Teachers K - 1st
Students investigate winter behaviors in animals. They describe winter and write about the characteristics of the season by drawing and labeling a winter picture. Students then conduct research on a chosen animal and create a chart. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our Desert Backyard

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students make observations of their own backyard. In this environment lesson, students keep records of the plants and animals they see in their home or school yard. Students make notes of how the weather and environment changes over...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seeds, Miraculous Seed

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Learners investigate relationships between plants and animals and how living things change during their lives. In this life cycle instructional activity, students split different types of seeds apart to see the beginning life stages of...
Activity
Polk County Education

Winter Survival/Hike

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Hibernation isn't just about staying fed, it's about staying warm. Young environmentalists explore the importance of staying warm in the wilderness with a short lesson about surviving in the wild. Using gelatin to represent warm-blooded...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Blooming Thermometers

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study phenology, or the study of climate change. They research the Japanese springtime festival of Hanami and plot and interpret average cherry blossom bloom date data from the past 1100 years.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tracking El Nino Conditions

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students identify major changes in ocean temperatures during an El Nino season.  In this climate activity students complete an Internet assignment using datasets to determine periods of El Nino.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arctic Microclimates

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify, measure, and average micro-climatic temperatures in a particular region. They draw a small-scale map of an area to be sampled (classroom, playground, park, backyard) and identify potential locations for...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Taking In The Heat

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students discover that different textured materials can absorb more heat than others. Students work with thermometers, clocks, and graphs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hurricanes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students listen to a transcript of an interview about an upswing in hurricanes with Stanley Goldenberg, a researcher with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. students participate in a series of discussion questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather Conditions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars list and name various kinds of weather conditions occurring in their city. Using the newspaper as a resource, students answer questions relating to written weather reports. This lesson is intended for young scholars...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wonderful, Wild Weather

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Learners study the different types of weather, how it affect what they wear, and how it is related to the seasons. They compare the seasons and tell how they prepare for the change in seasons. They design a creative presentation about...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping a Refuge

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students record observations gathered while at a national wildlife refuge. In this lesson on wildlife refuges, students choose an observation spot and record seasonal changes throughout the year.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Science of Weather: Hurricanes

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use this USA today activity to learn about hurricane season. For this hurricane lesson, students study the map of the earth and hurricane science. Students complete discuss questions. Students draw a map of the United States and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bearly Any Ice

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students participate in a prey-predator game. After reading background information, they discover the impact from the changes global warming presents to the polar bears and ringed seals. They role play the role of either the seal or...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Quality and Dissolved Oxygen

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate the relationship between dissolved oxygen and organic materials and aquatic organisms. This is a 3-lesson series in which students explore dissolved oxygen and then design an experiment testing the effects of changes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plop! Plop! Fizz! Fizz!

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study physical and chemical weathering. They explain how the processes of weathering and erosion change and move materials that become soil. They create a K-W-L chart to show what they know and list what else they would...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Will I Wear to School Today?

For Teachers K - 2nd
Young scholars describe the day's weather and observe their responses as they are written on the board. They brainstorm all different types of weather and how differences in weather determine what types of clothing we wear to school each...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Alaska the 'Poster State" For Climate Concerns

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students read an article on Alaska and its climate concerns.  In this research instructional activity students create a poster that contrasts Alaska then and now that pertains to climate change. 
Worksheet
Curated OER

Squigly's Spring Crossword

For Students 2nd - 3rd
In this spring crossword worksheet, students read 18 clues pertaining to nature changes in the spring. Students fit the answers in a crossword.
Lesson Plan
Carnegie Mellon University

Bathtub Model

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Using a colorful infographic handout and a guide sheet, hold a class discussion about how a bathtub can serve as a model for the greenhouse effect created by Earth's atmosphere. Participants will understand that as energy or matter is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does the Loss of Ozone Affect Our Climate

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore the greenhouse effect and what it does to the environment. They discuss if and how human behavior contributes to global warming and test natural materials for carbon content.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biomes: Extreme Climate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners create a web connecting global warming, the Arctic, and wold climate. They write a paragraph explaining the role of the Arctic in world climate.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Extreme Climate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers discuss global warming, greenhouse effect, permafrost and other key words.  In this climate lesson students create a web that connects global warming, the Arctic and world climate then write a paragraph explaining...