University of Wisconsin
Noting Notable Features for Rain Gardens
Eight groups in your class are each responsible for a different aspect of surveying the campus for a suitable rain garden location. Features to consider include water flow, topography, sun/shade patterns, land surface, vegetation,...
Curated OER
This Land is Our Land
Students interpret NASS data to determine loss or gain of farm land and compare land in production and crop production over a 50 year period.
Rivanna Regional Stormwater Education Partnership
Does It Soak Right In?
Which materials are best for groundwater runoff, and which are best for percolation? Discuss the water table with several experiments about different types of soil, pollution, precipitation, and filtration. The experiments assign...
Space Awareness
Oceans as a Heat Reservoir
Oceans absorb half of the carbon dioxide and 80 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Scholars learn how and why the oceans store heat more effectively than land and how they help mitigate global warming. Pupils...
Curated OER
An Introduction To Volume
Upper graders explore the topic of volume. In this math lesson plan, pupils count volume in cubic units, multiply to find volume, estimate volume, write a multiplication sentence to find the volume, and make a cost analysis of different...
Curated OER
Tides in the Hudson
Students view an illustration of the Hudson River watershed and identify the bodies of water shown. They discuss what happens when fresh and salt water mix. Students view a teacher demonstration of the stratification of fresh and salt...
University of Wisconsin
Designing a Rain Garden
Now it's time for all of the data collected in previous lessons to be applied to the design of a rain garden. This resource can only be used as part of the greater whole, since learners will need to rely on gathered knowledge in order to...
National Park Service
Aspect, Treeline, and Climate
Head to the treeline and beyond to examine how this feature of the landscape affects weather and climate, which gives scientists clues about its health. Class members' observations of photographs provide the data...
Curated OER
Math in the Wetlands Field Trip
Get your class out in the environment for hands on math activities. In this wetlands lesson, learners transplant native plants, calculate how much soil is needed, and perform math activities based on this experience. They then make...
Curated OER
Survival Still
Lead your class to construct a solar still on campus to demonstrate how water can be extracted from the soil. The power of solar energy is emphasized, as is the concept of how capillary water can be recovered and purified by using a...
Curated OER
Water Filtration
As an example of nature's water filtering system, young ecologists conduct an experiment in the lab. They construct a funnel out of a plastic bottle, fill it with specified layers of materials that simulate layers of soil, then run muddy...
Virginia Department of Education
Adaptation and Evolution
Um may be the atomic symbol for confusion, but it won't be needed in this lesson. Scholars rotate through seven stations completing experiments, hands-on activities, writing exercises, and analysis. Stations include material on...
California Education Partners
Improving Our Schools
Split the work three ways. Learners use their knowledge of fractions to solve problems dealing with splitting up work loads evenly between three groups. Scholars determine the fractional portion of work each group will do along with...
Polar Trec
Can Carbon Dioxide Act Like a Greenhouse Gas?
Ninety-seven percent of scientists who study climate agree that human activity is warming the planet. Learners explore carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, a gas causing this warming, through a hands-on experiment. Once complete, they...
University of Wisconsin
Sizing a Rain Garden
Most appropriate if you are applying the entire unit to build a rain garden at your school, this installment involves calculating the area that will drain into it. Your garden planners will need data from previous lessons, so this one...
Rainforest Alliance
Trees and Carbon
You'll find everything but the kitchen sink here ... or just a carbon sink. In the activity, pairs or groups of middle school learners go outside and measure a tree's circumference and height to estimate its carbon storage potential and...
Baylor College
Needs of Plants
What better way to learn about plant life than by creating a class garden? Young botanists start with a brief discussion about radishes before planting seeds and watching them grow. To determine the importance of water,...
Curated OER
You want me to do what with this Dirt?
Eighth graders explore how to take soil samples and use GPS to determine the location of the site they have chosen to take the samples.
Curated OER
Let It Rain
Students study the effects of water erosion on soil by gathering and analyzing data during an experiment. They decide on appropriate units of measurement to apply in problem solving.
Curated OER
What Effects Do Trees Have On The Environment?
Students examine the interrelationship between trees, soil and people focusing on urban areas. They collect and analyze data about trees in their research area.
Curated OER
Herb is the Word
Students conduct an experiment to determine how different soils affect plant growth over a six-week period. After determining the physical properties of different types of soil, students plant various types of seeds into the soil...
Curated OER
Do You See What I See?
Students hypothesize the role of rocks, soil, and water by observing a terrarium and create a model to explore the water cycle. This is part of a five station set up.
Curated OER
Science and the Scientific Process
High schoolers investigate the characteristics of different soil samples. In this physical science lesson, students play the role of forensics solving a crime by matching soil from the suspect's shoes. They formulate a conclusion after...
Curated OER
The Effects of Color on Heat Absorption And Climate
Students conduct an experiment to determine the effects of soil color on its day and night time temperatures. In small groups, they prepare dishes of black soil, brown peat moss, and white sand. They record the temperature changes when a...