Curated OER
Reclamation Mountain
Students observe the effects of mining on a mountain. In this environmental awareness lesson, students will be challenged to extract items from a model of a mountain without disturbing the vegetation on the mountain. Students will...
Learning to Give
It's Never Too Late: Air Quality
What are the causes and effects of pollutants on the quality of the air we breathe? Groups research emission standards, emission controls, career opportunities in the area of air quality control, and things government and individuals can...
California Academy of Science
Discovering Rainforest Locations
How many rainforests are there, where are they, and do global factors effect their locations? These are great questions that have great answers. Children in grades four through eight use several different maps to determine why...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Safety vs. Energy
Political cartoons are a poignant way to examine energy sources. This analysis handout has scholars examining a cartoon by Joe Heller (a link to his gallery is included for possible extensions). Background information reminds pupils of...
Curated OER
The Five Classes of Vertebrates
What a terrific lesson! Learners discuss the animal kingdom, and classify them as vertebrates and invertebrates. They also identify them as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. There is even a taxonomic breakdown of popular...
Curated OER
Sound Busters
Fourth graders engage in a study of sound pollution at their school. After a class discussion on what noise pollution is, learners are asked if they think there are areas of their school or community where noise pollution is a problem....
Curated OER
The Greenhouse Effect
Why does it get so hot inside of our cars in the summertime? The greenhouse effect! Lab groups experiment to see what happens to an ice cube enclosed in a jar and placed in sunlight as compared to an ice cube outside of the jar. They...
ARKive
Endangered Animal Easter Eggs
I love any lesson that addresses more than one subject area. You and your class will discuss endangered animals; each child will choose one animal and then create a decorated egg to represent their animal. After the eggs are decorated,...
Polar Bears International
Top of the World
Learn about polar bears and the Arctic circle with a lesson about the countries and conditions of the region. After examining how the area differs from Antarctica, kids explore climates, animals, and geographical position...
National Wildlife Federation
The Amazing Adventures of Carbon: How Carbon Cycles through the Earth
Here's a stat for your pupils: 18 percent of the human body is carbon! Part 10 in the series of 12 takes pairs on an adventure through the carbon cycle. After a class reading about carbon, pairs read and choose their own adventure...
Beyond Benign
The Green Zine
It's time for your class to advertise what they've learned! The culminating lesson in the 24-part series asks scholars to use their newfound chemistry knowledge to create advertisements. Their magazine advertisements describe the health...
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
No Fossils in This Fuel
Yeast and sugar go beyond the pantry and into a fuel experiment. Use these common baking ingredients to assist your class in creating ethanol, a natural fuel. Pupils observe the process and gather information to elaborate...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Water Chemistry
What are the issues surrounding water quality? Viewers of this short presentation gain information about the importance of clean water, the lack of fresh water, water contamination, and ways that engineers treat water.
Curated OER
Organic Mechanic Part I
On day one of the "Organic Mechanic Part I" lesson, learners try to remove the waxy coating of an apple and consider pesticides that may be represented by this addition to our food. On day two, they research pesticides online and...
Curated OER
Defining Values: Environmental Issues
Learners analyze an environmental issue of local or regional interest and compare and contrast the roles of the individual and the community in responding to the issue. They discuss how values are expressed in environmental issues and...
Curated OER
What Trickles Down?
Learners explore different levels of permeability and compare the permeabilities of several different materials. They are introduced to the basic concepts of building design, landscape architecture, and environmental pollutant transport....
Curated OER
There is Room for All
Students create a poster about the three main uses of forest lands. In this forest lesson plan, students focus on its economic use, environmental use, and recreation use.
Curated OER
Sonar and Marine Mammals
In this marine science worksheet, students study online reports and data on sonar effects on marine animals. They complete 7 short answer questions that follow.
Curated OER
How Full is Full?
Students examine porosity and permeability and relate these concepts to groundwater flow. They use simple materials to conduct a porosity experiment and use the information to understand how environmental engineers decide on the...
Curated OER
We're Environmentally Friendly
Fourth graders examine written works dealing with environmental issues and resolutions during a 5 week unit. They create posters, poems, and rap songs demonstrating authorship and knowledge of the environment.
Curated OER
Activity #5 Environmental Effects
Students explain the implications of particle theory of The Law of Conservation of Matter for problems of pollution and waste disposal. They describe, in terms of atoms and molecules, what happens to materials when they are dissolved or...
Curated OER
The Nitty Gritty-The Source and What To Do
In this environmental contaminants worksheet, students read about a scenario where children were exposed to lead from an old painted bench at a park. Students answer 5 questions about the investigation and what should be done to protect...
Curated OER
What Proof is There to Support Biological evolution?
Students identify who developed the theory of evolution. The concepts of adaptation and development are discussed. The age of the earth is explored in relationship to the development of various species. The condition of the environment...
Curated OER
What Factors Impact a Greenhouse?
Young scholars analyze the Greenhouse Effect and the science of greenhouses. For this global climate lesson, students read background information about the 'greenhouse effect' and define 'albedo.' Young scholars examine pictures of...