eGFI
Design a Green Rooftop Garden
Design and construct buildings with rooftop gardens. Junior engineers work in groups to build two buildings and then perform experiments to determine whether or not a garden affects the building's temperatures. They graph and interpret...
Science NetLinks
Green Roof Design
Green roofs aren't just eco-friendly — they are literally green with trees. Groups learn about the concept of green roofs in order to be able to design one. The groups design a 5,000-square-foot green roof for a fictional apartment row...
California Academy of Science
Greening Your Middle School
Middle schoolers redesign their school to make it more energy efficient, and create a model of their design. Learners get together in groups of 5, and they take on the task of making their school more energy efficient. To do this, they...
Beyond Benign
Green House?
A solid foundation is important for all things—especially houses. Learners research different materials for foundations based on environmental impact and cost. They decide whether concrete, insulated concrete, or wood would be best for...
Curated OER
What Makes a Building Green?
Students examine the concepts of green building used in constructing or renovating a building. They conduct an interview with someone who sells green materials, or designs or implements green building plans. They work in teams to...
Curated OER
Going Green School Campaign
Students explore ways to make their school's interior and exterior environmentally 'green.' In this environmental concern lesson, students work in groups to examine their school's interior and exteriors to make them 'green.' Students...
Curated OER
Green Roof Design
Learners design a heat and water conserving "green roof". In this urban environmental lesson, students will design a heat and water conserving "green roof" to improve a building's energy profile.
Curated OER
MATERIALS, Using What’s Local: Native Materials, Local Sources
Middle schoolers consider the development of different societies. In this environmental building activity, students consider local resources and how societies choose to use them. Middle schoolers use their findings to design a 'green'...
Curated OER
Green Team
Student explore the relationship of static electricity to current electricity, circuits, electromagnets, electro generators, and public electric utilities. In this Green Team lesson plan, 4th graders participate in hands-on science...
Curated OER
Designing "Green" to Save Our Green Planet
Students design an environmentally friendly home. In this middle school math/science lesson, students watch videos on creating green design. Students work in collaborative groups to determine what makes a house green and to...
Curated OER
Our Designs For The World Trade Center Site
Young scholars design specific structures appropriate for the World Trade Center site. In this architecture design lesson, students use the Internet to research the original structures at the World Trade Center site and use...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying...
Curated OER
Going Green
Students create an action plan to learn how to preserve natural resources for future generations. In this environmental conservation lesson, students research the topic of preserving the natural environment and write a definition for...
Curated OER
What Makes a Home "Energy Efficient"?
Learners research and report the costs and benefits of making their own homes more energy efficient. In this energy conservation lesson, students explore energy efficient technologies and design over several days. They complete a home...
Curated OER
Bonus Activity: Build a House
Students complete a building activity using their knowledge of geometrical shapes, tools, and how to follow a plan from previous lessons in this unit. In this following directions lesson, students study the basic building process as it...
Curated OER
How to: Build a Plant Cell
Students build a 3-dimensional model of a plant cell with household objects. In this plant biology lesson, students construct replica plant cells in groups of three. After completing their projects, students share their creations with...
Curated OER
Explore More About Bottle Construction
Students explore Green Construction. In this instructional activity based on the experiences of Peace Corps volunteers, students gain insight into alternative construction in Guatemala. They examine the pros and cons of using alternative...
Curated OER
Three Dimensional Geology
Here is a fine lesson plan on geology designed for high schoolers. Learners use rocks, fossils, and other geological clues to determine the geology of an area. Then, they make recommendations to a fictitious city council about the...
Curated OER
Building a Water Clock
Students research water clocks online, investigate how water clocks work, and construct water clock that will keep time accurately for at least two hours without human intervention.
Curated OER
Understanding the Complexities of Setting with Where the Lilies Bloom
After reading Where the Lilies Bloom and researching the wildflowers and herbs mentioned in the novel, class members create a mural that reflects the setting of the novel. Groups design the background, the houses of the characters, the...
Curated OER
Make a Solar Oven
Students build a solar oven. In this Science lesson plan, students construct a functional solar oven. Students design the oven and explain the energy concepts involved.
Curated OER
BIOMIMICRY, Housing Naturally: Habitat as Model
Pupils explore natural animal habitats. In this lesson on biomimicry and habitation design, students will use classroom and field examples to examine animal habitats. Pupils will construct a model of a natural animal habitat. This lesson...
Curated OER
Black, Striped, White, & Plaid: Changing Patterns
Learners create a new design for an everyday object using color and patterns after observing objects that surround them in the classroom; focusing on five examples that are either solid colored or patterned.
Curated OER
Sea to Sky Adjectives Booklet
Adjectives build better sentences! First, second, third, and fourth graders design adjective booklets that feature words to describe everything between the sea and the sky.