Curated OER
The Grand Canyon
Students act as scientists investigating the damming and experimental flooding of the Colorado River by the Glen Canyon dam that took place in 1996. They write a proposal as to whether or not more experimental flooding should be done on...
Curated OER
Floodplain Modeling
Students simulate the impact of fluctuating river volumes on structures and landforms. They experiment with table top-sized riverbed models and water. Students consider how human design can help mitigate the effects of a flood.
National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: Runoff, Impervious Surfaces, and Smart Development
Can a sidewalk increase the amount of pollution in local streams? Scholars learn the answer to this question though research and experimentation in the fifth unit in the six-part series. Pupils study runoff, impervious surfaces, and the...
Curated OER
The Grand Canyon
Young scholars investigate how dams help and hurt the ecology of an area. In this Grand Canyon activity, students research the Glen Canyon Dam and why it flooded in 1996. Young scholars create a pros and cons list about...
Kenan Fellows
Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – Soil
Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...
NASA
Erosion and Landslides
A professional-quality PowerPoint, which includes links to footage of actual landslides in action, opens this moving lesson. Viewers learn what conditions lead to erosion and land giving way. They simulate landslides with a variety of...
Wild BC
The Greenhouse Effect: Warming the Earth Experiment
First in a two-part lesson on the greenhouse effect, this lesson involves a classroom demonstration of the phenomenon, and a lab group experiment with color and absorption. Although there are easier ways to demonstrate the greenhouse...
Curated OER
Two Rivers Ran Through It
Sixth graders discover the problems that early Mesototamian farmers faced while developing agriculture in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They design a working model that solves those unique challenges.
Chymist
The Extraction and Identification of Artificial Food Colors
Did you know some food dyes are considered safe while others are considered carcinogenic? During the experiment, young chemists extract artificial food colors from prepared foods. Then, they use chromatography paper to identify...
Curated OER
Ecology
Students explore, experience and experiment identifying the human impact on the environment of vegetative differences within the same biome. They assess what causes deserts, rain forests, savannahs, tundras and saguaros and how these...
Curated OER
Urban Impact on Chollas Creek (California): A Field Study
Students, in groups, take samples from a creek and keep a field journal on their samples. They also perform tests on their samples.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Floodplain Modeling
Students explore the impact of changing river volumes and different floodplain terrain in experimental trials with table top-sized riverbed models. The models are made using modeling clay in aluminum baking pans placed on a slight...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Natural Disasters
Students are introduced to our planet's structure and its dynamic system of natural forces through an examination of the natural hazards of earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis, floods and tornados, as well as avalanches, fires,...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Erosion in Rivers
Learners learn about water erosion through an experimental process in which small-scale buildings are placed along a simulated riverbank to experience a range of flooding conditions. They make model buildings either with a 3D printer or...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Dams
Through eight lessons, students are introduced to many facets of dams, including their basic components, the common types (all designed to resist strong forces), their primary benefits (electricity generation, water supply, flood...