Curated OER
Climate Shifts
Eight slides of information related to shifts in the climate make up this presentation. The vocabulary and concepts displayed are geared toward high school meteorology learners. Content is not cohesive from slide to slide, but the...
Science Matters
That’s An Otter Story
Young scientists discover how sea otters' habitats have changed due to human impact. Through conversation, video observation, and story reading, scholars identify how human interactions change a specific ecosystem in both positive and...
PBS
Technology: Conveniences and Consequences
It's a delicate balance—using technology to improve our lives while still protecting the environment, and ourselves, from the hazards of technology use. Class members examine statistics about the increase in media use, complete a survey...
Purdue University
Design of an Earthen Dam for a Lafayette Neighborhood
How do dams support bodies of water? Scholars engage in a hands-on STEM activity where they design, build, and test dams to learn about bodies of water and how humans use natural resources. They learn how criteria and constraints affect...
Curated OER
Biodiversity Debate - Stream Side Science
Role play community members who are both for and against the construction of a dam. Research the pros and cons and then hold a classroom debate. This activity ideally follows a series of stream studies, links to which are included. Use...
Curated OER
Iceberg Ahead: How Does Temperature Affect the Density of Water?
Demonstrate how ice floats on water and get the class thinking about why icebergs are so deceiving. Investigators then experiment with mixing water of the same temperature and water of different temperatures. Make sure to explain the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Impacts of Climate Change
Scholars become experts on the eight major impacts of climate change through a jigsaw and grand conversation. They then research and present what they learned about effects specific to their region.
Michigan State University
Bug Lyphe!
Introduce ecology classes to biodiversity and interdependence in ecosystems with a PowerPoint presentation. Then, they get up-close and personal with the invertebrate world by collecting insects, classifying them, and graphing their...
Curated OER
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining
To understand the impact coal mining has on the environment, pupils will extract chocolate chips from a cookie. Imagine the cookie is the environment and the chips are the coal. Instruct them to mine as many chips as they can, then have...
Curated OER
Chemical Consequences of Burning Fossil Fuels
Future scientists are introduced to the chemical consequences of burning fossil fuels, learning that fossil fuel combustion leads to the formation of oxides of three nonmetals: carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, all of which end up in the...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Getting to the Core: The Link Between Temperature and Carbon Dioxide
Polar ice samples provide scientists with valuable information about the condition of the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years in the past. Of particular interest is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its...
WindWise Education
How Does Energy Affect Wildlife?
Is wildlife affected the same way by different electricity generation methods? Teams work together to research four electricity generation sources and their impacts on wildlife. The teams create a summary report and share their...
Curated OER
Images as Messages
Your class watches a video about Chris Jordan, a talented photographer and activist who tries to get an environmental message out by his work. As a cross-curricular project, have your class imitate his style of art with an object that...
Curated OER
Stanley Park and Aquarium Field Trip
Students explore the beauty of British Columbia by participating in a class field trip. For this ecosystem observation lesson, students investigate the Vancouver Aquarium and Stanley Park, one of the largest parks in North America....
PBS
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
What rights are guaranteed to learners? Do they align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations in 1948? Middle and high schoolers present persuasive arguments about the rights they believe...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Services
The fourth activity in a series of five has classes participate in a jigsaw to learn about global impacts of climate change and then share their new information with a home group. Groups then research impacts of climate change (droughts,...
Community Resources for Science
Food Webs/Clipfish
Human impact on habitats can be alarming. A hands-on activity has learners explore the impact of human interactions with different environments using a gamified approach. They simulate the impact of a species' abundance under different...
Channel Islands Film
Natural Resources, and Human Uses of Plants and Animals
As part of their study of the restoration projects on Santa Cruz Island, class members demonstrate their understanding of the connections among plant life, animals, and the actions of humans by crafting a model that reveals these...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Reflecting on What I Learned About Climate Change
After three eye-opening lessons about our environment, scholars revisit a 10-question survey, reflect on their new-found knowledge, and take action by writing to a representative or creating a public service announcement about...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Green Plastics—Chemistry Outreach
How do green plastics reduce waste and environmental pollution? Budding scientists create and test a variety of compounds used in green plastics during an insightful experiment. Beginning with startling statistics and ending with...
Beyond Benign
E-Factor: Environmental Impact Factor
Explore how chemical processes reduce production waste. The 19th activity in a 24-part series has learners explore the impact of green chemistry techniques on waste in production scenarios. They consider petrochemicals, bulk chemicals,...
Curated OER
The Human Impact on the Environment
Despite the typos and formatting issues, the Word document found here has some great potential. There are two questions that ask learners to put several events in a logical order; these could easily be made into a card sort activity....
WindWise Education
Are Birds Impacted by Small Wind Turbines?
How do we know if the wind turbine at our school is impacting birds? Here, small groups work together and conduct field work in order to determine the impact of a human-made structure on birds. The groups also determine their searcher...
NOAA
Why Should I Care?: Show How Increased Carbon Dioxide Makes the Ocean More Acidic
How does a change in pH affect the ocean ecosystem? Scholars explore the idea by making an acid-base indicator in part seven of the 10-installment Discover Your Changing World series. First, they explore impacts of carbon dioxide in...