This lesson for English Language Learners (ELLs) discusses an environmental policy that …
This lesson for English Language Learners (ELLs) discusses an environmental policy that is being implemented in many places around the world, carbon taxes. In this lesson, learners will practice reading, listening, speaking and writing. All activities are automatically graded with feedback provided to the learner upon submission.
To increase students' awareness of possible invisible pollutants in drinking water sources, …
To increase students' awareness of possible invisible pollutants in drinking water sources, students perform an exciting lab requiring them to think about how solutions and mixtures exist even in unsuspecting places such as ink. They use alcohol and chromatography paper to separate the components of black and colored marker ink. Students witness first-hand how components of a solution can be separated, even when those individual components are not visible in solution.
Students observe and discuss a simple balloon model of an electrostatic precipitator …
Students observe and discuss a simple balloon model of an electrostatic precipitator to better understand how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution.
Students investigate decomposers and the role of decomposers in maintaining the flow …
Students investigate decomposers and the role of decomposers in maintaining the flow of nutrients in an environment. Students also learn how engineers use decomposers to help clean up wastes in a process known as bioremediation. This lesson concludes a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.
Students learn about a special branch of engineering called bioremediation, which is …
Students learn about a special branch of engineering called bioremediation, which is the use of living organisms to aid in the clean-up of pollutant spills. Students learn all about bioremediation and see examples of its importance. In the associated activity, students conduct an experiment and see bioremediation in action!
How does climate change? And what happens to environments and ecosystems when …
How does climate change? And what happens to environments and ecosystems when it does? In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina shows us the effects that climate change can have and how one small change in an ecosystem can throw everything off.
Some bird species appear to respond to extreme weather changes in their …
Some bird species appear to respond to extreme weather changes in their native habitat by moving to more hospitable environments. This article discusses the role of NASA satellites, along with field and citizen scientists, in studying that movement. The article also includes an activity on constructing a bird feeder. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.
This series of 18 captioned images depict several weather and climate-related events …
This series of 18 captioned images depict several weather and climate-related events such as flooding, drought, glacial retreat and wind erosion. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.
This question is addressed through a series of questions and answers, each …
This question is addressed through a series of questions and answers, each providing related introductory information such as how climate change is studied, the history of Earth‰Ûªs climate, and the effects of climate change on Earth‰Ûªs geology and biology. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.
Use the imbedded sliding scale to observe changes in sea ice distribution, …
Use the imbedded sliding scale to observe changes in sea ice distribution, carbon emission levels and average global temperatures over time, as well as the effects of variations in sea level rise along coastal regions. This interactive is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.
Students in grades 4-6 engage in a series of activities (both inside …
Students in grades 4-6 engage in a series of activities (both inside and outside the classroom) designed to inspire a sense of environmental stewardship. Each of the activities is intended to have children explore their profound connection to nature and experience the power of individual and collective action.
Students explore the daily choices, they, their families, their school and their communities make; the impact of those choices on nature; and the role they and others may take in protecting nature.
The activities are fun, hands-on, and thought provoking. Students have opportunities to share what they are learning with their fellow students, family, and community and to create their own “class foundation” to collectively act on their concerns and passions.
The resource consists of 16 cross-curricular lessons on a range of issues from which teachers may select according to the dictates of their time and curriculum.
Students learn the meaning of preservation and conservation and identify themselves and …
Students learn the meaning of preservation and conservation and identify themselves and others as preservationists or conservationists in relation to specific environmental issues. They use Venn diagrams to clarify the similarities and differences in viewpoints. They see how an environmental point-of-view affects the approach to an engineering problem.
Students learn how the process of soil solarization is used to pasteurize …
Students learn how the process of soil solarization is used to pasteurize agricultural fields before planting crops. Soil solarization is a pest control technique in agriculture that uses the sun’s radiation to heat the soil and eliminate unwanted pests that could harm the crops. The approach is compared to other pest control methods such as fumigation and herbicide application, highlighting the respective benefits and drawbacks. In preparation for the associated hands-on activity on soil biosolarization, students learn how changing the variables involved in the solarizing process (such as the tarp material, soil water content and addition of organic matter) impacts the technique’s effectiveness. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-quiz is provided.
While the creation of a dam provides many benefits, it can have …
While the creation of a dam provides many benefits, it can have negative impacts on local ecosystems. Students learn about the major environmental impacts of dams and the engineering solutions used to address them.
Through eight lessons, students are introduced to many facets of dams, including …
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 control, irrigation, recreation), and their importance (historically, currently and globally). Through an introduction to kinetic and potential energy, students come to understand how dams generate electricity. They learn about the structure, function and purpose of locks, which involves an introduction to Pascal's law, water pressure and gravity. Other lessons introduce students to common environmental impacts of dams and the engineering approaches to address them. They learn about the life cycle of salmon and the many engineered dam structures that aid in their river passage, as they think of their own methods and devices that could help fish migrate past dams. Students learn how dams and reservoirs become part of the Earth's hydrologic cycle, focusing on the role of evaporation. To conclude, students learn that dams do not last forever; they require ongoing maintenance, occasionally fail or succumb to "old age," or are no longer needed, and are sometimes removed. Through associated hands-on activities, students track their personal water usage; use clay and plastic containers to model and test four types of dam structures; use paper cups and water to learn about water pressure and Pascal's Law; explore kinetic energy by creating their own experimental waterwheel from two-liter plastic bottles; collect and count a stream's insects to gauge its health; play an animated PowerPoint game to quiz their understanding of the salmon life cycle and fish ladders; run a weeklong experiment to measure water evaporation and graph their data; and research eight dams to find out and compare their original purposes, current status, reservoir capacity and lifespan. Woven throughout the unit is a continuing hypothetical scenario in which students act as consulting engineers with a Splash Engineering firm, assisting Thirsty County in designing a dam for Birdseye River.
By tracing the movement of radiation released during an accident at the …
By tracing the movement of radiation released during an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, students see how air pollution, like particulate matter, can become a global issue.
Student teams act as engineers and brainstorm, design, create and test their …
Student teams act as engineers and brainstorm, design, create and test their ideas for packaging to protect a raw egg shipped in a 9 x 12-in envelope. They follow the steps of the engineering design process and aim for a successful solution with no breakage, low weight, minimal materials and recyled/reused materials. Students come to understand the multi-faceted engineering considerations associated with the packaging of items to preserve, market and safely transport goods.
Students are challenged to design a permanent guest village within the Saguaro …
Students are challenged to design a permanent guest village within the Saguaro National Park in Arizona. The design must provide a true desert experience to visitors while emphasizing sustainable design, protection of the natural environment, and energy and resource conservation. To successfully address and respond to this challenge, students must acquire an understanding of desert ecology, environmental limiting factors, species adaptations and resource utilization. Following theintroduction, students generate ideas and consider the knowledge required to complete the challenge. The lectures and activities that follow serve to develop this level of comprehension. To introduce the concepts of healthy ecosystems, biomimetics and the importance of sustainable environmental design, students watch three video clips of experts. These clips provide direction for student research and challenge design solutions.
Geographic information systems (GIS), once used predominantly by experts in cartography and …
Geographic information systems (GIS), once used predominantly by experts in cartography and computer programming, have become pervasive in everyday business and consumer use. This unit explores GIS in general as a technology about which much more can be learned, and it also explores applications of that technology. Students experience GIS technology through the use of Google Earth on the environmental topic of plastics in the ocean in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The use of this topic in GIS makes the unit multidisciplinary, incorporating the physics of ocean currents, the chemistry associated with pollutant degradation and chemical sorption to organic-rich plastics, and ecological impact to aquatic biota.
In this activity, students investigate different methods (aeration and filtering) for removing …
In this activity, students investigate different methods (aeration and filtering) for removing pollutants from water. They will design and build their own water filters.
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