Learn how snowfall happening later in the year than usual is impacting cultural practices in this video segment about climate change adapted from the College of Menominee Nation.
In this activity students will explore leaves using inquiry and their senses.
This video adapted from KTOO explores the impact of oil contamination on the herring population of Prince William Sound, Alaska, in 1999, 10 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
In this video segment adapted from the Yukon River Panel, visit fishing communities along the Yukon River and see how Alaska Native peoples exercise stewardship of salmon to ensure that it remains a central food source and cultural touchstone.
In this biology activity, students will first brainstorm how humans use their hands. They will then conduct a short experiment to determine the importance of the opposable thumb to humans and how it is an important adaptation.
Students are asked to explain how natural disasters affect environmental health.
Have we overstepped Mother Earth's boundaries? What are the consequences? In this video segment adapted from Haskell Indian Nations University, hear a Native perspective on our relationship with the natural environment.
Students are presented with a short lesson on the Coulter principle—an electronic method to detect microscopic particles and determine their concentration in fluid. Depending on the focus of study, students can investigate the industrial and medical applications of particle detection, the physics of fluid flow and electric current through the apparatus, or the chemistry of the electrolytes used in the apparatus.
This nonfiction article, written for students in grades 4-5, explores lichens: a partnership between an alga and a fungus. Modified versions are available for students in younger grades.
Students apply concepts of disease transmission to analyze infection data, either provided or created using Bluetooth-enabled Android devices. This data collection may include several cases, such as small static groups (representing historically rural areas), several roaming students (representing world-travelers), or one large, tightly knit group (representing urban populations). To explore the algorithms to a deeper degree, students may also design their own diseases using the App Inventor framework.
In this video segment from Cyberchase, a plant expert shows Bianca the patterns and symmetry found in nature.
This video segment adapted from the NOW-RAMP 2002 Expedition documents a research expedition to Pearl and Hermes Atoll in Hawai`i. Watch as biologists assess the bird and plant populations and then work to eradicate invasive species.
This article introduces the 17 species of penguins and shows how a study of penguin habitats and life cycles can fulfill national science content standards for K-grade 5. The author provides links to web resources and suggests books. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears.
In this video from Outdoor Nevada, Brian Wignall speaks with an ornithologist about the peregrine falcon, a majestic and endangered species that is one of the fastest animals in the world.
This article describes a performance assessment that concludes a fourth-grade oceanography unit.
Students explore their peripheral vision by reading large letters on index cards. Then they repeat the experiment while looking through camera lenses, first a lens with a smaller focal length and then a lens with a larger focal length. Then they complete a worksheet and explain how the experiment helps them solve the challenge question introduced in lesson 1 of this unit.
In this video segment from Evolution: "Extinction!", geologist Peter Ward discusses evidence for a Permian-Triassic mass extinction.
Through this lesson and its associated activity, students explore the role of biomedical engineers working for pharmaceutical companies. First, students gain background knowledge about what biomedical engineers do, how to become a biomedical engineer, and the steps of the engineering design process. The goal is to introduce biomedical engineering as medical problem solving as well as highlight the importance of maintaining normal body chemistry. Students participate in the research phase of the design process as it relates to improving the design of a new prescription medication. During the research phase, engineers learn about topics by reading scholarly articles written by others, and students experience this process. Students draw on their research findings to participate in discussion and draw conclusions about the impact of medications on the human body.
This activity is a field observation and also an in-class discussion/share. Students share observations made outside and are aware of changes in the natural world.
This classroom activity introduces the yearlong topic of phenology and how to use the Weatherguide calendar.