This activity produces a fluent choral reading of Our Big Home: An …
This activity produces a fluent choral reading of Our Big Home: An Earth Poem, by Linda Glaser, when cooperative student groups rehearse, conduct vocabulary word study, and perform for their 4th grade peers.
Students are introduced to the fundamentals of environmental engineering as well as …
Students are introduced to the fundamentals of environmental engineering as well as the global air, land and water quality concerns facing today's environmental engineers. After a lesson and activity to introduce environmental engineering, students learn more about water chemistry aspects of environmental engineering. Specifically, they focus on groundwater contamination and remediation, including sources of contamination, adverse health effects of contaminated drinking water, and current and new remediation techniques. Several lab activities provide hands-on experiences with topics relevant to environmental engineering concerns and technologies, including removal efficiencies of activated carbon in water filtration, measuring pH, chromatography as a physical separation method, density and miscibility.
Students develop critical thinking skills by interviewing a person who has perspective …
Students develop critical thinking skills by interviewing a person who has perspective on environmental history. Students explore the concept of a timeline, including historical milestones, and develop a sense of the context of events.
This assignment teaches students how to evaluate arguments concerning the maldistribution of …
This assignment teaches students how to evaluate arguments concerning the maldistribution of environmental hazards, based on complex quantitative data.
In this activity, students create a "web" to identify and demonstrate the …
In this activity, students create a "web" to identify and demonstrate the interactions among the living and non-living parts of an environment. This information allows students to better understand what an environment is and to also consider how engineers use teamwork to solve problems.
Gallery walk activity that relies on students' prior knowledge of environmental issues …
Gallery walk activity that relies on students' prior knowledge of environmental issues as an introductory activity in a general education, large-lecture format environmental science class.
In this adapted video segment, ZOOM guest Tommy takes us on a …
In this adapted video segment, ZOOM guest Tommy takes us on a tour of the Florida Everglades. He describes what makes a wetland biome unique, including the soil, precipitation, and biodiversity.
In this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA, astronaut John Young experiences …
In this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA, astronaut John Young experiences extreme temperatures on the Moon that are a result of the Moon's low gravity and lack of atmosphere.
In this video from Common Ground and Cleaner Water, Tribby Vice, a …
In this video from Common Ground and Cleaner Water, Tribby Vice, a Kentucky farmer, talks about the changes he has made on his farm to protect the water quality of the stream running through his property and the watershed in which he lives.
In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists in western Greenland …
In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists in western Greenland explain how a glacier there is shrinking and moving faster due to increased melting.
Students conduct experiments to determine the flow rate of faucets by timing …
Students conduct experiments to determine the flow rate of faucets by timing how long it takes to fill gallon jugs. They do this for three different faucet flow levels (quarter blast, half blast, full blast), averaging three trials for each level. They convert their results from gallons per second (gps) to cubic feet per second (cfs).
In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students learn about the …
In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students learn about the unique environment of southern Florida's Everglades and gain insights into the interrelatedness of living things, nonliving things, and climate.
In the Flow Rate Experiment, students perform hands-on experiments with a common …
In the Flow Rate Experiment, students perform hands-on experiments with a common faucet, as well as work with the Engineering Our Water Living Lab to gain a better understanding of flow rate and how it pertains to engineering and applied science. Students calculate the flow rate of a faucet for three different levels (quarter blast, half blast, and full blast). Building on these calculations, students hypothesize about the flow rate in a nearby river, and then use the Engineering Our Water Living Lab to check their hypothesis. For this lesson to be effective, your students need to have a visual feel for the flow in a nearby river.
Featuring images of glacier formations, this interactive resource adapted from the National …
Featuring images of glacier formations, this interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service explains what glaciers are, where they are found, how they form, and how they move.
This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE examines the greenhouse effect, its role …
This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE examines the greenhouse effect, its role in keeping Earth habitable, and the industrial changes that have led to an increase in the planet's average temperature.
In this video segment adapted from Spanner Films, visit the Alaska Native …
In this video segment adapted from Spanner Films, visit the Alaska Native village of Shishmaref, and learn how an entire town may be forced to relocate because of warmer temperatures, melting sea ice, and coastal erosion.
In a multi-week experiment, student groups gather data from the photobioreactors that …
In a multi-week experiment, student groups gather data from the photobioreactors that they build to investigate growth conditions that make algae thrive best. Using plastic soda bottles, pond water and fish tank aerators, they vary the amount of carbon dioxide (or nutrients or sunlight, as an extension) available to the microalgae. They compare growth in aerated vs. non-aerated conditions. They measure growth by comparing the color of their algae cultures in the bottles to a color indicator scale. Then they graph and analyze the collected data to see which had the fastest growth. Students learn how plants biorecycle carbon dioxide into organic carbon (part of the carbon cycle) and how engineers apply their understanding of this process to maximize biofuel production.
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a meteorologist explains how an …
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a meteorologist explains how an unusual weather pattern led to one of the most devastating floods of this century.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is an intriguing and publicized environmental …
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is an intriguing and publicized environmental problem. This swirling soup of trash up to 10 meters deep and just below the water surface is composed mainly of non-degradable plastics. These plastic materials trap aquatic life and poison them by physical blockage or as carriers of toxic pollutants. The problem relates to materials science and the advent of plastics in modern life, an example of the unintended consequences of technology. Through exploring this complex issue, students gain insight into aspects of chemistry, oceanography, fluids, environmental science, life science and even international policy. As part of the GIS unit, the topic is a source of content for students to create interesting maps communicating something that they will likely begin to care about as they learn more.
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