In a series of 12 project-based learning lessons, a group of seven fifth-grade students who live 200 miles from the coast explored their personal connections to the ocean. After completing a unit on the role of water in Earth's surface processes, the students investigated ocean acidification and how this pervasive ocean problem impacts their local…

Ocean acidification is one of the most serious environmental issues facing the planet (e.g., Doney 2006; Guinotte and Fabry 2009). It is caused by excess carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]) in the atmosphere. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels put CO[subscript 2] and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, which causes the Earth's…

Article described an experiment in which students learned to investigate the sound of water particles falling over rocks as well as the change in composition of rocks as they travel along the riverbed. (RK)

Uses a university campus as the focus for a study of the entire watershed. Presents a context for incorporating pedagogical elements, interdisciplinary teaching, research experience, and active, collaborative strategies into a useful framework for undergraduate science education. (Author/KHR)

Describes the haze-monitoring program that was added to the protocols of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program. Finds that sun photometry provides a convenient means for allowing students to perform hands-on science while learning about various topics in history, electronics, algebra, statistics, graphing,…

Gill-breathing freshwater snails (Family "Pleuroceridae") are ecologically important, abundant in many streams in the United States, and easy to collect and maintain under classroom conditions. These snails can be used in classroom tests to demonstrate effects of pollutants on aquatic organisms. In more advanced classes, students can cage the…

Whether you're a stream studies novice or a veteran aquatic monitor, "Watershed Dynamics" gives you abundant practical resources to extend your students' investigations into local water quality and land-use issues. This two-part set is ideal for teaching biological and ecological concepts and research techniques. It also shows how the interplay…

Recommended for grades 10-12 physical, earth, or general science classes, this 5-7 day unit is designed to give students a general understanding of solar energy and its use as a viable alternative to present energy sources. Along with this technology, students examine several factors of solar energy which influence the choice of solar home site…

The primary goal of this guide is for children to become familiar with the concept of cycles and to learn that some human activities can cause changes in their environment. Although the guide addresses Earth's components, it does so from the perspective of space to show the planet as a large system with interacting parts. To demonstrate on a much…

This document was developed to provide eighth-grade teachers in New York City with a sequence of instructional activities in science. The major portion of the guide is divided into four instructional units. The first unit, "Chemistry," includes lessons and activities on liquid solutions, suspensions and emulsions, acids, bases,…

The purpose of this guide is to help students better understand the science, citizen action, and research issues that are part of the acid rain problem. The guide is designed for students in grades 4-8 and their teachers. Following an introduction, the first seven sections are informative in nature. They include: (1) "Observations about Acidity";…

Presents an activity that models the changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere during the last 200 years as determined from glacial records. (PR)

Describes an activity where students generate a plan and test their ideas on trying to cope with a small oil spill. (PR)

The major environmental problem of acid precipition is addressed through a series of activities contained in this guide for teachers of grades 6 through 12. Exercises are provided to help students learn science inquiry skills, facts, and concepts while focusing on the acid rain situation. Activities are organized by content areas. These include:…