This lesson will evaluate how the design of a community impacts quality of life. Students will discuss the physical and human impacts of community design, identify traditional neighborhood design elements and evaluate these elements with features of conventional suburban development. Full description.

In this lesson, students complete a sequence of activities provided in a land planning document. They will look at how human activities in the state of Maryland have evolved over the last 50 years, identifying characteristics of planned development versus sprawl. They will use maps to evaluate geographic features, explain the connection between land development and the environment, and examine the ... Full description.

In this activity, to get an idea what the lives of Antarctic researchers are like, students will demonstrate their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of United States Antarctic Project participants. They will review a list of occupations at the station and put them in categories. In addition students will problem-solve an emergency situation specific to the operation of Palmer Station. ... Full description.

In this activity students assume the role of United States Antarctic Program participants to understand that participants need months of careful preparation before they set out on their journey south. Students will review detailed guidelines (which they can find online). If students think attention to detail is only required when doing schoolwork, this activity will make them think again. The Antarctic ... Full description.

In this lesson, students learn that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tries to encourage communities near Superfund sites to become involved in the Superfund process. The types of activities communities can undertake to influence how hazardous waste sites are cleaned up are presented and discussed. Students discover that community involvement is an essential part of all Superfund ... Full description.

In this activity students assume the role of water system designers. They have been asked to go to a small town to design a new public water supply system. They must decide how to link all the homes and businesses to the water source so that everyone can get the water they need. The class will work as a group to design the delivery system. As a result of this activity, students are able to build a ... Full description.

It's remarkable to think that a compound renowned for its safety and stability in commercial products could have dramatically compromised the health of our planet, but that's just what chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has done. This video segment describes how CFCs, once widely used in refrigerators and aerosol cans, damaged the protective layer of ozone in our atmosphere. The segment is five minutes four ... Full description.

This EET Chapter will introduce you to visualization capabilities available through NASA's Earth Observatory. You'll build several animations of satellite data that illustrate carbon pathways through the Earth system. For instance, you'll build animations of fire images that indicate carbon is being released into the atmosphere. You'll also make animations of plant productivity images that indicate ... Full description.

This educational project uses online real time data to guide student discovery of the science behind the causes and effects of ground level ozone. Through this project, students will discover what ground level ozone is, what factors contribute to its formation and how breathing ozone affects health. Students will use data and animated maps from the internet to monitor the presence of ground level ... Full description.

Abandoned Mine Drainage in Pennsylvania is a science-technology-society (STS) role playing debate simulation. In this activity, learners investigate the abandoned mine drainage (AMD) issue from differing perspectives. In their investigation, they identify AMD problems, search for a solution, evaluate options, and decide on a course of action to treat and clean up AMD in Pennsylvania. Full description.