This website is provided by ThinkQuest, a global network of students, teachers, parents, and technologists dedicated to youth-centered learning on the internet. This site highlights the following natural disasters: famine, cyclones, brushfires, drought, volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Information provided about these disasters includes where they occur, how they occur, and case studies of each ... Full description.

In this activity, students will experience the excitement of discovery and problem-solving to learn about organisms that live in extreme environments in the deep ocean. As part of the activity, the students will imagine that they are going on an expedition to explore the deep-sea floor, while they teacher plays recorded sound effects and reads from a narrative. As they proceed, they will come to understand ... Full description.

In this activity, students play the roles of environmental consultants hired to present the case for or against targeted dredging of polychlorinated biphenyl(PCB)-contaminated sediments in the fictitious Ramford River. Student teams will be assigned to field, laboratory, community/risk, economic, or solutions/technology investigation. Arguments will be based on the extent of the PCB problem in the ... Full description.

This lesson will allow students to conduct Internet research about earthquakes and buildings that have successfully withstood them, design and build models of an earthquake-proof building, and evaluate the best earthquake-proof model using an earthquake simulator that they construct. This site has an overview of the lesson, a list of materials, detailed procedures for the teacher including a list ... Full description.

In this activity, students will learn what causes the various types of erosion that have formed our Earth as it is today and how different surfaces erode differently. The students will: predict the outcomes of erosion on different materials; describe ways of preventing erosion; and recognize erosion and predict what type of erosion caused it. The elaboration section of the activity explores erosion ... Full description.

In this project, students pretend they have been hired as an environmental consulting firm to present the case for or against the closing of (fictitious) downtown Ramford to vehicular traffic in an upcoming debate. Student arguments will focus on: the extent of the potential ozone/air quality problem in the City of Ramford; the possible routes and effects of exposure to ozone for children and adults ... Full description.

This lesson introduces students to the nature of earthquakes and volcanoes. They will discover how earthquake intensity is measured, where earthquakes occur (by studying real-time data), and what global patterns exist. During the course of this activity, students will conduct Web research and collect online data to aid in understanding the experience of a real earthquake through reports of eyewitnesses ... Full description.

This site describes the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which is the pattern of weather that primarily affects the east coast of North America and Western Europe. This climate pattern also influences weather all over the Northern Hemisphere. The site has a feature video that explains this phenomenon, an interactive map that depicts the resulting weather, and an interactive climate graph that shows ... Full description.

This website introduces students to the concepts and issues surrounding acid rain. They will learn what acid rain is, how it forms, and what its effects are on humans, on the environment (lakes, rivers), and on infrastructure (buildings, monuments). There is also discussion of what is being done to reduce the presence of acid rain, and some suggestions for the students themselves to help reduce acid ... Full description.

This tutorial explains the steps of primary treatment of wastewater: screening, pumping, aeration and grit removal, primary settling of sludge, removing scum, and chlorine treatment for disinfection. Alternative primary treatments such as using Water Hyacinth to remove heavy metals and pumping wastewater through artificial marshes are also described. A short quiz is available. Full description.