The purpose of this activity is to measure air (and optionally soil) temperature within one hour of solar noon and the maximum and minimum air temperatures for the previous 24 hours. Intended outcomes are that students will learn to read minimum, maximum, and current temperatures using a U-shaped thermometer, understand diurnal and annual temperature variations, and recognize factors that influence ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to develop an understanding of how water flows through different soils and how it is transformed when it flows through these soils. Students time the flow of water through different soils and observe the amount of water held and also the filtering ability of the soils. They will also observe the filtering ability of soils by noting the clarity of the water before and ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to help students understand that some substances can be identified safely with your senses. Students will investigate how they use their senses for observation and why we use instruments to collect data. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to teach students about the acidity levels of liquids and other substances around their school so they understand what pH levels tell us about the environment. Students will create mixtures of water samples, soil samples, plants and other natural materials to better understand the importance of pH levels. Full description.

In this activity students construct a sundial and use it to observe the movement of the sun through the sky over the course of a day by marking changes in the position of a shadow once each hour. Students determine the approximate time of solar noon at their school as indicated by the time of the shortest shadow. They revisit the site on a subsequent day to estimate the time of day using their sundial. ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to increase students' awareness of the qualitative changes in plants during green-up and green-down from which they will be collecting quantitative leaf change data, and to develop an understanding of the patterns and differences among plants at the same location. Students will observe, compare, and classify plants during green-up or green-down and then make inferences ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to develop an understanding of plants' response to light. Students will do simple investigations to observe plant responses to light. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to measure the pH of water. Students use either a pH meter or pH paper to measure the pH. If using the pH meter, the meter needs to be calibrated with buffer solutions that have pH values of 4, 7, and 10. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to familiarize students with the importance of perspective and various scales of remotely sensed data. Students create a 3-D model of an area and develop a classification system for the landforms in their model. The maps can then be used to answer certain questions about the environment. Full description.

This standards-based module uses hands-on activities and real-time data investigations to allow students in the elementary grades to investigate weather phenomena both locally as well as in other places around the world. By using hands-on activities and real-time data investigations, the students will develop a basic understanding of how weather can be described in measurable quantities, such as temperature, ... Full description.