Students participating in this lesson will collect, observe, and record particulates from the air to contrast visible and invisible air pollution. They then complete a simulation of the damage due to acid rain to illustrate invisible pollution. The lesson plan provides essential elements, objective, focus, a list of materials, background information, procedure, and ideas for enrichment. Full description.

This online collaborative project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. Based on data collected by their household members and their classmates, students determine the average amount of water used by one person in a day. They compare this to the average ... Full description.

This activity explores the potential impact of climate variability and change on one of Earth's increasingly vulnerable resources, forests. Although the activity is designed to tap specific skills and knowledge through scientific inquiry, its broader intent is to stimulate thought about the long-term impacts of a warmer planet. The scenario invites students to examine higher level issues of climate ... Full description.

Fossils is an activity for grades 1-2 that enables students to apply their interest in dinosaurs to discovering how fossils tell us about our past. As a result of this activity, the students will be able to: tell a friend or parent who a paleontologist is and what he does; explain what a fossil is; explain how we use fossils to learn about the past; and make a fossil using clay, plaster of paris, ... Full description.

This Classroom Connectors lesson plan explains the Earth's rotation on its axis, that it takes 24 hours for this to happen, and the fact that when one side of the Earth has day the other side experiences night. The site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time needed, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. The Classroom Connectors address content with an activity approach while ... Full description.

This Classroom Connectors lesson plan teaches young students about the effects of changing atmospheric conditions on weather. Students learn about air masses, fronts, pressure changes, and other conditions that change weather. The site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time required, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. The Classroom Connectors address content with an activity ... Full description.

This Classroom Connectors lesson plan teaches students about the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources, and about the conservation of these resources. The site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time required, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. The Classroom Connectors address content with an activity approach while incorporating themes necessary to raise ... Full description.

This page, from the University of Illinois Extension, has an animated cartoon designed to help 3rd through 5th grade students gain an appreciation of trees, observe trees in their everyday lives, and develop an interest in discovering more about trees. It is intended for adults to work with children to explore the secret life of trees. It meets several of the Illinois statewide learning goals for ... Full description.

In this activity, students participate in a taste test of water that will illustrate the differences between groundwater and surface water, highlight some of the common contaminants in natural water, and encourage student thought on the sources of drinking water. This site has background material, a stated objective, a list of materials needed, procedure, and follow-up questions. Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades K-5. It focuses on how scientists have developed theories about what dinosaurs were like by using evidence that they have found. Students work in groups and as a class to discover what a theory is and how it is supported or disproven. Included are objectives, materials, procedures, discussion questions, evaluation ideas, ... Full description.