This document provides several activities that show how desert plants and animals are well-adapted to life in the desert and thrive on little moisture and high temperatures. There are extension lessons as well as a drawing activity. Full description.

Part of the USGS Water Science for Schools site, this resource defines irrigation water use and includes several tables and maps showing water use by various irrigation systems, by state, by crop, and by percentage of fresh water available. Students and teachers can look at their state and see 1990 data for how much ground water and how much ground water and surface water is used for irrigation. Various ... Full description.

This is an inquiry activity that, while based on a local area (the San Francisco Bay), could be adapted to the teacher's/student's local area. Students perform an experiment in which they observe how water pollution is absorbed into plants. The site contains a teacher's guide and printable student worksheet. Full description.

This activity explores understanding the greenhouse effect through a lab experiment. The effect on the atmosphere is included too. Full description.

This site explores the plant and animal communities that exist within an estuary. Specifically, it examines the planktonic, pelagic, benthic and intertidal communities, and focuses on organisms that are characteristic of the community, how scientists investigate these organisms, and why such organisms are important to the biological community of estuaries. Additionally, the site provides specific ... Full description.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that share concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as a negotiating voice for small island developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system. The site provides information about the island states ... Full description.

Water quality is more than meets the eye. Some of its properties are invisible. Teachers using this module will focus on measurable properties of water: mass, volume, and concentration; temperature; dissolved oxygen; pH; and nitrates; and their effects on water quality. Each of these properties is the subject of a lesson plan. The lesson plans include an introduction, lesson objectives, a pre-test, ... Full description.

These three lessons focus on the effect of fluctuations of temperature on aquatic life. Topics include effects on the growth and survival rate of aquatic plants, how the metabolic rate of clams is affected by a change in temperature, and the optimal temperature for the hatching and development of brine shrimp eggs. Full description.

The Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Project develops and supports systems that provide information on the location and extent of red tide blooms in the Gulf of Mexico. The Experimental HAB bulletin alerts subscribers to developing blooms and changes in the location and extent of existing blooms. The HAB Mapping System (HABMapS) provides the position of an identified bloom and data from environmental conditions ... Full description.

In this lesson, students assess the causes and effects of massive arsenic contamination in the water supplies of 43 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. Students evaluate why this contamination occurred, how it affects the population of Bangladesh, and why this environmental catastrophe is proving so difficult to solve. Full description.