In this hands-on inquiry-based activity, students face an engineering challenge based on real-world applications. They are tasked with developing a tool they can use to measure the amount of rain that falls each day. This is more of a mini unit than a stand alone activity.

Water is always moving in a continuous cycle from liquid to solid to gas and back again. Students study this never-ending cycle through shared readings, center activities, and experiments.

Students will learn about the water cycle, watersheds, and point and non-point source pollution. Students will then apply this knowledge to take a position in the debate about the proposed development at Hawn's Bridge Peninsula at Raystown Lake and write a letter to the editor expressing their opinion.

Students will learn about the water cycle, watersheds, and point and non-point source pollution. Students will then apply this knowledge to take a position in the debate about the proposed development at Hawn's Bridge Peninsula at Raystown Lake and write a letter to the editor expressing their opinion.

This article explains how the ice and snow of the polar regions fit in the global water cycle and includes links to professional development resources.

In this visualization, users click to drop a raindrop anywhere in the contiguous United States and watch where it ends up. The visualization teaches users about the relationship between precipitation and freshwater in the US.

This video segment from Nature takes viewers to a road race in Death Valley.

This animation adapted from NASA shows the orbital paths of spacecraft in NASA's Earth Observing Fleet that are a source of wide-scale, primary research about Earth.

A computer simulator that allows students to adjust the air temperature and dew point to see what type of precipitation would fall to the ground.

In this worksheet-based activity, students review global visualizations of incoming sunlight and surface temperature and discuss seasonal change. Students use the visualizations to support inquiry on the differences in seasonal change in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and how land and water absorb and release heat differently. The activity culminates in an argument about why one hemisphere experiences warmer summers although it receives less total solar energy.

In this video segment adapted from the College of Menominee Nation, tribal members share examples of how seasons are changing, and how these changes are affecting local plants.

In this activity, students create a reservoir model using hoses, a bucket, a flat pan, and water, to understand the inputs and outputs of a local watershed or reservoir. The resource is supported by teacher background information, assessment suggestions, and a scoring rubric. This is Activity 2 of the learning module, Global Balance, part of the lesson series, The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change.

In this activity, students investigate the interacting parts of the Earth system by observing changes in evaporation rate in four small aquariums with different initial conditions. The demonstration requires 4 small aquariums, soil, plants, water, graduated cylinder, scale, plastic wrap, and colored pencils. A student data sheet is included. The resource is supported by teacher background information, assessment suggestions, and a scoring rubric. This is Activity 3 in the learning module, Global Balance, part of the lesson series, The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change.

This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE looks at American energy consumption and the resulting production of greenhouse gases.

In this video from DragonflyTV, follow the investigation of Isaac and Anjali as they record, measure, and analyze data about how the Sun's position in the sky affects a solar-powered car's speed.

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members assemble a solar still and make fresh water from saltwater, demonstrating two steps of the water cycle, evaporation and condensation.

In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet conservationist Steve MacLean, an Inupiaq from Barrow, Alaska, who works to preserve the health of the Bering Sea ecosystem.

These exercises are designed to guide a student to an understanding of how rainfall and storm events result in runoff over the surface of the earth. Runoff is influenced by the nature of the surface of the earth. Streamflow is particularly influenced by urbanization-the paving over of permeable surfaces with impermeable ones. In light of this, students are encouraged to think about design elements that incorporate more permeable surfaces into their own environments, including their school parking lots and neighborhoods.