Students learn about energy and nutrient flow in various biosphere climates and environments. They learn about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, food chains and food webs, seeing the interdependence between producers, consumers and decomposers. Students are introduced to the roles of the hydrologic (water), carbon, and nitrogen cycles in sustaining the worlds' ecosystems so living organisms survive. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

In this lesson, we learn how insects can fly in the rain. The objective is to calculate the impact forces of raindrops on flying mosquitoes. Students will gain experience with using Newton's laws, gathering data from videos and graphs, and most importantly, the utility of making approximations. No calculus will be used in this lesson, but familiarity with torque and force balances is suggested. No calculators will be needed, but students should have pencil and paper to make estimations and, if possible, copies of the graphs provided with the lesson. Between lessons, students are recommended to discuss the assignments with their neighbors.

In this problem-based learning (PBL) activity, students take on the role of a student research scientist and explore the role of solar energy in determining climate. Students conduct experiments to observe how a change in water phase affects surface temperatures. Materials required for the investigation include 2 aquariums, dry sand or soil, two heat lamps, and two thermometers.The lesson is supported by teacher notes, answer key, glossary and an appendix with information about using PBL in the classroom. This is the second of three activities in Investigating the Climate System: Energy, a Balancing Act.

This module discusses the hydrologic cycle and its impacts on the planet Earth. Additionally, the module addresses connections between the hydrologic cycle, climate and the impacts humans have had on the cycle.

The suburban city of Mount Rainier, Maryland, is doing its part to improve the water quality of a polluted river in its region: residents and organizations are using green infrastructure to reduce stormwater runoff.

This article highlights resources that can be used to supplement lessons on extreme weather, including games and video clips. The article appears in the free, online magazine for K-Grade 5 teachers Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine focuses on the essential principles of climate science.

This activity combines field and classroom investigations about snowflakes to develop a testable question.

This activity involves student teams classifying clouds into the main categories, making a poster of their findings, having a poster session and learning the vocabulary terms cirrus, stratus and cumulus.

In a class demonstration, students observe a simple water cycle model to better understand its role in pollutant transport. This activity shows one way in which pollution is affected by the water cycle; it simulates a point source of pollution in a lake and the resulting environmental consequences.

Students apply their understanding of the natural water cycle and the urban "stormwater" water cycle, as well as the processes involved in both cycles to hypothesize how the flow of water is affected by altering precipitation. Student groups consider different precipitation scenarios based on both intensity and duration. Once hypotheses and specific experimental steps are developed, students use both a natural water cycle model and an urban water cycle model to test their hypotheses. To conclude, students explain their results, tapping their knowledge of both cycles and the importance of using models to predict water flow in civil and environmental engineering designs. The natural water cycle model is made in advance by the teacher, using simple supplies; a minor adjustment to the model easily turns it into the urban water cycle model.

Through an overview of the components of the hydrologic cycle and the important roles they play in the design of engineered systems, students' awareness of the world's limited fresh water resources is heightened. The hydrologic cycle affects everyone and is the single most critical component to life on Earth. Students examine in detail the water cycle components and phase transitions, and then learn how water moves through the human-made urban environment. This urban "stormwater" water cycle is influenced by the pervasive existence of impervious surfaces that limit the amount of infiltration, resulting in high levels of stormwater runoff, limited groundwater replenishment and reduced groundwater flow. Students show their understanding of the process by writing a description of the path of a water droplet through the urban water cycle, from the droplet's point of view. The lesson lays the groundwork for rest of the unit, so students can begin to think about what they might do to modify the urban "stormwater" water cycle so that it functions more like the natural water cycle. A PowerPoint® presentation and handout are provided.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Climate change stands to have a tremendous impact on the world’s freshwater ecosystems. To understand how, researchers analyzed 15,289 functional genes related to nutrient cycling and stress processes gathered from biofilm microbes across mountainside streams in Norway, Spain, and China. With increasing elevation, microbial functional diversity tended to decline, and the composition of functional gene assemblages tended to differ more with greater elevational distances. These variations were more drastic as the environmental differences between the lowlands and the peaks increased. The best predictors of these variations appear to be climatic factors, such as temperature during the growing season. and winter precipitation. Including predictors at the local or landscape level could further refine the picture painted by these findings and help Eurasian countries anticipate significant alterations to their stream ecosystems amid a changing climate..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

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 activity, you will use the scientific method and secondary data to build a dataset and answer the following question: Is Ohio getting wetter or drier?

In order to answer this question, you will follow these steps:

1) Make a prediction (hypothesis) â with justification â based on fact sheets available about the question topic;

2) After you have made a prediction, you will collect secondary data online (from the USGS WaterWatch program) and build a database on MS-Excel;

3) You will then explore trends on your data and create graphs/visual representations of these trends using MS-Excel;

4) Finally, you will compile all your conclusions, evaluate the accuracy of your prediction (hypothesis), and create a report of your findings.

This course covers the general principles of separation by equilibrium and rate processes. Topics include staged cascades and applications to distillation, absorption, adsorption, and membrane processes. Phase equilibria and the role of diffusion are also covered.

Learners will read or listen to a story about two sisters, Marisol and Sofia, as they explore the Sun's role in the water cycle. Additionally, numerous extension resources are included in the accompanying educator guide, such as suggestions for no-cost language arts activities, links to further science activities, a book walk cue chart to guide classroom discussion before, during, and after the story, a graphic organizer, and alignments to the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The microbes found in topsoil are a vital part of the Earth’s ecology. While several recent studies have explored these microbiomes on a global scale, their data on sub-Saharan Africa was sparse, despite the looming threat of climate change to the region. To close this gap, researchers recently examined the microbial ecology of 810 sites across 9 sub-Saharan African countries. The topsoil microbiomes were shaped by a broad range of environmental factors, particularly pH, precipitation, and temperature, and each nation had a quantifiably distinct topsoil microbiome. Computer models based on the data also predicted how country-specific microbiomes might respond to climate change. In Kenya, for example, higher temperatures and lower rainfall could diminish microbial diversity, whereas in Benin, the predicted increase in precipitation is likely to boost fungal biodiversity..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Groundwater is one of the largest sources of drinking water, so environmental engineers need to understand groundwater flow in order to tap into this important resource. Environmental engineers also study groundwater to predict where pollution from the surface may end up. In this lesson, students will learn how water flows through the ground, what an aquifer is and what soil properties are used to predict groundwater flow.

Four unit plans provide opportunities for in-depth explorations of important foundational climate concepts -- weather, water as a solid, liquid and gas, and the water cycle -- that are appropriate for K-2 and 3-5 learners. These unit plans incorporate many of the lessons highlighted in other articles in this issue of the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine is structured around the essential principles of the climate sciences.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Monsoons impact millions of people every year --farmers rely on rain for their harvests, and lives are threatened by flooding or landslides. And yet, it remains very hard to predict monsoons early and accurately. European researchers have now devised a new way to estimate the monsoon season in India. This innovative approach uses a rare isotope, beryllium-seven.The forecasts are not only more accurate than traditional methods, but also available earlier, which could give governments and residents more time to prepare. This unusual weather-tracking approach works because of how air circulates on Earth. Each hemisphere features three large-scale patterns, or cells: the Hadley, Ferrel, and polar cells. Where two cells meet is a convergence zone. Monsoons --seasonal shifts in wind that trigger heavy rain --happen at the intertropical convergence zone, or ITCZ. Monsoons are seasonal because the Earth’s tilt affects the ITCZ’s location..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.