Data sets and graphs on energy production, use, dependency, and efficiency are compiled through following key World Development Indicators.
This video is a segment from the Switch Energy Project focusing on energy security. Switch Energy Project is a multi-pronged effort designed to build a balanced national understanding of energy.
This short video surveys the different current and potential sources of energy - both non-renewable and renewable. It provides some discussion of the pros and cons of the different sources and explains how they are used to produce energy that people can use.
This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, explores the Sun's role in warming Earth, the albedo (reflectivity) of Earth's diverse surfaces, and how the decline of Arctic sea ice is affecting Earth's energy balance. Science lessons introduce the concepts of solar energy, reflection, and absorption to elementary students. The issue also includes an overview of the natural resources and energy sources found in the polar regions as well as lessons that allow students to develop the concepts of natural resources, energy sources, and energy efficiency.
This article highlights children's literature about light, heat, and energy sources for use in the elementary classroom.
In this activity, learners select the scientific instruments for their satellite, calculate the power requirements for all the subsystems, and construct a scale model of their very own Earth observing satellite using building blocks and/or Legos. Includes instructions and worksheets.
In this video segment from NASA, robotics researcher Ayanna Howard uses engineering to improve the intelligence of robots in space exploration.
The classic campus-based project is an environmental or sustainability assessment, often referred to as an environmental audit. This course, taught at Carleton in 2001, describes how this type of project can be undertaken. In this scenario, a student, campus environmental group or class researches aspects the envinormental impact of the school.
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This assignment teaches students how to evaluate arguments concerning the maldistribution of environmental hazards, based on complex quantitative data.
This online reference list provides links to nine local and national environmental organizations that have Web sites rich in valuable biodiversity information. Where possible, it includes the following information for each: details about the organization's mission, knowledge base, and activities; the type of support offered, including educational materials, resource libraries, and classes/workshops; and mailing address and contact information. In addition, links to four Web directories are provided, which in turn have links to dozens of other organizations.
Gallery walk activity that relies on students' prior knowledge of environmental issues as an introductory activity in a general education, large-lecture format environmental science class.
This online article, from the museum's Musings newsletter for educators, provides an introduction to environmental stewardship. It discusses Earth's rarity as a planet that supports life and the mounting evidence that indicates human activity is, indeed, altering global climate.
An activity designed to enable the students to access the impact of oil-development on environment in Alaska. Students will draw conclusion based on various data and reading various views.
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The Environment and the Earth class at the University of South Carolina participated in a campus environmental service-learning project where students collected data lighting, water fixtures, recycling bins, and trash in five academic buildings.
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This activity guides students to use the measured difference in P and S wave velocities to locate the epicenter of a minor earthquake in the Southwestern United States.
Click here to view the full activity on the KÃyah Math Project website.
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We are obligated to provide enrichment opportunities and to appropriately challenge and engage these students. How do we find and monitor science enrichment activities for those students simultaneous to providing additional intervention and assistance to students who have yet to master the current concepts?
This article provide a list of learning objectives and excerpts from the K-8 content standards of the National Science Education Standards that are associated with Principle 1 of the Seven Essential Principles of the Climate Sciences. Also provided are explanations of some common misconceptions on light, heat, and the seasons, plustools for formative assessment and ideas for teaching these scientific concepts. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on one of the Seven Essential Principles in each issue.
Each issue of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle explores an essential principle of climate science and climate literacy with background information, lessons, activities, original stories, and more for the K-5 classroom. This article shows the alignment of these materials with the content standards of the National Science Education Standards.
This article explores the alignment of the sixth essential principle of the climate sciences to national science education standards and its connections to the K-5 curriculum. The article also identifies some common misconceptions young students have about weather and climate. The free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle focuses on the topics that are appropriate for young learners and introduce them to climate literacy concepts.
This article identifies age-appropriate national science education content standards and curriculum connections for introducing complex concepts contained in Principle 7 of the Essential Principles of Climate Sciences. The principle describes consequences of climate changes on Earth systems and human lives. The content standards will help teachers determine appropriate topics for their students. A number of resources from the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle are highlighted for their connection to the science curriculum in the early grades. In addition, the article identifies common misconceptions about weather and the water cycle often held by students.