Did you know the hole in the ozone is seasonal and filled by January every year? The lesson uses scientific measurements of the ozone over the South Pole to understand patterns. Scholars learn that the hole grew bigger annually before...

Is there a correlation between a country's wealth and the extent of its ecological footprint? What exactly constitutes an ecological footprint, and how does one country stack up against the rest? This is a unique instructional activity...

Students investigate a community environmental issue. They document it using traditional scientific methods, digital photography, and videotaping. After collecting data, they graph the results. Students present their findings in a...

Students are introduced to the environmental hazards their community is facing. In groups, they develop a list of the ways humans have changed the Earth and how these changes have lead to environmental hazards. They record their...

With 90 percent of its land area covered in forests, Suriname, a country in South America, contains the largest percentage of forests throughout the world. Here is an activity that brings classmates together to learn about the...

Even rivers have tides. Older elementary schoolers will discuss the Hudson River and how weather, water craft, and the ocean cause tidal fluctuation. They will examine a series of line graphs that depict tidal fluctuation, then analyze...

Hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical cyclones are the same type of storm, but their names change based on where they happen. Scholars use a computer simulation to learn about hurricanes. Then they hypothesize ideas to prevent hurricanes...

An incredibly thorough, and well-designed lesson teaches youngsters about the presumed extinction and rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. Learners discuss the environmental factors that led to the birds disappearance....

Young scholars study the variables that affect the Earth's albedo.  In this environmental data analysis lesson students interpret and graph information and calculate changes. 

During this game, kids become migratory shorebirds and fly among wintering, nesting, and stopover habitats. If they do not arrive at a suitable habitat on time, they do not survive. Catastrophic events are periodically introduced that...

Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...

Fifth graders work in groups to investigate the proper use of a graph during a schoolyard ecology project. The challenge of the project is for students to choose the proper form of a graph. They gather data and conduct analysis with the...

Students examine how to locate and access data sets.  In this climate change lesson students import data into Excel and graph it.   

Students examine the differences between an El Nino and La Nina year.  In this investigative activity students create maps and graphs of the data they obtained. 

El Nino, La Nina ... and the Santa Maria? The 11th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program explains the mechanism of El Nino/Southern Oscillation. Pupils use previous data to determine...

Surface area certainly surfaces as a variable for chemical reaction rates. Scholars perform an experiment to discover how the size of catalysts affect the rate of a chemical reaction. They record their results in tables and graphs to...

Discover the connection of native peoples to their natural world, including cultural and agricultural practices, by studying the Zuni people of the American Southwest. This lesson includes examining a poster's photographs, reading...

Investigate the prospect of wind as a renewable resource. Second and third graders make a pinwheel, answer critical thinking questions, and then attempt to use wind power to wind string. I would be more apt to use this lesson in a 1st or...

Ninth graders discover how statistics are used to interpret results of scientific experiments. Students write hypotheses and test the hypotheses by collecting data and organizing the data. Students graph their data to produce a visual....

Students explore the issues that influence our environment and research ways to decrease the negative impact that humans have on the environment. Misconceptions about environmental issues are addressed in this lesson plan.

Using the Hudson River as the focus, learners discuss the difference between salt water and fresh water environments, analyze maps and graphs, and complete addition and subtraction problems. This lesson comes with a wealth of...

Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...

Students participate in an activity in which they investigate the scientific method and seed germination as well as practice graphing and metric measuring skills. Students examine toxicity by exposing Wisconsin Fast Plants seeds to toxic...

Using a pulse monitor, learners will measure a resting pulse, take a math test, and then measure the pulse again. They analyze the change in pulse and compare it to performance on the test. This multi-purpose lesson can be used in a...