Environmental Science Lesson Plans (20 results)
As humans we are part of the environment. With over 7.5 billion of us on Earth, our combined actions also have a big impact on the environment. As long as we are aware of the impact, we can do things as individuals, and working together as groups, to lessen the detrimental impact of billions of people. Explore important topics like air quality, water quality, the effects of climate change, and many others to make informed decisions about caring for our planet.
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Lesson Plan
Grade: 6th-8th
Why is the ocean vital to our planet? There are many reasons, but one important one is that the ocean is a major player in regulating our weather and climate through currents. In this lesson plan, your students will model ocean currents with cups, water, and food coloring, and explore how temperature and density differences set deep ocean waters in motion to create a global oceanic circulation system.
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
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Try our new Science Project Pathways in Google Classroom. One tool to plan, assign, and manage a science project in your class.
Simply enter the project start date to get a customizable science project schedule that breaks the science project into a series of smaller more manageable assignments to keep students on track. The assignments use Science Buddies guide to the scientific method to take students step-by-step through a science project. From the schedule, teachers can make assignments in Google Classroom and view student progress on each assignment.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 6th-8th
Earth is a planet full of water. 70% of its surface is covered with water in oceans, lakes, rivers, and more. Water on our planet can also be found in the atmosphere and underground. In this lesson, students will explore how water is continually cycled among land, the oceans, and the atmosphere. As students build a physical model of the water cycle, they will be able to simulate and observe evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and other water cycle processes in real-time.
Remote…
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- MS-ESS2-4.
Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 5th
How do our everyday actions contribute to our ecological footprint? Can we change our individual actions to be more environmentally friendly and create a more sustainable lifestyle? In this lesson, students will evaluate their own environmental impact using an online tool called
Your Plan, Your Planet,
and evaluate simple ways to reduce their ecological footprint as an individual or community.
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- 5-ESS3-1.
Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 6th-8th
Global warming, pollution, and deforestation are just a few examples of how human actions affect our planet. How can we reduce our impact on the environment? In this lesson, students will find out by using an online tool called
Your Plan, Your Planet.
Based on their findings, students will come up with their own action plans aimed at reducing their personal ecological footprint and assess its effectiveness after implementation.
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- MS-ESS3-3.
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 6th-8th
Forests are the green lung of the Earth and home to millions of different plant, fungi, animal, and bacteria species. Unfortunately, today many forests are threatened by deforestation, which causes significant biodiversity loss. Ongoing reforestation efforts across the world intend to counteract the effects of deforestation. As planting trees by hand does not scale well, machines on the ground, as well as flying drones have been developed to help plant tree seedlings or seeds. In this lesson,…
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- MS-LS2-5.
Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- MS-ETS1-2.
Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem.
- MS-ESS3-5.
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 3rd-11th
Have you ever thrown away food after a meal? Have you ever thrown away a whole piece of food? What are some of the reasons you threw away that food?
During this Food Waste Audit, students will explore their own impact on our food system. Students will brainstorm solutions to reduce their food waste and be challenged to try out their solution!
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- MS-ESS3-3.
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 4th-8th
The problems with using fossil fuels starts with extraction. In this activity, students "mine" chocolate chips out of cookies to demonstrate the effects mining can have on habitats.
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- 4-ESS3-1.
Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment.
- MS-ESS3-4.
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 3rd
Students might think rain gardens are only there to make an urban area look nice. In this lesson, students will make mini rain gardens and discover how these can filter out pollution and soak up excess rainwater. Will they find how rain gardens help prevent natural disasters? Try out this fun lesson and see!
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- 3-ESS3-1.
Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 5th-9th
Could you describe the kelp forest food web as a system? Your students will design and use a simple model to test cause and effect relationships or interactions concerning the functioning of a marine food web, ranking their hypothetical ecosystems according to their stability when faced with a natural or man-made disturbance.
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- 5-LS2-1.
Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
- MS-LS2-3.
Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-4.
Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
- HS-LS2-6.
Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
Lesson Plan
Grade: 9th-12th
You might have read about the negative impacts modern human civilization has had on the environment, like pollution, deforestation, and extinction of animal species. How can we use modern technology to help protect the environment? In this project-based lesson students will design an electronic circuit that can measure something in the environment like water quality and light pollution, and develop a plan for how their circuits could be used to solve a real-world problem.
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NGSS Performance Expectations:
- HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
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