How does the finite amount of carbon on this planet move around in the environment, from one place to another? How do the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact? In this active demonstration, students will model the carbon cycle, and consider way in which human actions play a role.

This resource aims to teach map reading skills of worldwide temperatures, percipitation, biovidsetiy, and soil nutrition levels in rainforest areas. It includes world maps, tropical rainforest maps, vocabulary, and teaching strategies.

On Day 1, students will explore groundwater and how the depletion of groundwater can cause land subsidence in regions like California’s Central Valley. Students will also learn about how agricultural water use for different crops compares to the amount of water required for raising animals on farms and ranches.

On Day 2, students will read some of the Blue Planet Network’s Stories of Water to learn about how different people around the world struggle to have access to clean water and some of the ways they have addressed this issue. They will also explore their own water use habits and ways they can reduce water waste in their home using a water calculator from the Alliance for Water Efficiency and a leaky faucet calculator from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Science School.

In this activity, students learn about plant reproduction and use real data to construct explanations about which flowers are the most attractive to different pollinators.

Students will be able to describe at least two problems with burning fossil fuels and recommend solutions for reducing use of fossil fuels.

In this activity, students will practice the steps involved in a scientific investigation as they learn why ice formations on land (and not those on water) will cause a rise in sea level upon melting. This is a discovery lesson on ice and water density and displacement of water.

Do sea levels rise when ice melts? Does it matter whether the ice is on land or in the ocean? Students design an experiment to find out. They collect data, graph their results, and interpret their findings. Along the way, they learn about density, displacement, and climate change.

In this lesson, students will practice distinguishing between correlation and causation within the context of global climate change. Students will think critically and analyze different claims and datasets related to what might be causing increasing temperatures in a fictitious town called Solutionville, as well as around the globe. Although students will be working within the context of a fictitious town, the temperature and carbon dioxide data they will be analyzing are real and will enable them to see relationships between global temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Finally, students will watch a video in which they will be learn that the burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and they will begin to explore the connections between human activities and global climate change.

Effects of climate change on biodiversity. Video by California Academy of Sciences. Created by California Academy of Sciences.

By building an edible coral polyp, students will learn the anatomy of coral and be able to explain why corals are animals, rather than plants.

Many of the misconceptions about our solar system are rooted in the fact that it is large and hard to comprehend. This kinesthetic activity will demonstrate concepts like rotation and orbit, clarify movement and direction, and help students understand why earthlings see different things in the sky.

This kinesthetic activity demonstrates to students that the earth's tilt is what is responsible for shifting light patterns and the change in seasons.

Observations inspire scientific questions and drive discoveries. In this activity, students will watch a visualization of empirical scientific data to explore seasonal changes in primary productivity on the earth. They will then formulate and research their own scientific questions about primary productivity on the earth and present their research in a classroom scientific poster session.

This is a 3 part lesson plan about the fishing industry and ocean populations. Students will first model through a simulation how fishing affects ocean animal populations. Then students will create and design solutions to the issue of overfishing. Then students will learn about how to support sustainability with the fishing industry and how to find businesses that practice sustainable fishing practices. This lesson is connected to the science and engineering practices and next generation science standards.

In this activity, students will work together to map out the strengths and limitations of potential solutions to some important global food system issues.

By taking on the imaginary role of Sustainability Chief for a company and being tasked with better understanding the water footprints of their company’s product, students will practice identifying what they know, what they don’t know, and what questions to ask to better understand the constraints of a design challenge.