Lessons

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  Just Turn It Off

  K-2  |  Hands-On
  In this lesson, students will probe the problem of what happens to a battery-operated flashlight when it is not turned off.
• 

  Inventions 1: Edison and the Light Bulb

  K-2  |  Hands-On
  This lesson is the first of a two-part series on technology and inventions
• 

  Energy Sources and Use

  3-5  |  Hands-On
  In this lesson, students distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy while comparing the benefits and drawbacks of each.
• 

  The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge

  3-5  |  Video
  This lesson should help students understand both the physical forces behind climate change, and the social responses to it as a means to preserve the health of people, the state of cities, island nations, and organisms.
• 

  Power Up!

  3-5  |  Interactive
  In this lesson, students compare and contrast different energy sources and the trade-offs of using them.
• 

  True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet

  3-5  |  Hands-On
  This lesson shows that products and objects have lifespans so we need to recycle, reuse, and re-imagine new purposes for them.
• 

  Energy for You

  6-8  
  In this lesson, students will learn about the sources of the energy that supply their community.
• 

  Grasslands and Climate Change

  6-8  |  Video
  This lesson provides students with an opportunity to explore the climate change concept in greater depth.
• 

  How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate

  6-8  |  Audio
  The lesson introduces students to the scientific basis of climate change.
• 

  Too Bright at Night?

  6-8  
  In this lesson, students will consider the negative consequences of nighttime lighting, enabled by the invention of electric lights at the close of the 19th century.
• 

  Abrupt Climate Change

  9-12  
  In this lesson, students explore how scientific knowledge changes in the context of abrupt climate change.
• 

  Green Roof Design

  9-12  
  In this student-centered learning model, students work collaboratively in small teams to design a heat- and water-conserving “green roof” of plant material for an urban apartment building.
• 

  Simulating Climate Change Research in Grasslands

  9-12  |  Video
  In this lesson, students learn about organism interactions and how those interactions shift in response to climate change, especially in grassland communities.
• 

  Renewable Energy Sources

  6-8  |  Website
  In this lesson, students will use Internet resources to investigate renewable sources of energy.
• 

  Energy: The U.S. in Crisis?

  9-12  
  In this lesson, students research and assess past, present, and future decisions related to energy shortages.

Tools

• 

  AC/DC What’s the Difference?

  6-12  |  Website
  This resource from PBS takes a look at the differences between alternating currents (AC) and direct currents (DC).
• 

  Communicating and Learning about Global Climate Change

  6-12  |  Video
  This 12-minute video produced by AAAS features a number of experts on global climate change talking about its impacts to our planet.
• 

  Going Green: An Earth Day Bibliography

  K-12  |  Teaching Aid
  SB&F has put together a list of our top environmental books to help the consumer make informed, eco-friendly choices and to encourage children to take an active role in saving the environment.
• 

  Kilo-What?

  3-8  |  Interactive
  This resource provides an introduction to electricity and power plants.
• 

  NASA's Climate Kids

  K-8  |  Video
  NASA's climate change site for kids asks and answers important questions relating to climate change as well as providing entertaining career insights, online games, videos, and hands-on activities.
• 

  Power Up!

  3-8  |  Interactive
  This interactive challenges students to think about the positive and negative consequences of various types of power.
• 

  What We Know

  9-12  |  Video
  What We Know is an assessment of current climate science and impacts that emphasizes the need to understand and recognize possible high-risk scenarios.
• 

  Your Carbon Diet

  6-12  |  Interactive
  This interactive allows students to learn about how we use different energy sources and how it affects not only our environment but also our budget.
• 

  YardMap

  K-12  |  Interactive
  YardMap is a free, interactive, citizen science mapping project about habitat creation and low-impact land use.

Science Updates

• 

  Ascending Plants

  6-12  |  Audio
  As climate change heats up the world's ecosystems, many species of plants and animals, from songbirds to whales, are leaving their time-tested home ecosystems for uncharted territory. This Science Update looks at how some plants are changing altitude to find a cooler place to live.
• 

  Changing Oceans

  6-12  |  Audio
  According to a landmark study in the journal Science, climate change is transforming the world's oceans, at a potentially huge cost. You'll hear more about it in this Science Update.
• 

  Early Climate Change

  6-12  |  Audio
  Human activities like farming have contributed some amount of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere for ages
• 

  Electricity from Sewage

  6-12  |  Audio
  In this Science Update we learn how researchers are using leftover material—wastewater—as a way to generate electricity.
• 

  Fish on Acid

  6-12  |  Audio
  Fish in acidified waters exhibit strange and often reckless behaviors.
• 

  Fossil Fuel Switch

  6-12  |  Audio
  Learn about a thirty-year plan to replace 70 percent of our fossil fuels, using only current technologies like storable solar power, safer nuclear plants, and methanol from crop waste.
• 

  Houses and Environment

  6-12  |  Audio
  As number of households is increasing faster than the human population is growing, it puts a strain on our energy resources.
• 

  Killer Windows

  6-12  |  Audio
  Keeping windows dark might help prevent birds flying into them.
• 

  Night Lights

  6-12  |  Audio
  In this Science Update, hear why bright nighttime lights could also be bad for women's health.
• 

  Rainforests & Rainfall

  6-12  |  Audio
  Deforestation can lead to droughts hundreds of miles away.
• 

  Ships to Reefs

  6-12  |  Audio
  Sinking old warships creates new habitats for marine species.
• 

  Smart Headlights

  6-12  |  Audio
  “Smart” headlights improve visibility by illuminating the road ahead, but not raindrops or snowflakes.
• 

  Solar Power from Moon

  6-12  |  Audio
  Solar power is clean, abundant, and becoming cheaper and more efficient all the time. Unfortunately, however, the sun isn't always there when you need it—like when it's cloudy, or it's raining, or it's nighttime. In this Science Update, you'll hear about an ambitious plan to get around that problem.
• 

  Talking Lights

  6-12  |  Audio
  Fluorescent lights could be used for more than illumination if their flickering patterns turned into code.
• 

  Thoreau's Plants

  6-12  |  Audio
  In this Science Update, hear how researches are using Henry David Thoreau's plant journals to study climate change.
• 

  Urban Greening

  6-12  |  Audio
  Strategically placed grass, ivy, and other greenery can significantly improve air quality in urban centers.
• 

  Wasted Food Energy

  6-12  |  Audio
  In this Science Update, hear how reducing food waste could translate into big energy savings.