This reading seminar examines land, water, food, and climate in a changing world, with an emphasis on key scientific questions about the connections between natural resources and food production. Students read and discuss papers on a range of topics, including water and land resources, climate change, demography, agroecology, biotechnology, trade, and food security. The readings are supplemented by short lectures that provide context and summarize main points. The seminar provides a broad perspective on one of the defining global issues of this century. Students consider scientific controversies as well as areas of general agreement and examine practical solutions for addressing critical problems.

This lesson focuses on the importance of airplanes in today's society. Airplanes of all shapes and sizes are used for hundreds of different reasons, including recreation, commercial business, public transportation, and delivery of goods, among many others. From transporting people to crop-dusting, our society and our economy have come to depend on airplanes. Students will discuss their own experiences with airplanes and learn more about the role of airplanes in our world.

Waste disposal has been an ongoing problem since medieval times. Environmental engineers are employed to develop technologies to dispose of the enormous amount of trash produced in the United States. In this lesson, students will learn about the three methods of waste disposal in use by modern communities. They will also investigate how engineers design sanitary landfills to prevent leachate from polluting the underlining groundwater.

In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet La'ona DeWilde, an environmental biologist who integrates her Athabascan heritage and her Western scientific training to help remote Alaskan villages address environmental issues.

In this article, the author shows how school librarians and elementary teachers can help students create science lapbooks. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which is structured on the seven essential principles of the climate sciences.

The large intestine extends from the ileum of the small intestine to the anus. Water, electrolytes and nutrients are absorbed which concentrates the ingesta into faeces. Faeces are stored prior to defeacation. There is no secretion of enzymes and any digestion that takes place is carried out by microbes. All species have a large microbial population living in the large intestine, which is of particular importance to the hindgut fermenters. For this reason, hindgut fermenters have a more complex large intestine with highly specialised regions for fermentation.

In this video from the Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, observe how a laser beam is trapped in a water jet because the light reflects against the surface of the water.

This activity can be used to teach concepts how different densities of liquids can be layered and/or how the salinity of water affects the movement of ocean water.

When discussing the role and responsibility of government in regards to matters of public heath (Pure Food and Drug Act and the Clean Water Act), I would ask them to justify the need for current programs and policies of our current government. Also, I would ask them to question that if in 1852, there was public knowledge about the dangers of lead in consumer products, then why such a long delay in the removal of lead-based products.

Photosynthesis is a process by which plants synthesize glucose and oxygen in presence of sunlight through light dependent reactions by utilization of sunlight, water to synthesize oxygen, ATP and NADPH and light-independent reactions to synthesize carbon dioxide and carbohydrates. Cellular respiration is a metabolic pathway that breaks down glucose through glycolysis, pyruvate oxidation, citric acid / Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. Primary producers produce energy and consumers derive energy from primary producers. Primary productivity is the accumulation of energy in form of biomass. Integrating biological science and mathematics helps to understand how differential regulation of factors impacting metabolic pathways and processes impact primary productivity.

In a column devoted to interactive resoures for the K-5 classroom, this article features Recycle City, an EPA-produced, student-friendly web site designed to teach students about actions that create a sustainable community. Students will learn about recycling, reducing waste, and using less energy. The column regularly appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the essential principles of climate literacy.

Students will be presented with a problem; that is to determine the general characteristics (stratigraphy, water table depth) of a heterogeneous deposit (glacial till south of the MSU campus or proglacial sediments south of Ludington, MI) using electrical resistivity methods. The project consists of three separate activities: 1) use laboratory experiments to measure the relationship between soil water content and electrical resistivity for different soil samples obtained from the sites (2-3 samples per group), 2) use simple modeling software to calculate the resistivity response for simple geological models, based on information from well logs and the results of the laboratory measurements, and 3) design (min-max a-spacing and stepsize, based on the forward modeling results), execute, and analyze a field sounding experiment. Results will be summarized in a report and presented in class.
Uses geophysics to solve problems in other fields

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Grade 5 Chapter 1 - Matter is Made of Tiny Particles. Students squeeze a flexible plastic bottle filled with air and another filled with water to investigate the questions: Is an “empty” bottle really empty? and Can you force the molecules of a gas or a liquid to be closer together?

Students use tiny drops of water on a laminated drawing of a cloud to investigate the question: What makes it rain?

Grade 5 Chapter 1 - Matter is Made of Tiny Particles. Students place M&Ms in water and in a sugar solution to investigate the question: Will an M&M dissolve as well in a sugar solution as it does in plain water?

Students make a one-drop puddle on their hand and observe the water evaporate to investigate the question: Why do puddles dry up?

Grade 2 Chapter 1 - Properties of Materials. Students plan and conduct an absorbency test on paper, plastic, aluminum foil, and felt to investigate the question: Which material absorbs water and why?

Grade 5 Chapter 1 - Matter is Made of Tiny Particles. Students dissolve salt in water and allow the water to evaporate to investigate the question: What process causes salt to dissolve in water and then the water to evaporate?

Grade 5 Chapter 1 - Matter is Made of Tiny Particles. Students use water, ice, and plastic wrap to model the ocean and cold upper atmosphere to investigate the question: What are the main processes in the water cycle that make it rain?

Students make an insulating “coat” for a cup of warm water to investigate the question: How does a coat keep you warm in the winter?