Students measure different types of small-sized beams and calculate their respective moments of inertia. They compare the calculations to how much the beams bend when loads are placed on them, gaining insight into the ideal geometry and material for load-bearing beams.

Students conduct several simple lab activities to learn about the five fundamental load types that can act on structures: tension, compression, shear, bending, and torsion. To learn the telltale marks of failure caused by these load types, they break foam insulation blocks by applying these five load types, carefully examine each type of fracture pattern (break in the material) and make drawings of the fracture patterns.

This is a complete course on Texas State government, developed by Austin Community College.

Towers have been a part of developed society for centuries, serving a variety of purposes, from watch towers to modern cell towers. In this activity, student groups design and build three types of towers (guyed or cable-supported, free-standing or self-standing, and monopole), engineering them to meet the requirements that they hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students examine how to use fractions to measure and help conserve freshwater resources.

In this video segment from Louisville Life, high school students in Louisville, Kentucky describe the benefits of creating rain gardens as a solution to non-point source water pollution.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students examine our growing waste problem and learn about strategies we can use to lessen the strain on our landfills and Earth's natural resources: reduce, reuse, recycle.

In this ZOOM video segment, cast member Francesco follows the paper trail to find out what happens to his recyclables. He visits a material recovery center and learns how paper is recycled and the number of trees that are saved as a result.

In this adapted video segment, ZOOM guest Laura shows us some of the natural features of Yellowstone National Park, including geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots, as well as some of the wildlife.

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service illustrates the difference between explosive and effusive volcanic eruptions as well as the hazards that can result, including lahars, tsunamis, and lava flows.

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service illustrates the variety of landforms and features created by volcanoes. Featured are calderas, craters, fumaroles and other geothermal features, igneous rocks, lava flows, lava tubes, and maars.

This video segment adapted from Last Oasis explores the use of new dams as a way to provide or store water. In the 1990s, the city of Denver was looking for a new source of water for its growing population, and its plan to build a new dam suddenly became highly controversial.

In this video from Nature, learn about the erosive action of water on the Hawaiian landscape and human efforts to limit it.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about an experiment investigating whether liquid water on Earth could have resulted from a massive planetary impact billions of years ago.

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, visit a water treatment plant and learn how water from a local reservoir is turned into drinking water.

Students learn about the importance of dams by watching a video that presents historical and current information on dams, as well as descriptions of global water resources and the hydrologic cycle. Students also learn about different types of dams, all designed to resist the forces on dams. (If the free, 15-minute "Water and Dams in Today's World" video cannot be obtained in time, the lesson can still be taught. See the Additional Multimedia Support section for how to obtain the DVD or VHS videotape, or a PowerPoint presentation with similar content [also attached].)

In this video from WOSU Columbus, learn about wetlands, their different varieties, and why we should care about them.