Students use a small quantity of modeling clay to make boats that float in a tub of water. The object is to build boats that hold as much weight as possible without sinking. In the process of designing and testing their prototype creations, students discover some of the basic principles of boat design, gain first-hand experience with concepts such as buoyancy and density, and experience the steps of the engineering design process.

Hydropower generation is introduced to students as a common purpose and benefit of constructing dams. Through an introduction to kinetic and potential energy, students come to understand how a dam creates electricity. They also learn the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy.

Students act as engineers contracted by NASA to create water filtration devices that clean visible particulates from teacher-prepared "dirty water." They learn about the worldwide need for potable water and gain appreciation for why water quality is an important issue for people on Earth as well as on the International Space Station. Working in groups, students experience the entire engineering design process, including a read-aloud book about the water cycle; a visiting water engineer presentation; their own online research about filter methods and designs; group brainstorming of designs (using ordinary household materials); filter construction and testing; redesign and retesting; lab book documentation of their notes, research, plans and results; and a summary poster presentation at a mini-engineering fair. Two design planning worksheets, a poster layout suggestion sheet and a grading rubric are provided.

The push to modernize Mexico's water and sanitation systems not only saved human lives, it also spurred economic growth, as illustrated in this video segment adapted from Rx for Survival.

In this lesson, students further their knowledge of redox titrations while examining the pressures that contamination and climate change put on access to clean water.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students observe a field scientist testing the dissolved oxygen content of the Hudson River and generate questions.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students apply the Winkler Method as a tool for assessing the health of bodies of water and identify the stresses placed on water sources by climate change.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students explore Sustainable Development Goal #6 and consider what steps they can take to protect the drinking water in their communities.

Students build a prototype of a barge and shuttle to clean the river.

Making nature useful, the Fairmount Water Works. Thomas Birch, Fairmount Water Works, 1821, oil on canvas, 51.1 x 76.3 cm (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), a Seeing America video Speakers: Dr. Anna O. Marley, Curator of Historical American Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. Find learning related resources here: https://smarthistory.org/seeing-america-2/

This article continues an examination of each of the seven essential principles of climate literacy on which the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle is structured. Principle 2 covers the complex interactions among the components of the Earth system. The author discusses the scientific concepts underlying the interactions and expands the discussion with diagrams, photos, and online resources.

This video discusses how the populous areas west of the Andes are largely desert and rely on glacial meltwater as an important source of fresh water. Because the Peruvian glaciers high in the Andes are in rapid retreat, scientists are monitoring the steadily shrinking glaciers and the impact of their reduction on local populations.

This video adapted from KTOO takes a look at Earth's warming and cooling cycles and the current atypical trend of warming that is impacting the glaciers in Alaska's Inside Passage.

This video focuses on the science of climate change and its impacts on wildlife on land and in the sea, and their habitats in the U.S. There are short sections on walruses, coral reefs, migrating birds and their breeding grounds, freshwater fish, bees, etc. Video concludes with some discussion about solutions, including reduce/recycle/reuse, energy conservation, backyard habitats, and citizen scientists.

Climate Change and Water - Perspectives from the Forest Service is a summary of a forthcoming report by the Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture which will detail the likely impacts of climate change on the Nation's forested watersheds and highlight the importance of managing forests to provide clean, abundant water.

This unit consists of seven distinct activities that teach climate change, the water cycle, and the effects of the changing climate on water resources through the use of games, science experiments, investigations, role-playing, research, and creating a final project to showcase learning.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson focuses on how climate change impacts agriculture. Students focus on how heat extremes and changes in precipitation will affect crop yields.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson details ways that climate change can affect farmers — both those who grow plants and those who take care of cattle. The provided video links to more information from Rutgers University. This lesson also has students think about how changes in temperature and precipitation affect crops and leads them in designing an experiment to test their ideas. This resource is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-Students are actively engaged in how differences in temperature and precipitation may affect crops grown in New Jersey.
-Students practice the skill of designing a scientific investigation.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This lesson requires one block of 50 minutes for setting up the experiments and writing hypotheses. Students will need to observe their plants growing every few days. The students should have a final 50-minute block to write up the results of their experiment.
-Teachers should have the supplies to grow the crops in the classroom, including:
-Seeds
-Pots
-Soil
-Access to a water source
-Access to a window or heat lamps or ability to plant outside
-Teachers should have ways to control water. Students can individually water their own plants with either more or less water.
-The type of seed that could be used in the classroom is radishes.
-It is easy to grow, germinates relatively quickly and can be grown inside to control the weather conditions for the variables in the experiment.
-If the school has an outdoor garden, the radishes can be planted outside in the spring or fall.
-Peas are another recommended option.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students may need help with designing the experiment. The teacher can assign specific hypotheses to students in order to help facilitate the investigation.
-If materials are difficult to acquire, a non-lab resource could be Food and Farming.

The brief introduction to El Niño presented in this article also offers insights into its role during the quiet 2009 hurricane season. This article is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

This series of 12 captioned images depict some of the issues facing Earth’s fresh water supply, such as pollution, drought, and glacial retreat. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

Following a brief introduction to tidal energy, this article discusses the use of tidal generators to convert that energy into electricity. The article also features a description and images of the Invergordon, Scotland tidal energy generator. This lesson is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

This article discusses the challenges facing a species of lemur in Madagascar. Due to atypical rain patterns resulting from climate change, the survival rate of the offspring of these lemurs is decreasing. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

One of Earth's vital signs, the extent of sea ice cover in the Arctic, is examined. An image and accompanying text describe the extent and consequences of the reduction in that sea ice. This article is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

The consequences of both sea ice melting and increases in ocean water temperature are presented in this examination of sea level- another of Earth's vital signs. This lesson is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.