In this activity, students analyze data detailing global energy sources and sinks (uses) and construct a diagram to show the relative scale and the connections between them. Discussions of scale; historical, socio-environmental, and geographic variation in this data; and implications for future energy use are included.

The Indus River Valley (or Harappan) civilization lasted for 2,000 years, and extended from what is today northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. Sal explores the history of this civilization, its technological innovations, its art, its architectural practices, and its agriculture.

Students will listen to the book, Under One Rock Bugs, Slugs, and Other Ughs, written by Anthony D. Frederick and illustrated by Jennifer DiRubbio and then make a mini-book observation journal, Under One Rock to record what they see when they go outdoors to investigate what lives under a rock.

This activity is a guided inquiry where students will find their own lichen and classify it into one of three categories. They will collect, analyze, and present their finding to the class.

This short demonstration will open students' eyes to the distribution of various water sources on our Earth, but also the limited amount of fresh water for our daily use.

This activity is a bioassay lab where students tested the effect of an environmental toxin (fertilizer) on the growth rate of Duckweed.

The purpose of this resource is to observe the flowering and leaf stages of selected garden plants throughout the year. After a phenological garden is planted, students observe the growth of leaves and blooming of flowers on the plants. These plants were selected because each plant blooms at a different time in the year.

Students learn about contact stress and its applications in engineering. They are introduced to the concept of heavy loads, such as buildings, elephants, people and traffic, and learn how those heavy loads apply contact stress. Through the analysis of their own footprints, students determine their contact stress.

Students learn about soil properties and the effect biochar—charcoal used as a soil amendment—has on three soil types, sand, loam and clay. They test the soils’ water retention capability before and after the addition of biochar. During the activity, student teams prepare soil mixtures, make observations (including microscopic examinations), compare soil properties, conduct water retention tests, take and record measurements, and analyze their observations and data. They see how the physical properties of soils—color, texture, and particle size—can be indicators of nutrient content and water retention capabilities to support plant growth. From their findings, they consider biochar’s potential benefits for environmental and agricultural applications, especially in conditions of drought and depleted soils. An activity lab sheet is provided to guide experimental data collection and analysis.

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.

This video examines what will happen to crops as Earth's temperature rises and soils dry out because of changing climate.

To manage their businesses successfully, farmers and food production companies need to know what crops are in the ground and how well they are growing. A pair of easy-to-use online mapping tools provides this information for growing seasons in the past and present.

This video from First Alaskans Institute spotlights the Alaska Native community of St. Paul and its hands-on commitment to care for the land and animals on which it depends.

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, explores reasons why Homo sapiens had an advantage over Neanderthals in the pursuit of territory and natural resources.

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 climate simulation tool makes it intuitive to see how changes in energy, land use, agriculture, and other policies will affect Earth's projected temperature. Users move sliders on various policy actions and see immediate feedback on energy sources, emissions, and global temperature.

Students reenact a public hearing to determine how to manage a deer herd that is overpopulated.

This activity is an outdoor lab in which students investigate the process of evaporation, record their findings, and use the data to make connections to the environment around them.

This activity is a classroom and field activity in which students record observations of birds in their natural habitat and make connections between the structure and function of the bird feet.

In this unit, students explore the various roles of environmental engineers, including: environmental cleanup, water quality, groundwater resources, surface water and groundwater flow, water contamination, waste disposal and air pollution. Specifically, students learn about the factors that affect water quality and the conditions that enable different animals and plants to survive in their environments. Next, students learn about groundwater and how environmental engineers study groundwater to predict the distribution of surface pollution. Students also learn how water flows through the ground, what an aquifer is and what soil properties are used to predict groundwater flow. Additionally, students discover that the water they drink everyday comes from many different sources, including surface water and groundwater. They investigate possible scenarios of drinking water contamination and how contaminants can negatively affect the organisms that come in contact with them. Students learn about the three most common methods of waste disposal and how environmental engineers continue to develop technologies to dispose of trash. Lastly, students learn what causes air pollution and how to investigate the different pollutants that exist, such as toxic gases and particulate matter. Also, they investigate the technologies developed by engineers to reduce air pollution.