In this activity students will learn about the Dust Bowl, powerful dust storms carrying millions of tons of stinging, blinding black dirt swept across the Southern Plains–the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, western Kansas, and the eastern portions of Colorado and New Mexico.

In this activity students will learn about the spatial variability of drought in the United States.

In this lesson, students annotate a photograph of a local study site and then develop a more abstract diagram of the site that highlights the flow of energy and matter among the four components of the Earth system. The investigation concludes with students sharing their diagrams and creating a single class diagram to represent their study site.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the global circulation patterns of the atmosphere and the oceans, and investigate how those circulation patterns might influence their local region. Students use computer models to test predictions of ocean currents.

In this lesson, students observe how the Earth spins on its axis to give us night and day by participating in hands-on activities. The first activity takes place outside and help students understand the distance the Earth is from the Sun. The second activity is indoors and uses a globe to model the way the Earth spins on its axis to show day and night.

In this activity students will watch a video and learn where hurricanes form. Students will also learn how hurricanes form.

Hurricanes move in generally predictable patterns. This part of the investigation focuses on these patterns for hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. First you'll examine the movie again to see if you can identify the patterns empirically. Then you will try to tie your observations together with information about global wind patterns.

In this field investigation, students will develop a question regarding an environmental change and its effect on insect visitation rates to a plant community. After writing a question, students will develop multiple hypotheses and design an investigation to test their hypothesis. After their investigations, a presentation will be given to their classmates discussing their results.

In this inquiry investigation, students investigate the health of an ecosystem and the effects of water, sunlight, nutrients or pollutants. They determine the change in the environment through observation, journaling and measuring growth of the plants and living creatures in their ecosystem. Students write a lab report describing the changes in their ecosystem. Finally, students attempt to return the system to a healthy state by making a change to one the previously mentioned variables basesd on other students' observations and discussions.

In this lab activity, students will use radish seeds and various dilutions of vinegar to conduct an experiment to determine the effect of acid on the seeds.

In this lesson, students investigate the effects of air temperature on seed germination. Students will prepare seeds for germination and place them in locations of varying temperatures. Students will monitor and record data concerning the temperatures and length of the germination process and develop a chart using the data to show the results.

In this activity, students view a Direct Measurement Video that applies Newtonian mechanics to a model of an amusement park ride. An Einstein "action figure" (doll) is pinned against a vertical wall on a rotating platform. As the platform slows its rotation, Einstein slips down the vertical surface. Students can make measurements and calculations to determine the minimum speed that will keep Einstein from sliding, and calculate the coefficient of static friction between Einstein and the wall. In addition, students can develop an experiment that will let them determine the coefficient of sliding friction as Einstein slides down the vertical surface.

In this activity, students will investigate basic electron structure by making a model of the electron structure using pennies representing electrons in different sized filter papers to represent energy levels, for an atom or ion, at various workstations. Students will place the pennies (electrons) in the appropriate energy levels, and record the number of electrons in each energy level on a data table.

In this lab activity, students will complete several simple experiments that demonstrate exo- and endo-thermic processes and then are challenged to predict the outcome of an unknown process.

In this activity, students will research the various biotic and abiotic factors that combone to make up a biome. The end product will be the creation of a PowerPoint presentation that identifies these factos and the creation of an energy pyramid involved in the selected biome.

In this lesson, students will run the climate modeling software, Educational Global Climate Modeling Suite (EdGCM), to visualize how temperature and snow coverage might change over the next 100 years. They will begin by running a "control" climate simulation to establish a baseline for comparison. After this first simulation, they will run a second "experimental" simulation. Then they will compare and contrast the changes in temperature and snow and ice coverage that could occur due to increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Next, students will choose a region of their own interest to explore and compare their modeling results with those documented in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) impact reports. Through working with EdGCM, they will gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the process and power of climate modeling.

In this lesson, students will run the climate modeling software, Educational Global Climate Modeling Suite (EdGCM), to visualize how temperature and snow coverage might change over the next 100 years. They will begin by running a "control" climate simulation to establish a baseline for comparison. After this first simulation, they will run a second "experimental" simulation. Then they will compare and contrast the changes in temperature and snow and ice coverage that could occur due to increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Next, students will choose a region of their own interest to explore and compare their modeling results with those documented in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) impact reports. Through working with EdGCM, they will gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the process and power of climate modeling.

In this activity, students will build and launch match stick rockets in order to experience Newton's third law of motion. Students will observe the fire come out of the back of the rocket creating a force and the rocket move forward because of an equal and opposite force. The students will measure their flight's ground distance and record the results in a table.

This context rich problem asks students to apply economic concepts to a real-world issue. Not only has the cost of higher education been regularly discussed in the news, but it is also a topic to which students can directly relate and observe how economics concepts apply in every day decisions. Students are asked to write a letter to a roommate who is considering whether to return to the university next semester. In the letter, the student is asked to explain to the roommate the expected benefits and costs of continuing with their education. Specifically, they are asked to specify both the explicit and implicit costs.