Students will conduct an activity to identify the effects of solar energy on our planet and its systems by observing how 3 colored soils absorb sunlight differently.

Students will test for visible and invisible pollutants in the air. Students will keep a journal of experimental procedures, results, and conclusions.

Students will investigate air quality issues by analyzing a map of the United States showing areas of poor air quality.

Students will determine the sources of energy that are utilized to power their schools (i.e., conventional and/or alternative). They will then explore the economic and environmental benefits of changing over a portion of this energy to renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal. Depending on area-specific factors such as available funding (funding by state) and climate, this can involve the purchase of alternative energy credits and/or the creation of an on-site system such as a wind-turbine or solar panels.

Students will explain the need to reduce the amount of trash they generate, and describe ways in which they can make changes in their actions to support waste reduction.

Students will examine the history of animal-based transportation and discover why many cultures increasingly rely on machines for transportation. Students will contrast modern methods of transportation with those of the past to examine the pros and cons how transportation has developed in the modern world.

Students will make a window box or container garden to attract wildlife such as butterflies. Students draw, photograph and record butterfly visitors to their garden.

Students will identify the environmental transportation issues occurring in their present day community and society. They will conduct resarch on fuels, emissions, and alternative transportation and then report their findings in an oral presentation.

Students will identify the need for alternative energy sources and explain how hydrogen energy might be used to address that need. They will conduct a simple experiment to describe how to use the process of electrolysis to generate hydrogen.

Students will gain experience in recognizing potential hazards to a community's water supply and weighing the risks and benefits of community development, and will practice decision-making skills in a mock town meeting.

Students will explain how groundwater moves through the soil and how it interacts with surface water and demonstrate knowledge about what groundwater is in terms of how it exists in the ground.

This unit looks at the issues surrounding sustainable transportation in an urban prairie center. Given an imaginary plot of empty or reclaimable land in their city, students are challenged to plan a sustainable transport friendly community that encourages active transport and high quality of life. To carry out the task students need to research the issues around urban sustainable transportation and apply them to their own community.

Students will determine their own conclusions on what success the EPA has had in improving the quality of the air we breathe by mandating reductions in car emissions. They will do this by constructing, reading and interpreting charts of emission data, analyzing these charts to determine the effectiveness of emission control standards, and reporting their findings to the class.

Students will reuse a variety of paper products to create a collage with an environmental theme.

Students will understand the interdependence between humans and trees. They will read "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein and then students will write on paper leaves ways that people can give to or receive from trees and contribute to a classroom "receiving tree."

Students will research water crisis conditions for one of the following countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, or Kenya and then report their findings to the class.

Students will explain the need to reduce the amount of trash they generate, and describe ways in which they can make changes in their actions to support waste reduction. Students will collect, analyze, and graph data related to the weight of collected trash for several consecutive days. Students will also write letters to communicate their ideas and inform readers about their actions to reduce waste.

Students will collect clues about what makes a "hot spot" for pests by investigating the survival needs of various potential pests. Then they will brainstorm ways to transform these spaces into "cool-for-kids" areas and ways to "green sweep" their spaces with environmentally friendly actions to protect against unwanted pests.

Students will differentiate between waste and litter and identify situations where trash becomes litter. Students will also discuss ways that litter can be prevented.