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Cleaning with Dirt
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Learners build a filter from old soda bottles and dirt. They create polluted water, and pour it through their filter to clean it.
Solar Structures
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In this activity, learners explore how the power of the sun can be harnessed to heat and cool a building.
Plugged in to CO2
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In this activity, learners investigate various appliances and electronics, discovering how much energy each uses and how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is released to produce that energy.
Pesticides and Eggshell Thinning
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This lab activity is about toxic substances like pesticides and their effects on biological systems. The activity starts with an introduction of how birds sequester calcium to make an egg.
Clean Water: Is It Drinkable?
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In this activity, learners simulate nature's water filtration system by devising a system that will filter out both visible and invisible pollutants from water.
Percentage of Oxygen in the Air
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In this activity, learners calculate the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere by using steel wool's ability to rust.
Measure the Pressure: The "Wet" Barometer
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In this activity, learners use simple items to construct a device for indicating air pressure changes.
Engineer a Dam
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In this activity, learners explore the function and engineering of dams and how dams have many uses and solve many problems in the world.
Understanding Albedo
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In this activity related to climate change, learners examine albedo and the ice albedo feedback effect as it relates to snow, ice, and the likely results of reduced snow and ice cover on global temper
Mapping Sea Level Rise
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In this activity related to climate change, learners create and explore topographical maps as a means of studying sea level rise.
Make a Terrarium
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In this activity, learners make a miniature greenhouse or "terrarium" to explore the greenhouse effect.
Designer Seeds
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In this activity, learners will examine a variety of seeds, describe them, and determine how they are dispersed.
Making Sense of Sensors
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In this activity, learners explore sensors and focus specifically on how to measure humidity using a sensor.
Equatorial Sundial
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In this activity, learners make an equatorial sundial, which is simple to construct and teaches fundamental astronomical concepts. Learners use the provided template and a straw to build the sundial.
Measuring the Wind
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In this activity, learners explore how anemometers work to record wind speeds and how the equipment has undergone engineering adaptations over time.
Foam Peanuts
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Learners compare the properties and solubilities of Styrofoam (TM), ecofoam packing peanuts, and popcorn. First, the solubility of each substance is tested in water.
Oil Spill Solutions
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In this activity, learners explore how environmental engineers might approach solving the problem of an oil spill.
What Does Life Need to Live?
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In this astrobiology activity (on page 11 of the PDF), learners consider what organisms need in order to live (water, nutrients, and energy).
Solar Water Heater
Learners work in teams to design and build solar water heating devices that mimic those used in residences to capture energy in the form of solar radiation and convert it to thermal energy.
Plastics the Second Time Around
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In this activity, learners test and compare the physical properties of thermoplastic polymers. Learners compare different plastics based on their color, degree of transparency, texture, and density.