Educational Resources
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Air Pollution and its Consequences on Human Health
Grade Level: 6-8
Time Required: 45 minutes
In this module, students will learn about air, its components, pollution, and its effects on human health.
Firstly, the characteristics of the air, its importance for life on earth, and its biogeochemical cycle will be presented. Next, an activity will be carried out where the students will verify that air is a substance even though we cannot see it. Then, the teacher will present some air pollutants and their effects on the environment (such as acid rain) and human health, including respiratory and non-respiratory effects. Finally, the class will conclude with a very dynamic activity where students will be able to experience what it feels like to have respiratory diseases such as asthma.
Healthy Eating and Nutrition
Grade Level: 6-8
Time Required: 45 minutes
In this module, students will learn about the importance of healthy eating and nutrition and its good practices. To do this, the teacher will present the learning plan's content through the presentation included in this module.
Firstly, it will explain what healthy eating consists of and the nutritional needs of the body, function, and requirements of the organism. Then, the factors that affect nutritional status and food-related diseases will be explained. The concepts of healthy, safe, contaminated, altered, and adulterated food and the microorganisms that alter food, their potential effects on health, and measures to prevent food poisoning will be defined. Finally, the main causes of family food insecurity will be shown. The class will conclude with an activity where students prepare a super nutritious meal.
Watersheds & Contamination
Grade Level: 7-9
Time Required: 60 minutes (2 parts)
In this two part activity, students explore water quality and watersheds.
Students learn how to define water quality and the many ways it can be evaluated. Students are tasked with evaluating water samples independently through many parameters to develop a final impression. Educators can choose from many water quality parameters that students will use to evaluate water quality depending on the time, materials, and local bodies of water available.
Waste Management
Grade Level: 5-8
Time Required: 30 minutes
This activity includes a slideshow and game that paired together introduce the advantages and disadvantages of various waste sorting methods including landfills, recycling, composting, and littering in nature. Beginning with some questions, the slides help students to think about how they manage waste they produce in their everyday lives. Slides introduce waste disposal methods as they are added into this active, strategy-based game. Students work in teams to develop a waste disposal strategy that will score the most points and win them the game! This game is relevant to a wide range of ages, and discussion questions can be framed in more detail for more advanced classrooms.
Building a Water Filter
Grade Level: 6-8
Time Required: 30 minute activity and reflection (not including an introduction to water quality before the activity)
In this activity, students exercise creativity, critical thinking, and engineering skills to develop a water filter using common household items. Students test their creations using a pre-made sample of dirty water, which you can also create using common, household items. The activity motivates students to solve problems independently and creatively, exposing them to opportunities in engineering and environmental careers.
Measuring Water Quality
Grade Level: 6-8
Time Required: 45 minutes (20 minutes for the slideshow lesson and 25 minutes for the activity)
This activity starts with a lesson introducing water quality which explains electrical conductivity, a parameter used to quantify water quality. In the hands-on activity, students form hypotheses about the quality of provided water samples and use conductivity meters to investigate their quality.