Students will stencil an educational message next to curbs above storm drains to raise awareness about water pollution prevention. The project connects students to their local environment and improves their understanding of watersheds, ecosystem connectivity, and the role of city government in protecting the environment. Students demonstrate how stormwater carries pollutants directly into nearby water ways.
Students use a stream table to model how melting glaciers impact stream flow, erosion, and habitats. Through hands-on experiments, they observe sediment transport, canyon formation, and siltation, analyzing the effects of increased glacial melt on landscapes and ecosystems.
In this culminating activity, students will share their knowledge of the impacts of environmental change with others by creating a digital story of the potential effects of a warming climate in their community, the Arctic, and/or the Bering Sea.
Students compare historical and recent photos of their local environment to document physical changes over time. They analyze causes of change, predict future transformations, and discuss the impacts on ecosystems.
Students interview long-term residents to document environmental changes over the past 50 years. They summarize their findings in reports and create a newspaper to share with the community.