Lesson Plans & Activities
A Changing Climate: Understanding Drought in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to drought in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of drought in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw activity.
A Changing Climate: Understanding Floods in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to floods in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of flooding in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.
Flood Resilience in Colorado StoryMap
This is a lesson that can be used to get ideas and prepare for the Community Resilience Expo.
Students interact with a flood StoryMap to explore the Colorado Resiliency Framework.
Northwest Passage: Then and Now
Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
In this lesson, students learn about some of the early explorations of the Northwest Passage, and how the changing sea ice extent has prompted new explorations of this region to transport goods from one region of the Northern Hemisphere to another.
Ice Core Demonstration: The Past is the Key to the Future
Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
This lesson has students explore how the gases trapped in ice cores over the last quarter of a century can be used to understand how Earth's atmosphere has changed in the past.
Adapting to Extremes: Exploring the Science of Floods in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to floods in Colorado.
The way we choose to design our communities has impacted community risk and vulnerability to flooding; in this lesson, students will explore this concept by analyzing environmental data to classify patterns and practice communicating their findings.
Flood Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on flood.
Drought Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on drought.
Communicate Existing Plans
This is a guide that can be used for a pathway for the Community Resilience Expo.
In this sub-unit, students will learn more about their community’s resilience plans, choose a specific topic to focus on, and develop a product to communicate the plan to their peers and/or their community.
Adapting to Extremes: Exploring the Science of Drought in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to drought in Colorado.
Humans have been affected by severe drought throughout history; in this lesson students explore this concept by analyzing environmental data to classify patterns and practice communicating their findings.
Precipitation Patterns Around the Globe
Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
Students apply their knowledge of the water cycle to investigate how annual precipitation patterns are related to geography and biology.
Waste, Water, and Wastewater
Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
In this lesson, students will apply what they know about how to separate a mixture by designing a wastewater treatment facility that effectively removes contaminants.
Data Puzzle: It's All Connected
This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
What makes the Arctic climate system so unique is the sea ice, which influences the Arctic climate in many ways. In this Data Puzzle, students analyze authentic Arctic data to construct explanatory models for the following question, "What effect, if any, do leads (cracks in the sea ice) have on the transfer of moisture between the Arctic Ocean and atmosphere?"
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Data Puzzle: Megafire - Rare Occurrences or the New Normal?
This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
Megafires have been a hot topic in the news over the past few years, but are they a new phenomenon? In this Data Puzzle, students analyze authentic wildfire data to construct explanatory models for the follow question, "How and why has the number of megafires have changed over time?"
Data Puzzle: Megadrought in the Colorado River Basin
This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
Much of the western United States is experiencing drought conditions. In this Data Puzzle, students analyze authentic climate data to construct explanatory models for the following question, "What is causing the megadrought in the Colorado River Basin?"
Data Puzzle: What's the Limit?
This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
Moss campion is a key species indicator of climate change. In this lesson, students will explain how latitude impacts and affects these hearty tundra plants by analyzing and interpreting moss campion growth and survival data.
Conversation Guide: Our Relationship with Water
This structured conversation guide is a great way to begin a dialogue about shared experiences with water in your community!
In this conversation, participants will explore their shared watershed and local ecosystems, and connect with neighbors through their common and unique experiences with water in the region. We hope individuals, families, and communities will share their memories and stories about water and come together to imagine a future they want for their communities.
Guía de Conversación: Nuestra Relación con el Agua | Conversation Guide: Our Relationship with Water
This structured conversation guide is a great way to begin a dialogue about shared experiences with water in your community!
En esta conversación, los participantes van a discutir su cuenca compartida y conectar a través de sus experiencias únicas y compartidas sobre el agua en la región. Esperamos que los participantes compartan sus recuerdos e historias sobre el agua y que se junten para imaginar el futuro que quieren para sus comunidades.
Stop Motion Animation Workshop
Learn how to create a short (<1 minute) stop-motion animation of a story!
This workshop is designed to be completed in two days or two sessions. Each portion is about 1.5 – 2 hours long. You may want to leave time between sessions for students to make their pieces. Depending on how intricate their story is, they may need more time for cutting out shapes, making “characters,” etc.
Sea Ice, The Character
Sea Ice, The Character is one of four activities in the The Drifting North Polar Planetarium Experience that invites students to explore what it was like to participate in the MOSAiC expedition to the North Pole.
In this activity, student's will compare and contrast the different structures of freshwater ice and seawater ice with a hands-on lab. Learning about what makes sea ice so unique in the Arctic will be guided by the driving questions: How does saltwater sea ice differ from freshwater ice? What is sea ice like in the Arctic? and Why is sea ice important in the Arctic?