Waste disposal is a problem for the entire Earth and must be dealt with in a responsible manner to maintain biodiversity in ecosystems. After investigating the amount of waste they produce as an individual, family, class, school, community, and society, students investigate how items decompose in a landfill and develop arguments to support a solution to the problem. Students engage in argument to defend the effectiveness of a design solution on a proposed method of disposing of waste in their school and community.
This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.
This lesson uses hands-on activities to discuss water filtration. Students will have the opportunity to explore water filtration by filtering water through a variety of materials and using potatoes to grow and test the bacteria levels of the water.
With a focus on nanotechnology, this lesson discusses the benefits of embedding silver ions in filters to kill harmful bacteria. At the end of this lesson students will have the opportunity to put their knowledge to the test in a written discussion by designing a solution to a mock water crisis.
This module was authored by the Auburn University NanoBio MSP Fellows Will Haynes, Chelsea Lindskog, Hannah Taylor, and Catherine Wolfe under the supervision and guidance of Drs. Virginia Davis and Chris Schnittka.
In this lesson, students prepare for BioBlitz by defining biodiversity and examining the characteristics of various plants and animals as examples of taxonomic groupings. A bioblitz is a short, intensive study of the biodiversity of an area. Students learn about the number of species identified globally in key taxa and use this information to make predictions about the biodiversity they may observe during their local bioblitz.
A bioblitz is a short, intensive study of the biodiversity of an area. In this activity, students investigate and analyze local biodiversity using iNaturalist observations. They collaborate in small groups to explore observations and identification of various taxon groups. Then students create a class graph of data and draw inferences about biodiversity, invasive species, and endangered species in their local park.
This lesson is about how ecosystems purify water and human activities that can alter these processes. It also discusses the value of the natural water purification service to humans. The take-home message is that the key to maintaining water purification services is to protect and restore the ecosystems that provide these services.
In this lesson, students will develop an understanding of the impact of improved sanitation on human health. They do this by examining the history of sanitation in the context of disease outbreaks and comparing the quality of life in earlier times to that of today. Students should recognize that advances in health and human life expectancy have resulted in large part because of technologies that we now take for granted, such as modern waste disposal, sanitary food handling, and refrigeration.
