STEM
April 23, 2014 - April 29, 2014

Find the latest educational resources from Iowa Public Television.

Sink or Swim?
Grade Range: 5-8

Plastics are everywhere: from car parts to drinking bottles to sports equipment. Each plastic is chemically unique and has distinct properties that make it suitable for certain products. Plastics are classified #1 through #7. To find out what type of plastic a product is made from, check the bottom of the object and locate the number inside the recycle symbol. Even though some recycling centers only accept certain numbers, all plastics with this symbol are recyclable. Markets just don't exist for all recycled products.

Waste Deep
Grades: 7-13+

Enhance your health, science, and environmental studies curriculum with this video which features a landfill in South Jersey and examines the state of food waste in America today. Then, use the accompanying lesson plan, "Making Mountains Out of Landfills: Telling a Visual Story of Waste," to prepare students to visually track and document different kinds of trash in their community.

Ethanol Biofuel
Grades: 9-12

This video segment adapted from NOVA examines ethanol, a cleaner-burning fuel alternative to gasoline, and the efforts to produce it more efficiently. Today, most ethanol in the United States is made from corn kernels. But converting corn into ethanol requires lots of energy as well as corn, which might otherwise be used to feed people and livestock. The video features research efforts to use less valuable plant matter, called cellulosic biomass, and microorganisms that may be able to accomplish the conversion from plant matter to fuel in a single step.

Food Miles

Grades: 9-12

Consider the environmental impacts of America's current food system. In the 21st century global food economy, most foods travel an average of 1,500 miles from farm to plate. As renowned author Michael Pollan elaborates, the impacts of this fossil fuel-driven system are detrimental to the environment, but also to our health and social well-being. Writer Michael Shuman argues that investing in local food systems lessens the distance between who we are and what we eat, and creates wealth in the community.

Curious George: Blast Off!

Grade Range: PreK-1

Curious George is the only one who can restock the International Space Station with supplies, which means he's going up to space in a rocket! After students watch the video, they build and launch their own air-powered rockets, which they test and retest to determine the best design.

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