Acid rain

(pH less than 5.0) is rain that is more acidic than normal (pH greater than or equal to 5.0). Rising to prominence in the 1960s when Scandinavian lakes became too acidic resulting in fish deaths, acid rain was traced to pollutant emissions from western and central Europe. Today, acid rain is a ubiquitous dilemma that is a serious issue in portions of North America and eastern Canada. Project Ideas: Explain how acid rain started. Show the rain cycle. What is the major cause of acid rain? How do we combat acid rain? What happens if we don't?

Global warming
refers to an average increase in the Earth's temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate. A warmer Earth may lead to changes in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea level, and a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans. When scientists talk about the issue of climate change, their concern is about global warming caused by human activities.

Project Ideas: Explain the 'The Greenhouse Effect'. What is the climate system? Can we change the climate? Explain how. What happens when the temperature rises? What can happen and what can we do to stop the green house effect? Built the model of green house effect

Photosynthesis
is the process by which plants, some bacteria and some protistans use the energy from sunlight to produce sugar, which cellular respiration converts into ATP, the fuel used by all living things. The conversion of unusable sunlight energy into usable chemical energy, is associated with the actions of the green pigment chlorophyll. Most of the time, the photosynthetic process uses water and releases the oxygen that we absolutely must have to stay alive. Project Ideas: Create a diagram showing photosynthesis in a plant. Explain the cycle of photosynthesis. Chart it. Define the terms. Grow four of the same plants. Limit the amount of sunlight on two of the plants. Measure their height and fullness daily. Are the plants with limited sunlight different? How?

Vitamin C
is an antioxidant. It can prevent cell damage and other changes that oxygen causes. Linus Pauling winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954 believed in treating the common cold with large doses of vitamin C.

Project Ideas: What does vitamin C do for the body? What a normal levels? Can the body have too much? Measure different levels of vitamin C in different fruits.

 Does a person's heart rate and blood pressure vary during the day? Does exercise affect lung capacity?

 Does exercise affect lung capacity?

Create a model of a neuron

by using clay, playdough, styrofoam, recyclables, food or anything else you can get your hands on. Use pictures from books to give you an idea of where the components of a neuron should go and what shape they should be. Use different colors to indicate different structures. Make a neural circuit with a few of the neurons. Create sensory or motor systems. Eat your model if you made it out of food!! Materials: Clay or Playdough or Styrofoam or Recyclables (bottle caps, cups, buttons, etc) OR Food (fruit, jelly beans) A picture or diagram of a neuron (see the picture below or go to: more about neurons.)