Classroom Phenology: Using the Environment as a Source of Data and Observations part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Carrie Otis Minnesota Internship Center English Language Academy Minneapolis, Minnesota
This activity is a classroom and schoolyard investigation where students collect daily temperature and precipitation readings, weather observations, and weekly phenology reports in a phenology binder and in nature journals. Students then analyze this data and compare to recorded values in the Weatherguide calendar.

Our Big Backyard part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Melissa Barnett Montgomery-Lonsdale Elem. Montgomery, MN
This activity is a field investigation where students venture out into their own backyard to observe and record data on living things and see how these things change throughout the seasons.

Who Lives Here? : Investigating and Sorting Schoolyard Insects part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Pat Hegge, Lincoln Center Elementary School, South St. Paul, MN
This activity is a field investigation where students collect bugs using homemade pit traps, sort them into groups, and then graph their results.

Economics of installing Solar PV panels: is it worth it to the individual? part of SISL:2012 Sustainability in Math Workshop:Activities
Martin Walter, University of Colorado at Boulder
We show that it is economical for an individual to install solar photovoltaic panels in Denver, Colorado; and this is a sustainable strategy for society at large.