Science
Peace Corps Volunteers naturally encounter science in their daily routines. Read stories and view lesson plans that highlight these unique cross-cultural and science-based experiences.
- All About HIV and AIDS
- Students will investigate what HIV/AIDS is, how it is caused, how it is transmitted, and what its effects are. ("HIV" stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. "AIDS" stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.)
- Barrels and Buckets: Access to Water
- Students increase their understanding of access to water through reading Peace Corps Volunteer stories from Kenya (in east Africa) and Ghana (in west Africa). As part of this lesson, each student will make a book that compares access to water in the United States, Kenya, and Ghana. An overall goal is to develop the students' understanding of the similarities and differences among water use in Kenya, Ghana, and the students' own communities.
Grade Levels: 1-4
- Barren Fields
- Enhance the experiences from the barren fields challenge of the Peace Corps Challenge game with lesson plans and additional resources from World Wise Schools.
- Building a Model Springbox
- This lesson explores the importance of protecting sources of clean drinking water. Through a narrated slideshow, former Peace Corps volunteer Lauren Fry shares her story about building a springbox to protect a groundwater supply in Cameroon. Students will analyze data that Lauren collected and construct their own working model springboxes.
- Building a Solar Still
- In this lesson, students explore the water cycle and the role it can play in making water drinkable. Through an online video, Peace Corps Volunteers Nicholas Hanson and Brian Newhouse describe how they built a solar still to distill saltwater into drinkable water in Cape Verde. During the first class period, students construct their own model solar stills. In the second class period, they check to see how much pure water their solar stills produced from a supply of saltwater.
- Cape Verde: Paradise Amongst the Clouds
- The Republic of Cape Verde is an island nation located about 300 miles off the western coast of Africa. Cape Verde, where the people speak Portuguese and Creole, has a long and rich history. While the people of Cape Verde enjoy warm temperatures and a beautiful setting, they must also deal with some challenges related to their climate and location. The main challenge is the lack of rainfall and limited fresh water. Students will have the opportunity to explore this country and gain an appreciation for the people who live there.
- Day-to-Day Life in a Small African Village
- Students will learn about and experience just a bit of what it's like living in a village in Tanzania—from language to geography to health and hygiene issues.
- Harvesting Water from Fog
- The Republic of Cape Verde is an island nation located about 300 miles off the western coast of Africa. Cape Verde, where the people speak Portuguese and Creole, has a long and rich history. While the people of Cape Verde enjoy warm temperatures and a beautiful setting, they must also deal with some challenges related to their climate and location. The main challenge is the lack of rainfall and limited fresh water. Students will become familiar with the technology and benefit of collecting water from fog.
- Life in a Hurricane Zone
- Students will learn about the nature of hurricanes and examine in detail the effect of Hurricane Georges upon the Dominican Republic.
- Microfinance Challenge
- Enhance the experiences from the microfinance challenge of the Peace Corps Challenge game with additional resources from World Wise Schools.
- Peace Corps Challenge Game—National Trees
- Trees are found all over the world, in every country. Although trees are common to all parts of the world, there are different trees species found in different places. In America our national tree is the Oak. It is a familiar tree, known for its large size, hard wood, and many uses. Oaks are not found everywhere. Each country has its own climate, soil, and trees that have adapted to living in that particular part of the world. Even in the Peace Corps Challenge there was a drought, lack of firewood, and soil erosion. The Mango tree is also a part of the farmer's garden. Trees are important to not only the villagers in Wanzuzu but also each of us. In this teaching suggestion, students will have the opportunity to explore the national trees of several countries as well as compare them to some of the native trees in their own community.
- Press Conference on Hurricane Georges
- To reinforce oral communication skills, organize a "press conference" on Hurricane Georges.
- Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
- The importance of recycling to reduce waste, to employ trash in useful ways, and to save the environment all feature in students' review of this letter from Romania.
- Sea Turtle Math
- Students are introduced to a real-world conservation issue through Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah Klain’s slideshow about sea turtle populations in Palau. Given data on the current status of Hawksbill Turtles, students use algebra to complete a mathematical puzzle, in which they predict how much longer Hawksbills will nest in Palau if their current rate of decline continues. Students discuss current conservation efforts in Palau and make recommendations for future strategies.
- Service Projects in the Dominican Republic
- Students will look into how Peace Corps Volunteers have provided community assistance in the Dominican Republic.
- Soneka's Village
- Students will focus on aspects of the Maasai pastoralist culture and compare it with their own.
- Splish-Splash: Daily Use of Water
- This lesson facilitates the students’ understanding of access to water through reading stories from Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Kenya (east Africa region) and Ghana (west Africa region). As part of this lesson, each student will make a book that compares access to water in the United States, Kenya, and Ghana. An overall goal is to develop the students’ understanding of the similarities and differences between water use by people in Kenya and Ghana and their own communities.
- Taking Action!
- Students will read the story Happy Hearts in Manabí by Peace Corps Volunteer Kristen Mallory. After learning about Kristen's work promoting heart health in Ecuador, students will consider how educating others can be a form of service, prioritize health education issues in their own communities, and create educational materials for a local audience. As an extension of this lesson, students may organize a health education event within their school or local community.
- The True Cost of Coffee
- Students will examine the economic, health, and environmental risks of a one-crop economy in the developing world.
- This Is Tanzania
- Students will come away with an introductory knowledge of the volcanic history and wildlife of Tanzania, and of the subsistence agricultural economy with which most Tanzanians live.
- Tsunami! Examining Earth’s Most Destructive Waves
- Students will investigate just what a tsunami is, what causes it, how fast it travels, what it looks like, and its devastating effects upon landfall.
- Understanding and Avoiding HIV/AIDS
- Students will investigate what HIV/AIDS is, how it is caused, the effects of the disease, and how to prevent it. ("HIV" stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. "AIDS" stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.)
- Water Contamination Challenge
- Enhance the experiences from the water contamination challenge from the Peace Corps Challenge game with lesson plans and additional resources from World Wise Schools.
- Water in Africa
- Water in Africa reflects the deep connection of water to all aspects of life in African countries, a concept Coverdell World Wise Schools has captured in the learning units featured on this site. Ninety Peace Corps Volunteers contributed firsthand accounts and photographs to the lessons and activities you will find.
- Weather and Water in Ghana
- This lesson uses the dramatic contrast between the rainy and dry seasons in west Africa to help students learn about weather. Students will define weather, examine its features, define their area's weather, and apply this knowledge to their study of the ways weather affects people and the environment.
- Where Life Is Too Short
- Students will come away from this lesson beginning to understand the impact and implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa and beyond.
- Where There's Smoke
- Students examine how people can effectively bring about positive change in another culture, focusing on the introduction of ventilated stoves in Nepali homes.
- Windmills and Blogs: The Impact of Technology in Rural Peru
- This lesson encourages students to explore the role of technology in society, specifically its benefits and consequences. They will do this by reflecting on the role of technology in their own community and by viewing a Peace Corps Volunteer's slide show and discussing the uses of technology—windmills and computers—in a Peruvian village.
- Working With Environmental Issues
- Students will learn to appreciate the importance of clean water for the maintenance of good health, and how the lack of clean water leads to the spread of disease and parasites in West Africa.