Drought Unit Labs
Provided by: TERC|Published on: April 27, 2021|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Biology, Earth and Space Sciences, Geography
Authors: TERC, Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College (SERC)
Location: North America
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This group of eight interactive labs teaches students about the causes of droughts, how we can reduce the impacts of droughts, and learn about technologies that can reduce water stress.
- Students will learn about where water resources exist, what a watershed is, historic droughts, and drought mitigation.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The lab overviews section identifies all of the materials you'll need to gather and provides a quick scope and sequence of the unit. Key questions and learning objectives are also outlined.
- Students may be surprised learning about the Dust Bowl, imagining sand dunes covering huge parts of the plains.
Additional Prerequisites:
- Review teacher resources for general background information relevant to each lab.
- Connect the human actions that make droughts worse with solutions that can be accomplished through human actions as well.
Differentiation
- Advanced students can do some of the lab sections independently or in groups.
- Students that live in the Western U.S. can look for local information about droughts that connects these labs to their city or state.
- As an extension, have students research solutions to water scarcity such as solar-powered desalination that incorporate climate solutions and water solutions.
This resource is phenomenal to provide understanding to students to interpret climate data and predict drought events. In this resource, please note that photo from NOAA has no location and year it was shot. This resource is recommended
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
