HS-ESS3-4

Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

  1. Animals

    Catching ‘Dory’ fish can poison entire coral reef ecosystems

    More than half of saltwater-aquarium fish sold in the United States may have been caught in the wild using cyanide, new data show.

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  2. Environment

    Fighting big farm pollution with a tiny plant

    Fertilizer runoff can fuel the growth of toxic algae nearby lakes. A teen decided to harness a tiny plant to sop up that fertilizer.

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  3. Tech

    Concrete science

    Teen researchers are exploring ways to strengthen this building material, use it for safety purposes and use its discarded rubble.

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  4. Climate

    Zapping clouds with lasers could alter Earth’s climate

    Scientists zapped ice crystals in a lab. They were exploring whether this approach might be used to break those crystals in clouds — potentially as a way to cool Earth’s fever.

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  5. Environment

    Common water pollutants hurt freshwater organisms

    The germ killers we use and the drugs we take don’t just disappear. They can end up in the environment. There they can harm aquatic organisms, three teens showed.

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  6. Earth

    Quake risk in some central states rivals California’s

    Risks of tremors in some central U.S. states are as high as those in quake-prone California. The reason: waste fluids from oil and gas drilling.

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  7. Environment

    Breathing very dirty air may boost obesity risk

    Breathing dirty Beijing air made rats heavier and less healthy than rats breathing clean air. Scientists now worry such polluted air may do the same thing to people.

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  8. Oceans

    Arctic ice travels fast, carrying pollution

    Climate change is melting old sea ice in the Arctic. Now, younger, thinner ice is migrating far and fast, taking pollutants with it.

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  9. Environment

    Wildlife forensics turns to eDNA

    Environmental DNA, or eDNA, tells biologists what species have been around — even when they’re out of sight or have temporarily moved on.

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  10. Environment

    Table salt and shellfish can contain plastic

    Bits of plastic have turned up in sea salts purchased in Chinese supermarkets. The finding suggests all sea salts may be similarly tainted. Shellfish too.

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  11. Space

    Collecting trash in space

    Space junk threatens satellites that cost millions of dollars. But one teen has come up with an idea to collect and dispose of that orbiting trash.

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  12. Climate

    Warming’s role in extreme weather

    Extremes in temperature and precipitation will be more common as global temperatures rise. Human-led climate change is largely to blame, a new study finds.

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