Home | Iowa Science Phenomena

Welcome to the Iowa Science Phenomena website! The goal of this website and service is to create, curate, collect and share a growing collection of user-generated, media-based, standards aligned, science phenomena resources for use in Iowa classrooms, as well as support Iowa teachers as they continue to implement phenomena-based and place-based teaching practices.

There are several ways you can be involved in this project:

Browse or search the site to find an Iowa-based phenomenon to align to your learning standard.
Grow your phenomena skills and knowledge with our Iowa Science Phenomena Teacher Guide.
Equip your students to engage their own curiosity and be phenomenon-finders for themselves with the Iowa Science Phenomena Student Guide.
Capture and share your phenomena to the project.

Questions? Please contact us at phenomena@iowapbs.org.

Iowa Core Standard

Disciplinary Core Idea

Image of a flooded town.

Flooding Predictions

In 2019, flooding hit Hamburg, Iowa, leaving many wondering about the impacts and likelihood of future flooding.

Image of natural bridge rock formation.

Maquoketa Caves Formation

Each of the rock features at Maquoketa Cave State Park were formed over time through a variety of geologic processes.

Image of rock faces in an old quarry.

Kiln Trail Fossils

Kiln Trail in Floyd County is one of the most abundant places in Iowa to find and collect fossils.

Image of water draining from pipes in a field.

Clean Water and Farm Pollution Lawsuit

This video discusses a lawsuit claiming that farm runoff is harming Iowa’s water supply.

Image of man gesturing towards a tree.

Invasive Species in Iowa's Forests

Asiatic bittersweet is an invasive plant in Iowa and conservationists are working on solutions to control the spread.

Image of rock outcrops along water.

Gitchie Manitou State Preserve and Sioux Quartzite

The Gitchie Manitou State Preserve and its Sioux quartzite outcroppings represent the oldest visible exposed bedrock in Iowa.

Image of a frog on a pond shore.

Frog Call Monitoring

Volunteers around Iowa collect frog call data from a variety of species.

Image of a man with a kite flying mechanism.

Firat Erdam's Kite Choir

An artist created a unique kite that makes sound.

Image of a limestone rock face.

Backbone State Park Limestone

Extensive exposed limestone features can be seen at Backbone State Park.

Image of several bees on their colony.

Iowa Bee Colonies

Graphs represent Iowa’s bee colony population.

Image of human, cow, and pig femur bones.

Anatomical Comparison: Femur

Femur bones of different species have different lengths.

Image of an albino squirrel.

Albino Squirrels

An albino squirrel in an uncommon occurrence.