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 coal mining operation in Iowa

Coal Mining and Land Reclamation

Coal mining was a very important industry in Iowa as a fuel source...

Image of wind turbines in a field.

Shutting Off Wind Turbines

If you drive by a wind farm and see many wind turbines spinning, it is also common to find a few wind turbines not spinning.

Image of person spearfishing a fish model.

Science of Spearfishing

Spearfishing shows how objects appear to bend when inserted into the...

Image of a pillbug.

Bugs and Breathing Methods

There are a couple of different ways bugs can breathe. Some require...

Image of orange flower.

Flower Variety: Colors and Shapes

These photos show the diversity of shapes and colors of several Iowa...

Image of field with broken corn stalks after harvest.

No-Till Agriculture

Soil is the basis of Iowa’s economy. Annually, we lose about 5 tons of...

Image of person using light meter on snow.

Snow Cover and Temperature

This video shows a snowy day where snow has melted on sidewalks and...

Image of fossil in rocks.

Iowa Marine Fossils

This video shows marine fossils in standard landscaping rock at an...

Image of a flooded field.

Impact of Soil on Flooding

Shown are two neighboring fields, one is flooded while one is not.

Image of a semi truck.

Aerodynamics and Truck Gas Mileage

Semi-trailers are the lifeline of the supply chain, hauling all the...

Image of maple trees with sap collection pails.

Sugar Maple Sap

This video includes scenes of trees with spiles and buckets collecting...

Image of lake water.

Measuring Water Quality at Chichaqua Bottoms

Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt has unique water quality characteristics as compared to other places in Iowa.