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:

Questions? Please contact us at phenomena@iowapbs.org.
A water tower in a town on a fall day.

Water Towers

Water towers can be found in almost every town and city in Iowa. Their...
Clouds at dusk over a silhouette of trees.

Air Masses, Clouds and Weather Change

Clouds are made up of trillions of water droplets and are an essential...
Wind turbines in a field under a blue sky with white, pillowy clouds.

Wind Farms

In this phenomena students will study what wind farms are and how they...
Ladybugs in a window sill.

Bugs in Winter

When the weather turns cold, fewer bugs are seen. Through our learning...
A beaver dam over a small creek in the woods.

Beaver Dams Versus Human Dams

Beavers build dams to stop the flow of water which creates a pond that...
View of Wartburg College's campus in the winter. A statue can be seen in the foreground.

Winter Preparation at Wartburg

Students can observe the campus lawn at Wartburg College over the...
Red, yellow, and orange leaves that have fallen off of trees.

Dormancy of Trees

In the fall every year in Iowa there is a pattern of the leaves...
A curved, yellow bike rack casting a shadow on the concrete ground.

Shadow Tracking from the Sun

The sun changing places in the sky affects the way that shadows are...
Along the edge of a pond, greenish white algae and mud is visible.

Runoff Nutrient Pollution

Algae is a green substance that lives on the surface of Iowa lakes and...
A dense field of green clovers.

Why Clover Lawns Are Environmentally Friendly

Clover lawns provide many benefits over grass lawns—they have a higher...
The surface of a lake which is just beginning to freeze.

Freezing Lakes

Lakes tend to freeze from the top down. This is because water’s...
A fully bloomed sunflower in front of a blurred, outdoor background.

Annuals and Perennials in Iowa

Certain plants grow during specific times of the year and others do...
REAPCorporation for Public BroadcastingAlliant EnergyMusco LightingPella