PBS
Technology: Conveniences and Consequences
It's a delicate balance—using technology to improve our lives while still protecting the environment, and ourselves, from the hazards of technology use. Class members examine statistics about the increase in media use, complete a survey...
Curated OER
"Croak" Science Mystery
Solve the mystery of a declining frog population! Lead your junior ecologists on an investigation that simulates actual events concerning pollution, predation, poaching, and more. Investigators read a story online, then analyze survey...
Curated OER
Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...
Berkshire Museum
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Sorting Through Personal Choices
Raise children's awareness about the importance of conservation with this hands-on science lesson. Start by breaking the class into groups and having them collect trash from around the school or local park. Students then use the provided...
Clean Up Australia
Why are Batteries Harmful to the Environment?
Open this lesson by reading together about primary and secondary batteries (such as nickel-cadmium cells), problems they can cause in the environment, and how humans can minimize the damage. Afterward, little ones examine a collection of...
Curated OER
Effects of Ozone Depletion
Explore the causes of ozone depletion and the effect on plankton, algae, plants, amphibians, and humans. Learn how the Montreal Protocol has possibly helped reverse the decline of the ozone layer. Warning: photos of skin and eye damage...
Curated OER
Build a Model Watershed
Collaborative earth science groups create a working model of a watershed. Once it has been developed, you come along and introduce a change in land use, impacting the quality of water throughout their watershed. Model making is an...
Wilderness Classroom
Pollution
Educate scholars on pollution—air, water, and land—with a series of lessons that begin with a thorough explanation of each type. Learners then take part in three activities to reinforce the importance of reducing pollution. They...
SF Environment
Waste-Less Lunch
Is it possible to have a waste-less lunch? Can your class become leaders in conservation? Discuss the importance of reducing waste during lunch time with a fun lesson that can be extended to everyday practices. First the class examines...
Curated OER
Soils
Students apply knowledge of soil, environmental impacts, economics, multiple human demands, and use given data for a proposed scenario in making land use decisions. They debate land use issues and/or scenarios and discuss a case study.
Curated OER
Travel
For this travel worksheet, young scholars read a table and graph related to passenger travel and modes of transportation, then keep a travel log of their own, in order to gain an understanding of the environmental impact of travel. The...
Curated OER
Invasive Species
Students study exotic and native species, and examine how exotic species can impact native ones. They study how the mute swan effects native species.
Curated OER
No Impact Project: Water
Students use the "No Impact Project" to analyze the consumption of water. In this water consumption lesson plan, students discuss the pros and cons of tap water or bottled water. Students read about chemicals in water and watch a video...
Curated OER
Coastal Surveys
Students investigate the human impact on coastal land. For this coastal surveys lesson plan, students choose a coastal area and complete a survey sheet about the area. They choose a topic about a sea side village called Dunwich to...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Reflecting on What I Learned About Climate Change
After three eye-opening lessons about our environment, scholars revisit a 10-question survey, reflect on their new-found knowledge, and take action by writing to a representative or creating a public service announcement about climate...
Michigan State University
Bug Lyphe!
Introduce ecology classes to biodiversity and interdependence in ecosystems with a PowerPoint presentation. Then, they get up-close and personal with the invertebrate world by collecting insects, classifying them, and graphing their...
National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: Chemicals in Your Home
Many people know about chemical pollution, but are all chemicals bad? The third unit in a series of six addresses chemicals common in everyday life. Scholars learn about the chemicals found in their own homes, chemical safety, and...
Curated OER
How Green Are You?
Young scholars investigate environmental care by listing ways they preserve the Earth each day. In this green living habits lesson, students collaborate in groups to brainstorm ways they can "be green" more often in their communities....
Curated OER
Micro- To Macro- Environmental Air Quality Risk Survey
High schoolers research the importance of air quality. In groups, students explore factors leading to poor air quality and methods of minimizing air pollution. Given a diagram of concentric circles, high schoolers survey their personal...
Curated OER
Biodiversity Study -- A Unit Study
Students sample a site with low human impact, one with moderate human impact, and a third with high human impact. Students chart the data for each site and then compare the sites and discuss.
Curated OER
The Debate Over North Shore Road
Students examine the impact of the North Shore Road Project in North Carolina. In this environmental science lesson, students share their views regarding this environmental issue. They compare and contrast the map of the Great Smoky...
Curated OER
It's Not Easy Being Green
Students complete a unit that focuses on their school's waste production. They conduct a litter survey, collect the waste produced in their classroom for a week and generate a waste-audit, and identify how their school can minimize...
Curated OER
Computer Graphing
Students research the Internet or create surveys to find graphable data. They collect, organize, analyze and interpret the data. Finally, they choose the appropriate type of graph to display the data and find the measures of central...
Curated OER
Comparing the Impact of Multiple Uses
Students study multiple land uses and their effects on one another. They assess multiple land uses in National Forests and Grasslands and evaluate the effects of each use on all other uses. They develop a comprehensive list of human...