Curated OER
Human Impact Starts with?
What kind of effects do humans have on their environment? Review key anthropogenic vocabulary with a fill-in-the-blank handout. You may wish to use this as an ongoing glossary, review before a test, or even create a crossword puzzle or...
NOAA
Communicate!: Create a Unique Message About Climate Change
Scholars use their communication skills to express their take on climate change in the ninth installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They create ways to deliver their messages on a specific aspect of climate by...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
The last activity in the series of four has individuals determine steps they can take to reduce their carbon footprints and then analyze their schools' recycling programs. Through a sustainability audit, they identify how and where their...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Calculating Your Carbon Footprint
Unplugging from technology for one day per week will decrease your carbon footprint—are you up to the challenge? Part two in a series of three allows individuals to explore their personal carbon footprints. By first taking a quiz at home...
Curated OER
Acid Rain Effects
Get out the goggles and conduct a simple experiment to model and explore the harmful effects of acid rain (vinegar) on living (green leaf and eggshell) and non-living (paper clip) objects. Young chemists observe and describe the harmful...
National Park Service
What Can We Do?
Motivate young conservationists to stand up and make a change. After learning about the efforts in Cascade Nation Park to reduce carbon emissions in order to preserve the wilderness, students work in groups creating action plans for...
NOAA
Exploring Potential Human Impacts
Arctic sea ice reflects 80 percent of sunlight, striking it back into space; with sea ice melting, the world's oceans become warmer, which furthers global warming. These activities explore how humans are impacting ecosystems around the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions — Natural and Human Causes
What impact do humans have on greenhouse gas emissions? What are the natural causes of these gasses? Thanks to the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide eats away at the earth's atmosphere with the intensified help of humans. Young scientists...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
How big is your footprint? Activity three culminates the series by having groups complete carbon footprint audits with people in their schools and/or around the districts. Groups then gather their data, create a presentation including...
Curated OER
Energy Crisis and Energy Alternatives
For this energy crisis and energy alternatives worksheet, learners fill in the blanks of sentences when given terms related to the environment, the energy crisis, renewable resources and non-renewable resources.
Curated OER
Energetic Energy: A Child?s Guide to Responsible Energy Use
Students explore how energy transforms into heat. In this energy instructional activity students create models and find a need for fuel to make a Stirling engine.
Curated OER
Where, Oh Where is All the Clean Air?
Students examine the history of air pollution dating back to the Roman Empire. In groups, they research the different types of pollutants in the air and how they can affect the environment. They participate in various experiments to...
Curated OER
Acid Rain
Students investigate acid rain. In this environmental lesson, students participate in an experiment using litmus paper and various liquids and then test the acidity of the liquids. Students identify reasons why acid is harmful to the...
Curated OER
Acid Rain
Learners understand the dynamics of acid rain and its impact on the living and non-living environment. They hypothesize how acid rain affects water pH levels in two lake systems with differing watershed features.
Curated OER
I See a Coyote
Students role-play coyotes looking for natural resources. For this natural resources lesson, students examine the relationship between animal life and the environment. Students play a game that demonstrates how natural resources affect...
Curated OER
Urban Ecosystems 4: Metabolism of Urban Ecosystems
Cities are compared to living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Fourth in a five-part series of lessons, this one focuses on the flow of materials through a city. Links to interesting websites and images make your delivery of...
Curated OER
Mission 8: Transport
In these transportation worksheets, students learn about the various modes of transportation, the energy they use, and ways transportation affects the environment. Students complete a 15 page packet for the activity.
Curated OER
Ecology Worksheet
In this environment activity, high schoolers engage in the completion of 32 sentences to find the word that is used to complete the thoughts.
Curated OER
The Awful 8: A Play
Young scholars perform a play that presents the causes and effects on people and the environment of the eight major air pollutants.
Curated OER
Carbon Cycle
Young scholars study the carbon cycle and how it cycles through our environment. In this carbon cycle lesson plan students play a game that allows them to discover that carbon can take many forms and that there is not a set path.
Curated OER
Hometown Ecology
Middle schoolers examine how ecology is at work in their own community. As a class, they identify what they already know about the world around them and discuss how they personally affect the environment. Using magazines, newspapers...
Curated OER
Energy Resources Scavenger Hunt
In this environment worksheet, students complete each of the statements with its correct energy resource. They identify and name various types of plants and rocks. Students also identify and explain how fertilizer works and how it can be...
Curated OER
Air Quality
Students determine potential sources of major air pollutants, explain how acid rain is generated and how it affects the environment, discuss global warming, and explore protective role of ozone and cause of ozone layer thinning. Lessons...
Curated OER
MOBILITY, Bike Rack Remix
Students examine how riding a bike can impact the environment and cut down on carbon emissions. In this environmental instructional activity students design a bike rack that is made from recycled material.