Curated OER
Avalanche
Students investigate natural disasters by participating in an experiment. In this water formation lesson, students define the dangers associated with avalanches and landslides. Students utilize a bag of sand, meter-stick and a wood board...
Curated OER
How to Clean Up An Oil Spill
Students practice cleaning up an oil spill. In this good citizenship lesson, students experiment with different cleaning agents to see which ones clean oil off a soft toy. They compare this experiment with the volunteers helping with the...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Epa: The Love Canal Tragedy
An assessment of the horrific tragedy of the chemical pollution whcih seeped into the town of Love Canal. Written by an EPA administrator just months after carcinogenic materials began leaching into yards and the public school built over...
Environmental Chemistry
Evironmental chemistry.com: Grown Ups Don't Do Blue Goo
Tells the story of Love Canal, NY and the contamination that was happening there and what has been done about it recently.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Melt Down at Three Mile Island
Learn about what happened at Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Facility in March of 1979 with this PBS site. A teacher's guide is available.
Other
Anchorage Daily News: Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
A special feature published by the Anchorage Daily News March 21-24, 1999, 10 years after the event. Provides stories, illustrations, photos and background.
Other
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
Site keeps up-to-date news on the Bhopal disaster in 1984. There is a video and a survivor's account of that night. Photos include the factory as it looked in 2003.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Three Mile Island the Inside Story
This Web site was created to provide more information about the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant; about the course of the accident there; about the steps?extending over almost 15 years?through which the nature and extent of the...
Other
Chernobyl Children's Project International
The heart-breaking addendum to the Chernobyl accident is that thousands of children were and are still affected by the fallout. Here are the results of an international organization that strives to help these children.
NOAA
Noaa: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council [Pdf]
This site provides information about the impacts of the oil spill, the injury and recovery of fish, wildlife and people of the spill region, and information about ongoing restoration and research activities. Has a great link to other...
University at Buffalo
Love Canal Collections: Niagara Gazette Newspaper Clippings
Newspaper clippings covering many aspects of Love Canal including much information about the litigation and claims filed by those so affected by the pollution that seeped into the town.
University at Buffalo
University at Buffalo: Love Canal Collection
This illustrated history surveys the infamous Love Canal chemical contamination environmental disaster of the 1970s.
NOAA
Noaa: History: Galveston Storm of 1900
Read an account of the worst natural disaster in American history in terms of loss of life, the Galveston hurricane of 1900. View historic photos of the devastation that resulted.
Digital History
Digital History: The Earth First, 1960's
This excellent resource provided by Digital History contains a wealth of information on the environmental movement of the 1960s in America, as well as the rest of the century.
Other
The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident and It's Ramifications
An excellent series of reference papers on the worst nuclear accident we have had. Maps and a photo gallery are also provided.
PBS
Pbs News Hour Extra: Largest Oil Spill in u.s. History Continues
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. Briefly discussed is criticism of the Obama administration for not acting quickly enough. Described are the efforts by BP oil to stop the oil leak, effects...
NPR: National Public Radio
Npr: Looking Back on Three Mile Island
NPR provides us with a slide show of information on the Three Mile Island crisis, the site of the worst nuclear plant emergency in American history.
Learning to Give
Learning to Give: Oil Changes Everything
This unit is a collection of four lessons that lead students from learning about oil spills and the impact human activities have on the environment and wildlife, to actively campaigning for laws to protect wildlife from oil spills and...
National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Federation: The Big Oil Spill
Ranger Rick "spills" all about the large oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Find out what happened, why people are worried, what happens to the animals, and what can happen to people.
Other
The Peshtigo Fire, October 8, 1871
This personal site is dedicated to the victims of the "largest natural fire in the history of the United States. By some estimates, nearly two thousand people were killed." Site offers many related links.