Virginia Department of Education
Ecosystem Dynamics
Searching for an eccentric way to enhance lessons on ecosystems while ensuring pupils remain creative and motivated? Upon viewing The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, designated groups design and construct a pop-up book that depicts the specific ways...
Beyond Benign
Ecological Footprint
How does your lifestyle measure up in terms of your ecological footprint? Young ecologists examine their impact on the planet using an insightful online calculator. A short quiz asks users to rank the size of their homes, their energy...
Advocates for Human Rights
All about Me!
Celebrate the uniqueness of your students with this character building lesson plan series. In order to learn about and appreciate diversity and individuality, children create All About Me books by cutting out and drawing pictures that...
Peace Corps
Introducing Culture
Growing up within a culture leaves a lot of ideas and values unspoken. Take a closer look at the cultures in which your learners live with a discussion activity that addresses cultural identity and traits of those living within the...
Curated OER
Chemical Consequences of Burning Fossil Fuels
Future scientists are introduced to the chemical consequences of burning fossil fuels, learning that fossil fuel combustion leads to the formation of oxides of three nonmetals: carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, all of which end up in the...
University of Wisconsin
Conjunction Function
As part of a unit, this lesson familiarizes youngsters with components of a rain garden. They speculate about the role of an assigned component in contributing to a rain garden, and ultimately, in the health of the local watershed. Each...
Prince William Network
Migration Headache
During this game, kids become migratory shorebirds and fly among wintering, nesting, and stopover habitats. If they do not arrive at a suitable habitat on time, they do not survive. Catastrophic events are periodically introduced that...
Advocates for Human Rights
Deliberative Dialogue
How do you create a classroom environment where hot button topics may be discussed in a respectful manner? As part of a series of lessons that focus on immigration issues, class members examine the rules for civil discussion before...
Curated OER
Environmental Causes of Birth Defects
Get your high schoolers thinking about the factors that lead to birth defects. They examine how environmental factors and personal choices can cause birth defects in unborn children. They discover the effects of various handicaps such as...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to...
Baylor College
A Place to Be
Home sweet home. Humans, birds, beavers, ants, we all need a place place to rest and keep us safe. In the ninth lesson of this series, the importance of shelter is discussed as the teacher reads aloud the book Tillena Lou's Day in the...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Leaders' Decisions and Actions
Community leaders try to make choices that protect the community and the environment. Little ones learn about how tribal communities look to their chief to guide the decision-making process. Your class will become part of the community...
Curated OER
African Migration: Case Study Questions
Focus your attention on Bantu Migration. Answer 5 different questions to better understand why particular populations choose to migrate to new places. Referenced is the use of lesson notes, students will need background knowledge to...
Curated OER
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS: CLIMATE
Students explore the various global climates and apply cultural adaptations of the peoples in various zones due to climate.
Curated OER
Climate Change
Students explore environmental care by researching the impact of human beings on our planet. For this climate change lesson, students utilize the Internet to read informational text about climate change and the effect it will have on our...
Curated OER
Have You Seen Me? An Introductory Lesson on the Loss of Biodiversity
Students investigate environmental law and policies involving endangered species as well as discuss human impact on biodiversity through an Internet research project. Students create a milk carton of their "missing" endangered species.
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...
National Wildlife Federation
When It Rains It Pours More Drought and More Heavy Rainfall
Which is worse — drought or flooding? Neither is helpful to the environment, and both are increasing due to climate change. The 16th instructional activity in a series of 21 covers the average precipitation trends for two different...
Curated OER
Genes, Environments, and Behavior 2
Students explore the genetic and environmental factors that interact to produce variation in behavior across a population. They are introduced to the various approaches scientists use to explore this interaction. Students explore how...
Curated OER
Acid Rain
Create a simulation of acid rain in your classroom with lemon juice and bean plants to help kids study the effects of pollution on plants. In addition, learners will listen to a story and write responses based on guiding questions.
Curated OER
Global Eyes
Twelfth graders consider global issues and their effects. They identify the themes of human needs, human rights, and the environment, select a topic and research articles for a Global Current Events Portfolio. Working in small groups,...
Curated OER
Exploring Ecology
Students explore the basics of ecology. They discuss ecological succession, the water cycle and human impacts on the environment. Students explore the owls, succession, the human impact on the environment and complete the "Incredible...
Curated OER
Doctor, Doctor, Gimme The News
Seventh graders work together to develop a health-related experiment to display at the school health fair. Using the human body systems, they use the Internet to research a health problem through a controlled experiment. They are...
Curated OER
Kyoto Protocol
In this environment worksheet, students read an article about setting up the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty. They identify the meaning of human environment and what the Earth's greenhouse effect is. Students also explain the...