Bee Detective: Discover the Culprit Behind Declining Bee Populations
Students are put at the cutting edge of research on declining bee populations. To date, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has not been concretely attributed to any single cause. Through a variety of clues, students will conclude that CCD results from a combination of factors. Have students play the role of worker bees and the teacher can play queen bee.
Grade level: 6-8
Build a Wind Turbine
Building a small wind turbine has never been more fun! Check out how to make it.
Grade level: 7-12
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
This comprehensive website covers team building, Earth sciences, general science education, climate and weather, history, language arts and literacy, ice cores, and biological sciences.
Grade level: 2-12
Can We Feed the Growing Planet
Students explore the resources that make up our agricultural system. Students examine land uses and soil quality through graphs of land use and crop production and use computational models to compare the effect of different management strategies on the land.
Grade level: 7-12
Community Gardening
This resource has 59 lessons to choose from. The community gardening starts half way down the page.
Grade level: 3-12
Discovery Education
More than 30 lesson plans covering a range of topics such as Earth's ecology, habitats of the world, frogs, pollution solutions, desert dwellers, and much more!
Grade level: K-12
Fighting Fire with Fire: Can Fire Positively Impact an Ecosystem?
In this lesson, students explore controlled burn scenarios and the positive impacts of fire on ecosystems. Students assume the role of a fire manager to develop a recommendation for a specific ecosystem, and compare and contrast how organisms in different ecosystems have adapted to fire.
Grade level: 6-8
Garbology
This interactive site takes students on a journey - into garbage. Along the way, young readers learn which items should be reused or recycled, and which should be composted. Each time a student drags a piece of trash (or a banana peel, or a can) to the right receptacle, an interesting fact appears on the screen. For example, putting the plastic bottle in the recycling calls up this bit of trivia: Americans make enough plastic each year to shrink-wrap Texas. Putting an item in the wrong bin produces comical results. A fun and engaging site, young readers will learn important lessons about our trash, and our world.
Grade level: Various
GreenWalks
Columbus Green Walks is a self-guided walking map with audio tours of Whetstone Park. The map directs you to sites while recorded messages tell you about each one. The phone number has a recording with information about each site on the map.
Grade level: 1 and up
How Natural Areas Filter Water
Students learn about the importance of water quality for human health and agriculture. They relate their own consumption activities to the water supply and also brainstorm various threats to the water supply. By contrasting natural filters with impervious (paved) areas, students compare the impact of development on the ability of nature to provide clean freshwater.
Grade level: 6-8
Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots
Roots & Shoots is about making positive change happen for people, animals, and the environment. Get to know the 4-step Roots & Shoots Formula for identifying and completing a service campaign in your community.
Grade level: K-8
Make Paper!
Students investigate the papermaking process by trying it themselves. Students are thrilled to find that they can make paper and that their product is practical, as well as beautiful. Watch a video of the paper-making process used in this activity.
Grade level: K-8
National Energy Education Development Project (NEED)
NEED offers materials on energy use, energy efficiency, and new energy technologies and makes an ongoing effort to keep curriculum materials correlated to state standards and to the National Science Education Standards.
Grade level: Elementary - Highschool
National Geographic: Will the Air Be Clean Enough To Breathe?
Learn the interactions of factors that affect a region's air quality.
Grade levels: 7-12
Ohio Energy Project
Check out the Ohio Energy Project website for upcoming professional development opportunities for primary teachers at www.ohioenergy.org on the topic of global climate change.
Grade level: 1-12
Project Learning Tree-Ohio
Project Learning Tree is a comprehensive environmental education program that helps educators with balanced non-biased learning experiences for PreK through 12th grades that encompass the total environment - land, air, water, plants and animals (including humans). In order to obtain Project Learning Tree materials, teachers must attend an Educator Workshop.
Grade level: 1-12
Project WILD
Project WILD teaches young people how to think about wildlife, not what to think. Students in kindergarten through twelfth grade learn basic concepts about wild animals, their needs and importance, and their relationships to people and the environment. The hands-on, diverse activities help develop problem-solving and decision making skills in determining responsible human actions.
Grade level: Varies
Reforestation: Impact on Climate
Students learn the role forests play in the carbon cycle and how it interacts with climate.
Grade level: 6-8
Renewable Energy
Students learn about wind and solar energy and what the pros and cons could be.
Grade level: 6-8
Seeing the Wood for the Trees: Introduction to Sustainable Forestry
Students interact with Google Earth to identify forests that have been logged selectively versus those that have not. They also learn how to distinguish the appearance of forestry methods in satellite images. Outdoors, students create a comprehensive list of all the tree species in their own neighborhoods or local parks.
Grade level: 6-8
Project WET
The development of a water ethic can begin at an early age. Children benefit from parents, educators and mentors who recognize not only the scientific but also the social and cultural aspects of water. The core of the program is the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide for kindergarten through twelfth grades. A collection of hands-on, easy to use and fun activities incorporate a variety of formats, such as large and small group learning, whole-body activities, laboratory investigations, discussion of local and global topics and involvement in community service projects.
Grade level: 2, 4, 6, 7
Urban Trees
Learn how trees in an urban environment keep the temperatures down, produce oxygen, soak up carbon dioxide, and filter other pollutants. Students can identify specific tree species.
Grade level: 6-8
Web of Life Activity
In Project Learning Tree "web of life" activity, students conduct research and simulate a food web to discover the many ways that plants and animals are connected. Students decided to bring this activity to a new level. They took on the challenge of interpreting the activity in a way that would work for a permanent structure.
Grade level: 4-7
Will There Be Enough Fresh Water?
Students will explore the distribution and uses of fresh water on Earth. They will examine models of porosity and permeability, run experiments with computational models, and hear from a hydrologist working on the same question.
Grade level: 7-12