Environmental Education Resources
Environmental Education Resources
In 2005, the National Environmental Education Foundation issued an Environmental Literacy Report that revealed some shocking facts: only 12% of Americans could pass a basic quiz about energy; under half the population understood how their use of vehicles and appliances contributed to climate change; and even though 56% indicated they wanted to protect the environment, they didn’t know how.
Environmental education is an important topic that has often been neglected in the United States. In order to address the environmental knowledge gap in America, it must be understood and fixed. Many educational foundations have attempted to remedy this situation through a series of environmental education programs, in which more than 30 million students take part. In the effort to save what remains of the natural inhabitants and resources of our planet, biology and science teachers insist that students must understand the impact that humans have and the effects–both positive and negative–of our actions.
When students attempt to solve answers to environmental problems, they must use critical thinking skills to work together from a long-range perspective while they try to solve real-world problems. To that end, this guide to environmental education resources will list a multitude of information sources for those teaching about conservation, sustainability, and preservation of life on earth.
Environmental Reference Materials
An excellent place to start when looking for quality environmental education reference materials is the collective classroom resources site maintained North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Here, you’ll find resources, projects, and classroom materials listed by broad subject. In addition, materials are doubly-categorized by type into lesson plans, audiovisual, catalogued material, and Spanish materials.
Certain major topics comprise every environmental education curriculum. See the following locations for collections on these topics:
• Sustainable development teaches students to use natural resources in a way that meets the needs of the population while preserving the environment. See EElink: sustainability materials or Creative Change Educational Solutions.
• Climate change experiments help students learn about the science of global warming through hands-on experience. See EELink: air and climate or this climate curriculum guide.
• The preservation of watersheds and other water issues are addressed through Project Wet and the United Nations program World Day for Water.
• Programs dealing with energy efficiency include Energy Efficient Home articles (for secondary students only) and the Green Ribbon Pledge.
• Toxic waste management will affect the next generation even more than your own. Teaching resources include Tox Town, from the National Library of Medicine, and the EPA Environmental Education Video Program.
Endangered Species Materials
Kids love animals, and one of the best ways to get your students’ attention when teaching about the environment is to illuminate the negative impact that human actions have on plants and animals. For general endangered species resources, see the World Conservation Monitoring Center and this Endangered Species Teaching Aid. (Warning: the latter is quite an extensive pamphlet.)
For information on threatened and endangered animals, see the following sites:
• Stop Extinction focuses on endangered species in America including the American alligator, humpback whale, and spotted owl, among others. It includes a news feed for important ecological news and links to children’s activity sites.
• Red List scientifically assesses the conservation status of vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered animals throughout the world. A 16-page list of extinct species will impact students and increase their awareness of the dwindling species on earth.
• This document outlines a middle school endangered species curricula including vocabulary, classroom activities, and key concepts. Document made available by the Ft. Wayne Children’s Zoo.
• All grades and science teachers will benefit from another collection of resources located at the Endangered Species Day educational materials page. Here you’ll find a podcast series, an article about how to teach endangered species units from The American Biology Teacher, and an Endangered Species Day Toolkit.
For information on threatened and endangered plants, see the following sites:
• The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service maintains a searchable threatened plants database that is suitable for professional research or use by secondary students.
• The U.S. Forest Service created this site dedicated to rare plant information sources. Find field guides and photos to help identify rare plants as well as links to regional preservation societies and state-by-state information.
Classroom Activities
Elementary teachers can use “The Loneliest Animals” teaching guide as a companion piece after their students view the 50-minute PBS documentary. Students will learn about and empathize with endangered animals that are the last of their kind and the efforts people are making to save extremely threatened animals like the Sumatran Rhino and Iberian lynx.
Middle school students will be challenged by the lessons collected at Global Envision. Another interesting project for upper middle schoolers is the endangered species coloring book project. They may also benefit from modified versions of secondary lessons, like the extensive collection of lesson plans dealing with oils spills, climate change, fisheries, and more. Furthermore, teachers can browse prepared lesson plans by grade and subject at the Discovery Channel education center.
Additional Resources
• EElinked Networks is a global community for environmental educators that posts job opportunities, discussion forums, and myriad educational resources.
• The NAAEE offers these guidelines for developing an environmental literacy plan. While these are state guidelines, they can be used as a framework for developing a plan within your district or classroom.
• Classroom Earth is a community for teachers that has many resources for educating students about their responsibilities for the future of the earth.
• This endangered species lesson guide provides a framework for teachers experimenting with teaching this unit for the first time.
• Find Earth Day resources at the official Earth Day educator’s website.