Note: Many environmental education materials are developed and sponsored by the very corporations and agencies which are the source of the problem, and they push the idea that consumption is really ok and that technology will solve all our problems. Please look carefully for biases and hidden agendas in any curriculum materials you use.
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See the Organizations resource page for organizations which offer environmental education materials.
Adopt-A-Watershed: Adopt-A-Watershed is a K-12 school-community learning experience. Adopt-A-Watershed uses a local watershed as a living laboratory in which students engage in hands-on activities, making science applicable and relevant to their lives. It weaves education with the community developing collaborative partnerships and reinforcing learning through community service.
Climate Change in California - Curriculum - Confronting Climate Change in California Report: As we enter the 21st century, a powerful new agent -- global climate change -- will increasingly interact with the human pressures that continue to stress California's natural environments. Explore these pages for a better understanding of how the state's ecosystems and natural resources could change. These insights may help us safeguard both our ecological heritage and our economic future.
Water Education Foundation: The mission of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial non-profit organization, is to create a better understanding of water issues and help resolve water resource problems through educational programs.
Our City Forest: The mission of Our City Forest is to cultivate a sustainable city and a renewed sense of community by involving and empowering the people of Silicon Valley in the appreciation, development, planting, and care of the urban forest.
California Envirothon http://caenvirothon.com/: The California Envirothon is an outdoor natural resource education program for high school students grade 9-12. In the field, students are challenged to work as a team to answer written questions and conduct hands-on projects focusing on environmental issues. Students from all over California join together to explore the environment in five disciplines: Forestry, Wildlife, Aquatics, Soils and a current environmental issue.
California Government
California Environmental Resources Evaluation System / CERES - Environmental Education: CERES is an information system developed by the California Resources Agency to facilitate access to a variety of electronic data describing California's rich and diverse environments. The goal of CERES is to improve environmental analysis and planning by integrating natural and cultural resource information from multiple contributors and by making it available and useful to a wide variety of users.
California Environmental Education Interagency Network / CEEIN: The California Environmental Education Interagency Network (CEEIN) is a consortium of environmental educators representing California state departments, boards, and commissions of the Department of Education, California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), and the California Resources Agency with oversight responsibility to protect California's environment.: Educator Fairs & Conferences
California Department of Education: California Environmental Education Resource Guide / CEERG: The purpose of the California Environmental Education Resource Guide (CEERG) is to provide both formal and non-formal environmental educators with an up-to-date selection of quality teaching materials, informative EE sites and facilities, dynamic speakers and programs, and exciting enrichment opportunities for both teachers and students.
Crossing the Empty Quarter: The Empty Quarter of Arabia is the world's largest sand desert. In late January 1999, three Canadian Explorers will begin a journey, hoping to make a foot crossing of this quarter million square miles of mystery and desolation. This web site, created in conjunction with the Calgary Board of Education, will allow children across Canada and around the world to follow the expedition. Detailed curriculum has been created and is posted on this site for levels K through 12. The curriculum is designed to provide possibilities for connecting the real-world experiences of the Empty Quarter Expedition into the educational experiences of students in the classroom.All teachers, students, and parents are welcome and encouraged to follow and use this web site free of charge.
Earth Awareness Program/Earth Balloon: The Earth Balloon is an interactive Social Studies/Environmental/Science K-12 school assembly program used in teaching students of all ages about our physical earth and environment.
ENC Online (Eisenhower National Clearinghouse): ENC's mission is to identify effective curriculum resources, create high-quality professional development materials, and disseminate useful information and products to improve K-12 mathematics and science teaching and learning.
EnviroLink Library: EnviroLink is a non-profit organization... a grassroots online community that unites hundreds of organizations and volunteers around the world with millions of people in more than 150 countries. EnviroLink is dedicated to providing you with the most comprehensive, up-to-date environmental resources available.
Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP) Resource Library: EETAP is a national consortium of leading EE organizations and educational institutions. It is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as authorized through the National Environmental Education Act. The Ohio State University develops and hosts the EETAP Resource Library as part of its partnership activities. The goal of the EETAP Resource Library is to provide access to quality resources and information through a virtual library, various publications, and instructions on using EE databases to find information.
Global Response: Global Response (GR) has created a worldwide network of people and organizations that refer environmental crises to us. In collaboration with the local people who are working on the problem, GR issues an "Action" to our members. The "Action" gives background information about the environmental threat and the efforts of local organizations to resolve it. The "Action" asks GR members to use this information to write personal letters to specific officials who have the power to make positive changes.
Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE): is a worldwide network of students, teachers, and scientists working together to study and understand the global environment. Students and teachers from over 6,000 schools in more than 70 countries are working with research scientists to learn more about our planet. GLOBE students make environmental observations at or near their schools and report their data through the Internet. Scientists use GLOBE data in their research and provide feedback to the students to enrich their science education. Global images based on GLOBE student data are displayed on the World Wide Web, enabling students and other visitors to visualize the student environmental observations.
Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN), part of Earth Force: The Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN) provides opportunities for young people to understand, improve and sustain watersheds in their community. GREEN empowers young people to learn more about water quality within their watershed and use their findings to create solutions.
International Education and Resource Network (I*EARN): The International Education and Resource Network enables young people to undertake projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare of the planet and its people.
IGC EcoNet: Collection of resources and links for environmental issues and education.
National High School Student Solar Design Contest: High School students across the nation are eligible to compete in the 5th annual Photovoltaic Design Competition for cash prizes. The competition offers an opportunity for students and teachers to incorporate a classroom learning experience with a chance for various awards. These awards include Solar Educator Plaques for Teachers that sponsor seven or more entries and Schools that sponsor 15 or more entries. Cash awards are made to winning students. First prize is $500. The contest is organized by the Potomac Region Solar Energy Association (PRSEA) with support from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and American Solar Energy Society (ASES).
The Nature of Leaning: http://refuges.fws.gov/education/NatureofLearning/: he "Nature of Learning" is a community-based National Wildlife Refuge System conservation education program that uses national wildlife refuges, and other public lands, as outdoor classrooms and seeks to promote a greater understanding of conservation issues while enhancing student academic achievement. The "Nature of Learning" utilizes field experiences and student-led stewardship projects to connect classroom lessons to real world issues; and involves a partnership among local schools, community groups, natural resource professionals and local businesses.
Nuestro Mundo, Nuestro Futuro (Our World, Our Future) from ZPG: Spanish is the first language of many new American students. After years of requests from teachers in bilingual classrooms, we have developed Nuestro Mundo, Nuestro Futuro. This flip book (one side Spanish, one side English) includes a student reading and seven adapted versions of favorite ZPG activities, exploring resource use, global population dynamics, gender equity and personal decision making for our own families and the global family. Written for the middle school classroom, this kit is ideal for the bilingual social studies, science, and family life education class, as well as for Spanish or ESL classes for students of all ages.
Operation Ruby Throat: "Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" is a cross-disciplinary international initiative in which students, teachers, and others collaborate to study behavior and distribution of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Although students are the primary target audience, Operation RubyThroat is open to ANYONE interested in hummingbirds. Participants live in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama)--countries in which this bird regularly occurs.
Play for Peace: Play for Peace brings children from conflicting cultures together through cooperative play to promote positive relationships among people who have a history of inter-cultural tension. By bringing children with unique backgrounds, values, and beliefs together through the seemingly simple act of play, seeds of compassion are sown for a more peaceful today and tomorrow.
Project Learning Tree New Hampshire http://www.nhplt.org/ is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators of students in grades preK-12. But PLT activities aren't just for teaching science. They cover all disciplines and deal with the total environment--land, air, and water. Our Mission is for every student graduating from a New Hampshire school to understand and appreciate the ecological, social, and economic values of New Hampshire's abundant natural resources; to think critically and creatively; to use this knowledge to make informed decisions and take responsible action on behalf of the environment.
Project NatureConnect: Ecopsychology and the 53 inherent natural senses. With online courses and books.
Rainforest Action Network: Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and support the rights of their inhabitants through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct action.
River of Words: The River of Words Project is an international environmental poetry and art contest designed to nurture respect and understanding of the natural world by encouraging children to learn their "ecological address" and to describe through poetry and art their own "place in space." Co-sponsored by International Rivers Network , The Library of Congress Center for the Book and United States Poet Laureate (1995-1997) Robert Hass , the project hopes to foster responsibility, imagination and action in young people and to publicly acknowledge their creativity and concerns. Next context deadline February 15, 2001.
The Secret Forest / FSEEE: "Where you explore the mysteries of forest life." Online learning activities about forests, with a non-comercial approach.
Sharing Nature Foundation: Established in 1979 by naturalist and author, Joseph Cornell, the Sharing Nature Foundation uses creative nature activities to give people joyful and inspiring experiences of nature. We believe it's only by uplifting people's consciousness that we truly change their way of looking at, and relating to the world around them. To do this we use Flow Learning™, a playful and inspirational teaching strategy that works with people where they are and gently brings them to a deeper, more profound experience of nature.
Teach with Databases: Toxic Release Inventory - NSTA: It links local and nationally-collected data to help students understand the chemical history of their own communities. It shows students how to use actual data from the public and private sector to enhance their understanding of science and their environment. It provides context for learning in chemistry, biology, Earth science, and environmental education classes. It uses hands-on activities to explore the health and environmental impacts of chemical releases. It offers a range of laboratory experiments covering sampling and analysis methods. It uses hands-on activities to teach the skills needed to collect, investigate, and draw conclusions from data.
Wild-Eyed Alaska: Imagine watching a bald eagle close up. Or joining a puffin inside its burrow. Or plunging over rocky cliffs into the water to gaze at giant barnacles and other sea life. Now you can do all this and more, virtually.
Windows on the Wild: Windows on the Wild, or WOW, is an environmental education program of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The goal of WOW is to educate people of all ages about biodiversity issues and stimulate critical thinking, discussion, and informed decision making on behalf of the environment.
Federal Government
International
Ducks Unlimited Canada - Wetland Education: Ducks Unlimited provides free resource materials to assist educators in meeting curriculum requirements in the life sciences (based on guidelines established in the Common Framework of Science learning Outcomes; Pan-Canadian Protocol for Collaboration on School Curriculum published in 1997).
Captain Olin's Odyssey: an environmental journey: Captain Olin's Odyssey is a fun site for kids that leads them through a Star-Trek-like voyage to a deserted planet. This planet had been environmentally pristine for millions of years until polluters arrived and damaged the ecosystems to such a point that the original inhabitants and the polluters perished. In the scenario, it is hundreds of years after these events, and the planet has been healing itself. As the ship's officers explore the planet, kids are challenged to think about how the environment becomes damaged and what can be done to prevent or reverse such damage. (note: corporate sponsored)
Outdoor Education Research and Evaluation Center: This site provides resources about outdoor education and related programs and methods, such as residential camping, experiential education, environmental education, and adventure therapy. The site tries to emphasize international understandings of outdoor education and perspectives from various disciplines and viewpoints.
