Earthzine is an online source for news, articles, information and educational materials about Earth science, Earth observations and users of Earth information for the international Earth-observing community. Earthzine is updated regularly with news from around the world about the Earth, Earth observations, environmental policy, and new and emerging environmentally-friendly and earth-observing technologies.
"World population reaching seven billion is a great opportunity for you to incorporate environmental education and global studies into your classroom. The following teacher-friendly activities are classroom-ready and will get your students to actively engage in these timely issues. All of the lesson plans are correlated to the national content standards for eleven middle school subject areas.
Themes:
P = Population Dynamics
E = Environmental Connections
S = Societal Connections"
"Scientists peer into the next decades of environmental change on Planet Earth." Good news stories include ongoing recovery from effects of acid rain in the Adirondacks + new pathways to a sustainable future developed through modeling, ecological forecasting, and mapping responses to environmental change.
The EPA released its "Report on the Environment," a comprehensive set of indicators that track environmental changes over time. The website has interactive graphs and maps.
The Land Use Calculator is a tool for rapid scenario analysis of land-use implications, useful for decision-makers to address real-world challenges and for classroom teaching of conservation biology, sustainable development, environmental economics and global change biology. It is a decision-support tool targeted at land-use decision-makers in the tropic, allowing users to evaluate the implications and tradeoffs of pursuing alternative development scenarios by simultaneously accounting for the societal priorities of agricultural production, economic development, carbon conservation and biodiversity protection. Users specify a few environmental and socioeconomic parameters describing a landscape scenario, and the tool determines the implications of that scenario in terms of biodiversity, carbon stocks, greenhouse-gas emissions, financial returns of the land and employment opportunities.
NCSR is a national clearinghouse for natural resource curriculum materials used
by college faculty and high school science teachers. Materials cover major
subject areas of environmental science and natural resources. They include
fisheries, forestry, wildlife, and environmental science topics used in college
programs.
The Environmental Literacy Council has been dedicated to helping teachers, students, policymakers, and the public find cross-disciplinary resources on the environment. An independent, 501(c)3 organization, the Council offers free background information on common environmental science concepts; vetted resources to broaden understanding; and curricular materials that don't tell teachers how to teach, but give them the tools to augment their own backgrounds - no matter what their current knowledge.
"The Habitable Planet: A Systems Approach to Environmental Science. A video course for high school teachers and college level instruction; 13 half-hour video programs, online text, professional development guide, and Web site; graduate credit available"
By Olivia Boulder, a 15-yr-old environmental activist who became well known 5 yrs ago when she offered her bird paintings in return for donations to help birds affected by the BP oil spill.
1. Kids (or anyone for that matter) can do a LOT.
2. The planet needs our help.
3. Politicians (and the people they represent) dislike change.
4. Art creates change.
5. Birds continue to amaze me!
"The Hog Wild curriculum is an interdisciplinary unit designed to engage students in a simulation focused on the establishment of a hog farm in their local watershed. Students prepare for and engage in a simulated town council hearing on the establishment of a particular hog farm in the area. Participating groups of students will take on the role of different stakeholders, conduct research from the perspective of that group, create GIS maps to support their positions, and then present and defend their positions during the two day hearing. One goal of Hog Wild is to help students see the political, social and economic dimensions of environmental issues. This website contains a growing set of resources designed to support this curriculum. "
Can 'water footprinting' help cut the 500 liters of H2O needed to produce a carton of OJ? Carbon trading promotes good behavior by creating a standardized currency representing a verifiable environmental benefit. Payments for watershed services do the same for cutbacks in water pollution, albeit on a smaller scale. Now, the Nature Conservancy and the Coca-Cola Company are experimenting with a new method of "water footprinting" that could do the same for total water use - a key component in the development of a market-based scheme that would promote responsible water usage.
These lessons examine how environmental issues such as deforestation are intricately linked to many other social issues, and how organizations such as the Green Belt Movement use certain strategies to mobilize citizen action toward social and environmental justice. These lessons are directed toward grades 9 through 12, and college students for use in the following subject areas: social studies, environmental studies, political science, women's studies, international studies, world history, government and civics.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, wildfires...
"IcEarth offers an innovative approach for the use of satellite and airborne remotely sensed data and current and historical aerial photography combined with an in-depth explanation of what the data represents. Images, technical application, and topical themes support environmental science, earth science, and geographic inquiry by complementing educators existing curriculum."
Remember The Story of Stuff video? This is a sequel, discussing how to take environmental action that goes beyond making responsible shopping choices and taking out the recycling.
"Multimedia resources explain little known societal benefits of biodiversity, bust myths and describe new, high-tech approaches for measuring impacts of environmental change on biodiversity"
"A transcontinental highway under construction in Peru and Brazil is bringing the prospects of economic opportunity and environmental ruin to some of the most remote places on the planet. NPR correspondent Lourdes Garcia-Navarro and staff photographer John Poole traveled the Peruvian route to produce this series."