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Teachers

This page offers teachers resources and information for the following:

• Professional Development opportunities
  
• Project WET
  Bring the world of water into your classroom with Project WET.
  
• Project WILD
  Teach your students about wildlife with Project WILD.
  
• Project Learning Tree
  Climb into the world of forestry with Project Learning Tree.
  
• Project Underground
  Learn about karst and caves with Project Underground.
  
• Chesapeake Classrooms
  Focus on methods to incorporate environmental education into the core subject areas of reading, math, science, and social studies with Chesapeake Classrooms.
  
• Virginia State Parks: Your Backyard Classroom Editions  

Workshops & events

Please check out the calendar of events for a current list of workshops and events.

Lessons and SOL based resources

Air
Water
Solid Waste Management
Energy
Other

Air

• Clean Air Partners
  The On the Air curriculum facilitates the understanding of air pollution by studying: Criteria Air Pollutants, the Air Quality Index, Ozone, Particulate Matter, the Health Effects of Air Pollution, Community Sources and Solutions of Air Pollution and Climate Change. Each unit consists of the following: activity description, curricular ties, time needed, learning objectives, materials needed (kit), teacher preparation, teacher background reading, teacher demonstration procedures, activity procedures, technology connections, student handout, student packets and student worksheets.

• The Air We Breathe
  This colorful picture book is designed to introduce Earth's atmosphere and its importance to life on Earth. It's appropriate for students in grades K-4.

• Clean Air Champions   

• Air & Waste Management
  Lessons for air, water and landfills

Water

• Bay Backpack
  Interested in teaching about environmental issues and the Chesapeake Bay but don't know where to start? Check out Bay Backpack, the source for Chesapeake Bay education resources, field studies, trainings and funding opportunities. Use this great resource to discover engaging ways to get students outdoors learning about the local environment.

• Aquatic Stewardship
  Resources to help teach about water

• Water Trivia

• Earth Force
  This website includes a catalog of watershed resources including Virginia Waterways, which addresses the Virginia 6th grade watershed SOL.

• Virginia Water Resources: A Tool for Teachers
  Information and activities for teachers to support interdisciplinary and problem-based teaching about watersheds, water quality, stewardship, and management issues.

• Estuaries Discovery Kit
  The Estuaries Discovery Kit discusses: how estuaries are classified by their geology and water circulation patterns, the various ecosystem services estuaries perform, how organisms have adapted to the unique environmental conditions found in estuaries, the many disturbances that estuaries face from nature and human activities, and finally, the essential work that the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and its many partners conduct to monitor, preserve, and restore estuarine ecosystems throughout the United States.

• The Groundwater Foundation
  Educating and motivating people to care for and about groundwater. The site includes activities for teachers and students.

• Teaching Resources - Water
  EPA links

• 6th grade science resources
  Provides sixth grade teachers with the most relevant resources to meet the new Standards of Learning.

• Air & Waste Management
  Lessons for air, water and landfills

Solid Waste Management (Litter and Recycling)

• EE Week Library
  According to the National Recycling Coalition, recycling saves enough energy each year to provide electricity for the homes of over 17.8 million Americans.  It is one of the easiest ways to conserve natural resources and slow climate change.

  National Environmental Education Week has just added dozens of standards-based recycling curricula to their growing online curricula library.  Click here to access the EE Week Library.  Additional information on funding resources, professional development, and new EE programs are available below.

  As always, remember to register your EE activities for National Environmental Education Week, April 12-18, 2009.  Click here to register today.

• Waste Management Jeopardy

• Ecological Footprint Jeopardy

• Students Guide to Composting
  Composting in the Classroom: Scientific Inquiry for High School Students, by Nancy Trautmann and Marianne Krasny, is a comprehensive guide for teachers interested in guiding composting research projects by high school students. Visit http://compost.css.cornell.edu/CIC.html to download guide in PDF format.

• Stash the Trash
  An interactive group game that stimulates impacts of litter pollution on a sampling of marine wildlife

• Rigsby
  Activity book

• Graffiti Hurts Teacher Resources Guide
  A community education program from Keep America Beautiful

• Educator's Guide to Planning a Field Day Event
  An innovative, easy and fun way to incorporate environmental learning, creative thinking and physical education in an SOL-based one-day event.

• Pollution Solutions
  Pollution Solutions is a curriculum supplement about litter and pollution prevention based on the Standards of Learning for grades K-12. It was developed by the Virginia Resource Use Education Council and funded by the Litter Control and Recycling Fund.

• Air & Waste Management
  Lessons for air, water and landfills

Energy

• Download FREE Hands-on, Multidisciplinary Educator Lesson Plans
  A unique, collaborative effort by teachers, administrators, and facilities and maintenance staff through the Alliance to Save Energy's Green School Program, which reduces school energy costs at the same time it educates students. Each of these plans can be downloaded as a PDF file and printed out.
  

• Free Energy Lesson Plans & Activities
  The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy offers 350 downloadable lessons and activities on energy efficiency and renewable energy, organized by grade level and topic.

• EnergyTeachers.org
  A network of educators sharing ideas for teaching about energy production and use as well as an online community for educators to share ideas about energy-related curriculum, including topics about the environmental impact of energy production and use.

• Classroom Energy
  Energy Resources for the classroom.

• Energy Resources for Kids 

Other

• Operation: Monster Storms
  From The JASON Project, this free and online curriculum is designed to teach students (grades 5-8) how powerful storms form and how advanced technology is used to better understand and forecast weather. The five- to nine-week core science unit covers key middle school National Science Education Standards, and can be aligned to state standards.

• What IS an Ecological Footprint
  Lesson plans and activities for Elementary and Middle School

• American Museum of Natural History Ology website
  OLogy, the Museum's Web site for kids ages seven through twelve, is based on the premise that "everyone wants to know something," and is designed as a place for kids to explore, ask questions, get answers, meet OLogists, play games, and see what other kids are interested in. With age-appropriate content in archaeology, astronomy, biodiversity, genetics, marine biology, paleontology, and physical science, OLogy makes science learning rich and engaging. Educators can find suggestions and tips on how to use the Web site in the Educator's Guide at www.amnh.org/education/resources/ology

• Soil-Net
  Soil-Net.com is an educational resources about soil, with extensive teacher aids supporting many curriculum-based interactive student activities.

• Sixth Grade Science Resources

• Education for Sustainable Development
  K-12 Lessons Based on Virginia's Standards of Learning

• Virginia's Natural Resources Education Guide
  Information, activities and resources for elementary teachers. Subjects include Air, Agriculutre, Chesapeake Bay, Forests, Minerals & Energy, Soil, Water and Wildlife. You'll find great background information, illustrative graphics and engaging activities for students in Kindergarten through sixth grade.

• EE Link
  The site contains Internet environmental based school projects, classroom activities including many lesson plans, environmental facts and data from many sources, curriculum directory guides, organization and audio visual catalogs, software, conference and workshop announcements, higher education links, facts, grants, literature pointers, regional information, and pointers to other environmental sites.

• Good Character, Good Stewards: Caring for the World Around Us
  Shenandoah National Park is pleased to announce the release of a new curriculum supplement for elementary school teachers in Virginia. Good Character, Good Stewards: Caring for the World Around Us is designed to help teachers integrate character education with science, math, history, and English. 

• Object Lessons® Examining Mammals Kit
  Looking for a standards-based classroom unit that provides students in grades 5 – 8 with hands-on opportunities to learn more about mammals and the inquiry process at the same time? The Object Lessons® Examining Mammals kit challenges students to discover the identities of five mystery mammals by studying their skulls, teeth, fur, feet, tracks, and scat. Along the way, they handle real coyote and squirrel skulls, discover how teeth and scat can tell the story of what a mammal eats, and learn to read animal tracks.

  Students examine the component parts of each animal, make close observations, collect and analyze data, formulate hypotheses, and by reasoning from the evidence, come to conclusions about the identities of the five mammals.

  The Examining Mammals kit, developed with funding from the NSF, has been highly regarded by teachers and students who use it. Susan Nablo, Asst. Supt. of the Lockport City Schools in New York State, values “the practical aspect of having kids literally dig into science and become engaged in learning. It creates powerful connections for students."

  Check out Examining Mammals: review the kit materials in detail, read a sample lesson, and learn more by going to www.firsthandlearning.com/catalog/catalog_frameset.html

• Enhanced Scope & Sequence
  The Grade 5 Science and Biology Enhanced Scope & Sequence is now posted at www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/EnhancedSandS/science.shtml. Please remember that these documents are meant to be another resource for teachers, and not a comprehensive science curriculum at any grade level.

• Science and Society: Putting Agricultural Biotechnology in Perspective
  Developed for grade 6-12 students, this integrated series of web-based lessons overviews agricultural biotechnology and its social, environmental and economic impacts around the world. Corresponding Virginia Standards of Learning accompany every chapter, and analytical opportunities are numerous throughout the pages. Students can learn directly from the web pages.  A separate section for teachers lists SOLs by subject and chapter, previews each unit, and offers all of the learning materials in the student area as downloadable files. 

• Marl Creek Environmental Education Activities
  The Marl Creek Trail Interpretive site www.teacherbridge.org/public/projects/forested/marlcreek/Home  has resources and supplies for many environmental education activities. These activities are geared toward 4th graders but can be adapted to meet your needs. The trail's interpretative signs have key terms highlighted that correspond to 4th grade SOL's. There are general activity boxes with materials to enhance or help you plan your lesson. There are also game boxes with all the equipment and instructions necessary to introduce environmental topics through fun-filled, action-packed games. Plan your own day or have a planned program day coordinated by Sandy Greene, Environmental Education Coordinator, Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District.
  www.teacherbridge.org/public/projects/forested/marlcreek/Activities

• Field Day Guide
  An innovative, easy and fun way to incorporate environmental learning, creative thinking and physical education in an SOL-based one-day event.

Additional resources

Environmental Literacy & Environmental Education Defined
(mouse-over "Education & Environmental Literacy" to view all four sections)
The Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP) has developed these understandable and explainable descriptions of "Environmental Literacy" and "Environmental Education" to make it easier for the field to explain and how these terms are directly connected with people’s lives. Included with the descriptions are examples of what environmental literacy looks like, how EE and educational achievement are linked, EE "done right," and links to additional resources.
Comments or suggestions? Contact: gmedina@niagaradsl.com

Virtual Island
This virtual earth-science island, offered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), offers site visitors the opportunity to experience several earth-science phenomena while learning about the cutting-edge science that NOAA conducts regularly.

Tox Town
Tox Town helps high-school students and teachers learn about environmental health concerns and toxic chemicals pictured in an imaginary town.

Outdoor Classrooms
An outdoor classroom, also sometimes referred to as a schoolyard habitat or community restoration project, is a space set aside for the development of natural habitats in which students and community members can learn about science and the outdoors through a hands on experience.

Virginia Waters Magazine
Produced by the Department of Environmental Quality and the Museum of Natural History, learn about Virginia's water resources.

Va Association for SWCD List of Educators by County/City

• VASWCD education resources
  

Earth Portal
Looking for environmental news, science-based information, and debate? Earth Portal is a new expert-driven Web site with three main components: Encyclopedia of Earth, EarthForum, and EarthNews.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12
The books that appear in these lists were selected by a book review panel appointed by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and assembled in cooperation with the Children's Book Council (CBC).

What’s Your Earth Gauge™?
This is the first in a series of Earth Gauge™ weather-environment tips from the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF). Learn more about the program and browse Earth Gauge information for cities across the U.S. at www.earthgauge.net

Environmental Literacy Council offers the following resources:
www.enviroliteracy.org

Science in the News: Climate Change
Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a particular place and time such as on a single day, or for a single week. Climate, by contrast, refers to trends in weather over a longer period of time, such as 30 years. As one old saying puts it, "Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get." Learn more about the role of greenhouse gases in climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, and whether the rapid climate changes like those in The Day After Tomorrow could actually happen.

Animals of the Artic: Polar Bears & Arctic Fox
Use our Creature Features on Polar Bears and the Arctic Fox to introduce students to the human impacts on the Arctic ecosystem. Our essays examine how climate change is affecting polar bear habitat, link you to photo galleries of the animals, and list polar bear tracking resources you can use in the classroom.

Biomes: Tundra
One way of understanding differences in the ecological makeup of the earth's surface is to divide it into biomes. Biomes are regions of similar climate, soil, and vegetation that support the same types of organisms no matter where they are located on the planet. Climate is the most influential factor because it largely influences which organisms may live in a given area.

Case Study: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are significant reservoirs of economically recoverable oil and gas buried beneath Alaska's northern coastal plain. The locals want the economic benefits that come from developing such a lucrative resource. However, legislation prohibits oil and gas development in the 19 million acres of nearly pristine wilderness of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The intersection of economics and conservation makes an interesting case study for students to debate.

Teaching Resources: Climate Basic Concepts
Looking for a glossary of climate terms? We've created short descriptions of basic concepts such as albedo, the greenhouse effect, and the structure of the atmosphere.

Teaching Resources: Labs on Climate Change
Developed by an experienced team of environmental science educators, our Coastal Resources Debate Activity can easily be modified to incorporate Arctic themes by changing the listed resources.

For a listing of great labs and activities related to climate see: http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/248.html

Wild About Math
Produced by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, this 72 page book uses data from several of its wildlife research projects.

Classroom Earth
Top 10 lists of environmental educational programs

Elementary Science Resource: Children's Environmental Literature

Go Batty
Are you interested in enriching your local habitat to make it more welcoming to wildlife? Here’s an idea from the National Wildlife Federation that will help out the only mammal that truly flies: the bat.

Bats don’t always live in caves. In spring they look for sheltering spaces where they can rear their young. You can help a bat find a suitable nesting site by building a “bat house.” Use the instructions provided online from the Backyard Wildlife Habitat pages of the NWF website and make your school or back yard more hospitable to wildlife.

WaterCenter.net
Experiments & demos

WaterCenter.org
Hands-On Water Projects make learning science fun.

Blue Zones
Blue Zones Expedition is exploring the four parts of the world, called Blue Zones, where people live the longest, healthiest lives. Our mission is to unlock the secrets and help people put them to work in their own lives. Join us here to discover ways to reach your own personal Blue Zones of longevity.

Green Teacher
Green Teacher is a magazine by and for educators to enhance environmental and global education across the curriculum at all grade levels.

EPA High School Environmental Center
This site will inform you about environmental issues and help you protect the environment.

4-H Virtual Forest
This is an interactive, web-based learning experience that introduces forest management concepts to Virginia's youth aged 9 through 13. Seven learning modules cover the following subjects: human impact on the ecosystem (sprawl), renewable resources, photosynthesis, tree identification, succession, tree measurements, and timber harvesting. The modules complement 4-H natural resource projects and events and are consistent with the Standards of Learning for Virginia public schools. 4-H Virtual Forest also includes user's guides, student activity sheets, teacher answer sheets, additional resources, and SOL links for each module. Virtual Forest is also available on CD. Contact your county Extension Agent for copies.

Commonwealth of Knowledge, is where you can search the SOLs by keyword or by content area and grade. You'll see lesson plans submitted by other teachers which have been approved for recertification points. You can "talk" to other teachers in the discussion forum and share your ideas.

Calendar of Events
A listing of educational seminars, river and wetlands clean-ups, oyster gardening events, canoe trips and so much more. Maybe there's a field trip for your class!

Virginia Naturally School Recognition Program is a way to recognize schools for their efforts in promoting environmental awareness and stewardship. Schools can apply for the three-tiered program to receive Virginia Naturally flags, pennants and wonderful resources for environmental education like bird boxes, field trips, speakers or monitoring equipment. Check out the thirty-two Virginia Naturally Schools that have won so far!

The Virginia Education Network
This is your link to all education related resources within state government. You can search for museums and libraries. Or if you're looking for something specific to Preschool, K-12, higher Education or Adult Education you're bound to find it here.