Focus on Planet Earth
LEARN NC has developed a resource guide of interactive websites, integrated lesson plans, idea-generating articles, and inspiring field trips to help you incorporate environmental themes in your classroom, school, and community.
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Related pages
- Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve: Called the "pine barrens" by the settlers to the Sandhills, the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve protects a remnant of the plant and animal communities of long ago.
- Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education: Students will learn the importance of North Carolina's wildlife resources at this environmental education facility.
- Jordan Lake Educational State Forest: Students will learn about the ecosystems which make up a forest and the animals that inhabit it.
Related topics
- Learn more about Earth Day, conservation, ecology, ecosystems, environment, environmental science, and science.
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Environmental concerns are increasingly at the forefront of national attention, but it can be hard to find ways to bring them into the classroom in meaningful ways. Still, education is the first step toward instilling in students a respect for the world beyond their walls.
LEARN NC has developed a resource guide of interactive websites, integrated lesson plans, idea-generating articles, and inspiring field trips to help you incorporate environmental themes in your classroom, school, and community. Whether you are looking for ideas about how to celebrate Earth Day or are planning a school garden project based on native plants, this collection should provide a great place to start.
Interactive Projects
- Drink it up?
- Gauge your drinking water and compare the results to those in other countries in this online collaborative project.
- Estuary Live
- Video streaming allows you and your students to take live virtual field trips to the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, NC. The videos archived for use at any time.
- Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration
- Be a part of the greater scientific community! Gather data on the migration of animals through the area as they return north and your scientific observations will be recorded for everyone to use.
- Backyard Jungle
- An interactive website that encourages kids to go out and discover what is in their own backyard and natural surroundings and share it with other children on the Web.
Websites
From the origins of the environmental movement to conservation issues and practices, these websites provide information, multimedia resources, and activities to complement your ecological lessons.
The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920- A multimedia collection that documents the movement to conserve and protect America’s natural heritage. It includes complete works of authors such as John Burroughs, George Perkins Marsh, John Muir, and Henry David Thoreau; prints lithographs, and engravings of American scenery; an Alaska Expedition album; and records of legislation establishing national forests and parks.
- EarthPulse
- Explore animated ecosystems and consider the pressures on our environment and other ecological and conservation issues. Each feature includes an interactive virtual world addressing conservation issues related to oceans, fresh water, living creatures, and more.
- EPA Student Center
- Uses multimedia games, sourcebooks, and many other resources to teach students and teachers about conservation, ecosystems, recycling, air pollution, water pollution, human health, plants, and animals.
- American Field Guide
- A collection of online videos that explore many aspects of America’s wilderness from animals to earth and space to public policy.
This is only a sampling of the many valuable websites from our collections. Find more environmental science websites. Select a grade or type a keyword to search within the results to customize for your specific needs.
Lesson plans
Check out these lesson plans from North Carolina teachers and partner organizations for ways to cover conservation issues and environmental science in your classroom.
- Cause and effect writing: What it looks like and who reads it
- Students examine the causes and effects presented in a brochure called “Ozone: The Good and the Bad.” They also examine the language of the brochure with regard to audience appropriateness. Students then write their own brochures examine their classmates’ brochures for cause and effect and for audience appropriateness.(Grades 9-10-)
- The effects of acid rain on the environment
- This is an experiment in which groups of students are given healthy plants to water with different solutions of an acid rain mixture made in class. Students will document and present their findings. This lesson plan has modifications for an Intermediate Low English Language Learner (ESL student).(Grade 7)
- Saving the environment through picture books
- This lesson looks at environmental issues and man’s relationship to the environment over time using main ideas and supporting details. The content comes from two picture books: Brother Eagle, Sister Sky and A River Ran Wild. (Grade 4)
- Discovering how to take care of our natural resources
- This lesson focuses on our natural resources and the effect our actions have on them. Students explore this concept through discussion, matching, literature, cause and effect, and writing. (Grade 2)
Find more environmental science lesson plans.
Articles
Check out these articles from LEARN NC with strategies and ideas for teaching environmental science.
- All about life
- A primary curriculum based around life and environmental science draws on children’s natural curiosity to teach reading, math, and more.
- Bringing current science into the classroom
- How your students can experience current environmental research without leaving the classroom.
- Making connections for environmental education
- How can you get students fired up about environmental education? Get them outside and get them involved in local issues through activism, service learning, and teaching others.
More environmental science articles.
Field Trips
Thinking about planning a field trip to give your students hands-on experience with environmental education? There are many North Carolina destinations to consider.
- Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park and Eco-Center
- One of the best field trip opportunities in northeast North Carolina, Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Center provides educational tours and programs in the conservation of rare and endangered waterfowl.
- Weyerhaeuser’s Cool Springs Environmental Education Center
- Visit the Weyerhaeuser’s Cool Springs Environmental Education Center “where the forest is the classroom” and learn about forestry, wildlife, and environmental issues.
- Clemmons Educational State Forest
- Take students to a ranger conducted program and learn about the plants and animals that can be found in this state educational forest.
Find other field trip destinations in your area through Discover NC, or take a virtual field trip with Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations.
