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
- Carolina Beach State Park: Developed in the late 1960s, this state park preserves the unique environment along the Intracoastal Waterway. The Venus Flytrap and other plant life, the dunes, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals are all protected in this special place.
- 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.
Lesson plans
These lesson plans from North Carolina teachers and partner organizations offer ways to cover environmental issues in your classroom in a variety of subject areas.
- Who has seen the wind? Harnessing alternative energy
- In this lesson plan, students conduct a series of investigations in order to understand issues surrounding the production of energy from wind, informed by the video “Roping the Wind in Texas” on the Powering a Nation website. Activities include discussing a video about the siting of a wind farm in Texas; conducting calculations based on local wind data; and using Google Earth, windNavigator software, and hands-on investigations to assess the potential for producing wind energy in the students’ local area.
- Observing the water cycle
- Students will observe a demonstration of the water cycle and apply the information gained through the demonstration. Then students will measure and graph rainfall for two weeks. (Grade 2 & 5 Math & Science)
- Vietnam waterways: Ecology and conservation
- In this interdisciplinary lesson, students will examine the relationship between the physical environment and cultural characteristics of the Mekong River valley in Vietnam. Students will evaluate the current conditions of the Mekong River and suggest long-range solutions for improving, restoring, or preserving the quality of the river. (Grades 6-8 Information Skills, Science, and Social Studies)
- We all live downstream
- This lesson uses the North American Streamside exhibit of the North Carolina Zoological Park as an inquiry-based starting point for a stream ecology study. (Grade 8 Science)
- Trees in your own backyard
- This activity lets students discover the benefits of urban forests by looking at trees on the schoolyard. Students will read a synopsis of the 400-year history of communal forests, survey their schoolyard trees, and draft a schoolyard tree ordinance. (Grade 8 Social Studies)
- A comparison of the plant ecology of two fields
- Students will apply random sampling techniques to do a plant population/community/ecosystem study to model how these things are interrelated. (Grades 9-12 Science)
Find more environmental science lesson plans.
Articles
Check out these articles from LEARN NC with strategies and ideas for teaching environmental science.
- 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.
- Learning from a tree
- This article explains how observation of a single tree throughout the year can be the starting point for explorations of nature, life science, and environmental science.
- Experience North Carolina’s state parks with EELEs
- An EELE is an Environmental Education Learning Experience — a site-specific program offered by the North Carolina state parks system. EELEs include pre-visit activities, on-site activities and post-visit activities, but they do not necessarily have to be used in conjunction with a group visit. Educators can attend EELE workshops to gain rich educational experiences that provide knowledge, insight, and immediate practical materials for use in the classroom.
- Estuaries in North Carolina: A primer
- Estuaries are places near the coast where freshwater and saltwater mix. Influenced by ocean forces yet partly sheltered from them, estuaries have unique and fascinating ecologies. This article explains what estuaries are, their geology and role in the larger ecosystem, and the ways in which they are currently threatened.
More environmental science articles.
Interactive Projects
- Drink it up?
- Gauge your drinking water and compare the results to those in other countries in this online collaborative project, provided by the website of Millennium Middle School in Florida.
- Estuary Live
- On the Estuary Live website, video streaming allows you and your students to take live virtual field trips to the Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, NC. The videos are archived for use at any time.
- Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration
- Be a part of the greater scientific community! On this website by Annenberg Media, 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.
Field trips — real and virtual
Thinking about planning a field trip to give your students hands-on experience with environmental education? There are many North Carolina destinations to consider. If a site visit isn’t practical, take a virtual field trip with Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations.
- 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.
- Long Branch Environmental Education Center
- This educational center teaches students the importance of recycling, resource conservation, ecological issues, and more.
- Piedmont Environmental Center
- The Piedmont Environmental Center provides programs and a place for people to learn, conserve, and enjoy the natural world through hands-on experiences.
Find other field trip destinations in your area through Discover NC.
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 from the Library of Congress that documents the movement to conserve and protect America’s natural heritage. It includes the 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
- This National Geographic website lets students 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
- PBS presents 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 collection. You can find more environmental science websites here. Select a grade or type a keyword to search within the results to customize for your specific needs.
