LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Advanced Placement Earth and Environmental Science

Goal 7: The learner will build an understanding of environmental decision making.

Objective 7.03. Recognize significance of major environmental laws and regulations: regional, national and international.

  • Clean Air Act.
  • Clean Water Act.
  • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
  • Endangered Species Act.
  • Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Control Act.
  • Kyoto Protocol.
  • Lacey Act.
  • Mining Act.
  • Montreal Protocol.
  • National Environmental Policy Act.
  • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
  • Wilderness Act.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Resources on the web

Water, water everywhere
In this Xpeditions lesson, students examine differences in the availability of fresh drinking water around the world. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Water resources in Asia: Change and challenges
This Xpeditions lesson uses China's water issues as case studies to examine the delicate balance between using resources to improve the standard of living for citizens and preserving resources to protect natural biodiversity and environment. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Sprawl: The national and local situation
In this Xpeditions lesson, students investigate how urban sprawl impacts the environment, people's daily lives, and the local and regional economy. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science and Social Studies)
Provided by: National Geographic
Preserving biodiversity
Students examine maps and then create a map that shows where some endangered species live around the world. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Natural resources extraction
This Xpeditions lesson encourages students to think about where the natural resources we use come from and the processes by which these resources are extracted. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Making the grade: Health indicators in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
In this Xpeditions lesson, students use online tools and resources to examine data concerning key indicators of the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the factors that affect them. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Estuaries: Finding the balance
In this Xpeditions lesson, students examine the conflict between development and the environment, and the attempt to find a sound compromise. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
Defining drought
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students examine drought from a variety of perspectives. The lesson focuses first on the scientific definition of drought, including weather patterns, water cycles, water requirements by plants and animals, and physiological... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Crossing boundaries: The environment, disease, and conflict in Asia
In this Xpeditions lesson, students learn about boundaries as they apply to matters of pollution, disease, and conflict within the continent of Asia, between Asian nations, and between Asian nations and members of the international community. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science and Social Studies)
Provided by: National Geographic
Alarming frogs: The life and work of emerging explorer Tyrone Hayes
In this Xpeditions lesson, students learn about the ways National Geographic Emerging Explorer Tyrone Hayes uses a combination of laboratory and field study to learn about changes in frogs' appearances as they relate to chemical contamination of water. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic
About a tree: The life and work of Emerging Explorer Mark Olson
In this Xpeditions lesson, students learn about National Geographic Emerging Explorer Mark Olson's efforts to identify extinct or nearly extinct plants and the reasons for the plant losses. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)
Provided by: National Geographic