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Bringing current science into the classroom

Activities for middle and high school on groundwater, water quality, and environmental stewardship have students exploring current environmental research without leaving the classroom.

Format: series (multiple pages)

Details and sequencing

In CareerStart lessons: Grade six, page 1.7

This lesson for grade six will introduce students to careers in environmental protection as it teaches them to identify details and sequence in a non-fiction reading passage.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Guidance)

By Jennifer Brookshire and Julie McCann.

Long Branch Environmental Education Center

This educational center teaches students the importance of recycling, resource conservation, ecological issues, and more.

Format: article/field trip opportunity

The Walter B. Jones Sr. Center for The Sounds and the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Students can take a walk on the Scuppernong River Interpretive Boardwalk and participate in an environmental education program at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

Format: article/field trip opportunity

Bringing current science into the classroom

In Bringing current science into the classroom, page 1

How your students can experience current environmental research without leaving the classroom.

Format: article/best practice

By Michele Kloda.

Mix and match ecology: Human impact

This high-school biology lesson uses a group activity to teach students about the impact of human actions on natural resources.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)

By MaryBeth Knight Greene.

Maintaining safe water: Whose job is it?

In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 5.3

In this lesson plan, students learn about careers that are involved in maintaining water quality.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Science)

By Tammy Johnson and Martha Tedrow.

Artifact ethics

In Intrigue of the Past, page 5.5

In their study of archaeological issues students will use ethical dilemmas to examine their own values and beliefs about archaeological site protection. They will also evaluate possible actions they might take regarding site and artifact protection.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–5 Guidance and Social Studies)

Cape Lookout National Seashore

Students will learn about the barrier islands and their importance to the protection of the state of North Carolina. They will also learn about the historical use of the island as well as the plants and animals that can be found there.

Format: article/field trip opportunity

A case study of "A Civil Action"

In Bringing current science into the classroom, page 3

This is a short, culminating activity that can be used to assess your students' understanding of the steps needed to determine if a water source is contaminated and how it got that way, and to suggest possible methods of cleanup or remediation. Students review a portion of the film "A Civil Action" and identify the problem and the people involved. Students then take the role of environmental scientist and apply their knowledge of water and hazardous waste contamination to create a plan to help lawyer, Jan Schlichtmann, try the case.

Format: (grade 9–12 Science)

By Michele Kloda.

Health and the Human Body

How do the cells in different systems of the human body differ in form and function? Explore human body systems, their cellular components, and biological hazards that affect your body's health.

Format: bibliography/help

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.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Science)

By Eddie Hamblin.

Key deer: Evolution and species survival

In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 5.7

In this lesson, students learn about the evolutionary history of the Key deer, then discuss the animal's prospects for survival in a changing habitat.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Science)

By Tammy Johnson and Martha Tedrow.

Vietnam waterways: Ecology and conservation

In this interdisciplinary lesson for grades 6-8, 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.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Information Skills, Science, and Social Studies)

By Edie McDowell.

Archaeobotany

In Intrigue of the Past, page 2.6

Students will use pictures of seeds, an activity sheet, and a graph to identify seven seeds and the conditions in which they grow. They will also infer ancient plant use by interpreting archaeobotanical samples and determine changing plant use by Native North Carolinians by interpreting a graph of seed frequency over time.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 and 8 Science and Social Studies)

Reading photographs

A picture is worth a thousand words — but which words? Questions can help students decode, interpret, and understand photographs thoughtfully and meaningfully.

Format: article

By Melissa Thibault and David Walbert.

The natural history of North Carolina

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 1.2

If the five billion years of the earth's history were condensed into a single day, humans would have arrived in North Carolina just two tenths of a second before midnight! This article summarizes the major biological and geological events in North Carolina's history and explains how the land and environment of today came to be.

Format: article

By David Walbert.

Children's literature promotes understanding

Bibliotherapy and critical literacy are two ways to use books to help children better understand themselves, others, and the world around them. This article explains both strategies and provides resources for selecting appropriate books.

Format: article

By Melissa Thibault.

The village farmers

In Intrigue of the Past, page 3.5

North Carolina sat on a crossroads by AD 1000. Cultural ideas from other places breezed through it and around it: how to decorate pottery, how to orient political and social life, how to honor the dead, how to structure towns.

Resources on the web

Office of Children's Health Protection

Protecting children from environmental risks is the focus of this site from the EPA. (Learn more)

Format: website/activity

Provided by: Environmental Protection Agency