Teams of six to eight players imagine that they are driving in a vehicle and collect balls that represent carbon dioxide emissions based on their different activities. "Greenhouse Gas Guzzler" cards tell teams how many balls to collect...

You will need to gather a number of tokens, bags, and other various game components in order to incorporate this activity into your curriculum. Different tokens represent carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Printable 8.5"x11"...

You will want to use this unique approach to increasing awareness of human impact on the environment. Each participant pulls an object out of a grab bag and comes up with a metaphor for how that object might represent or relate to the...

Here is a 20-box bingo card to use when exploring ways that humans impact the environment. Various environmentally aware activities are listed in the boxes, and learners circulate the room to find someone who practices the different...

Using hula hoops, bean bags, volleyballs, and boxes, little ones cooperate to simulate a reduction of carbon emissions. There are three different obstacles to compete in, making this a fun team challenge. In addition to carbon clean up,...

Ecology class members research an invasive (non-native or exotic) plant or animal. They construct a "Wanted" poster and share their findings in class. This assignment would be a memorable way to expose environmental science learners to a...

In this colorful animation, our current problem with climate change is likened to a block-stacking game of Tetris. Greenhouse gases are increasing in the atmosphere at an increasing rate. Can we place them properly before it's too late?...

Open this lesson by reading together about primary and secondary batteries (such as nickel-cadmium cells), problems they can cause in the environment, and how humans can minimize the damage. Afterward, little ones examine a collection of...

Hydrology hopefuls learn about their local watershed. Through discussion and online interactives, they see that their habits affect the water supply. The lesson concludes with a pledge to filter out bad water usage habits. It makes a...

As part of a unit, this lesson familiarizes youngsters with components of a rain garden. They speculate about the role of an assigned component in contributing to a rain garden, and ultimately, in the health of the local watershed. Each...

During this game, kids become migratory shorebirds and fly among wintering, nesting, and stopover habitats. If they do not arrive at a suitable habitat on time, they do not survive. Catastrophic events are periodically introduced that...

Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the...

After investigating the US Environmental Protection Agency's climate change website, your environmental studies young scholars discuss greenhouse gas emissions. They use an online interactive tool to look at data from power production...

Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...

Polar ice samples provide scientists with valuable information about the condition of the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years in the past. Of particular interest is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its...

What effects do temperature and carbon dioxide levels have on the zooplankton of Antarctica? This concluding lesson in a short unit on climate change and the ocean helps environmental scientists answer these questions. After learning...

Open this lesson by demonstrating the production of acidic carbon dioxide gas by activated yeast. Emerging ecologists then experiment with seashells to discover the effect of ocean acidification on shelled marine organisms. They measure...

Use this slick video to introduce your environmental scientists to the wonders of biodiesel. They will learn about problems caused by our waste oil, how it can be recycled, and other benefits of using biofuels. Use the video, assessment...

Introduce ecology classes to biodiversity and interdependence in ecosystems with a PowerPoint presentation. Then, they get up-close and personal with the invertebrate world by collecting insects, classifying them, and graphing their...

Here is the first of four poignant lessons on how humans and oceans interact, even if people live far from the coast. This particular lesson also examines studies that are taking place in Antarctica of how climate change is affecting the...

A well-written lesson plan, second in a series of four, gets high schoolers exploring how the Antarctic food web is impacted by climate change and the associated melting of polar ice sheets. It begins with a PowerPoint presentation about...

Here is a instructional activity that walks youth through an online carbon footprint calculator produced by the University of California, Berkeley. Once learners finish inputting information, they compete a worksheet with the results....

Using cabbage juice as a pH indicator, future scientists explore the effect of increasing carbon dioxide on the pH of the ocean and relate it to the health of coral reefs. Ideal for an earth or environmental sciences course, this...

Something's fishy here! Fishermen are having trouble catching enough fish to supply the demand due to years of overfishing. Bycatch, the unintentional harvesting of unwanted fish, is also a serious situation. Follow the viewing of this...