NOAA
Noaa: National Ocean Service Education: Estuaries
Illustrated tutorial explains estuary ecosystems. Animations and illustrations help students become more familiar with the plant and animal communities which make up this coastal habitat.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: The Frontiers Decade: Environment Decade
Investigate man's impact on the environment. Observe different species to see how sensitive they are to human presence, and record your observations in a field notes log.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Engineering and the Human Body
The Engineering and the Human Body unit covers the broad spectrum of topics that make up our very amazing human body. Students are introduced to the space environment and learn the major differences between the environment on Earth and...
Yale University
Yale Environment 360: The Oil Spill's Growing Toll on the Sea Life of the Gulf
Marine biologist Thomas Shirley explains the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the short and long term. The total impact is hard to determine at this point of time, however. Shirley gives his best opinion of the damage that...
Center for Educational Technologies
Cet: Exploring the Environment: Human Health Effects
As an epidemiologist on the U.S. Panel for Climate Change, students are tasked with analyzing the latest data on climate-impacted human health conditions. A solid understanding of the mechanisms underlying the connections will allow for...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Environmental Justice for All
Essay on environmental justice in America and the impact of government policy in which Robert D. Bullard examines the inequality of environmental burden on people of color and lower income persons. Links to related resources for further...
Texas A&M University
Ocean World: The Dust Bowl and Aftermath
Description of the Dust Bowl from a geological and climatological perspective and the human impact on these processes. Includes maps, photos, references, and links to related material.
Other
West Virginia University Extension Service: Overgrazing Can Hurt Environment
This short article describes problems associated with improper farm management with regard to livestock overgrazing. Includes grazing management guidelines for healthy and productive pastures.
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Action Bioscience: Ecology and Economics
Natural systems studied by ecologists and human systems studied by economists must work together to ensure a future of biodiversity. This interview identifies the needs for both and ways in which the two can balance conservation with...
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Science: Denmark: What Are Natural Resources and Why Are They Important?
Learn about natural resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, and the impact humans have on the natural world.
Other
Informory: Famous Environmental Scientists
Read a short biography about ten environmental scientists who have shown concern with the impacts of human activities on Earth and its biodiversity.
National Geographic
National Geographic: Programs: Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Project
A project-based collaborative unit of study that teaches students about watershed health using real-time geospatial technology. Students engage in outdoor field experiences while using twenty-first century learning skills.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Impacts of Hazardous Waste
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Discusses the impacts of hazardous waste on the environment and human health, and the provisions of the Superfund Act.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Exploring Environmental Change
Students explore the connections that can exist in a natural environment, and examine how changes to the environment, particularly those caused by human activity, can affect those connections.
PBS
Nova: Earth in Peril
A series of nine maps with accompanying explanations. They show how population growth has affected the environment around the world in terms of water availability, climate change, land and forest use, and more. There are both interactive...
Other
Pesticide Action Network: Environmental Impacts
An environmental action agency provides information on events that demonstrate how pesticides may wreak havoc on the environment and threaten the food web for years. Examples of effects on honeybees, bats, and frogs are provided.
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Scientific Inquiry, Episode 1
In this classroom activity, learners discuss how people and pollution affect the environment. Then they demonstrate ways to recycle, reduce, and reuse.
University of Florida
Florida Museum: South Florida Aquatic Environments: Introduced Species
The transport of living plants and animals to areas beyond their native range has been practiced by human beings for thousands of years. While some introductions are intentional, others occur by accident or happenstance. Regardless of...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The American Civil War: An Environmental View
The telling of the Civil War from an ecological view from the National Humanities Center. The toll of life taken of young men and animals, the devastation of cities, towns, farmland, trees, and forests - all these factors are discussed...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Frontier, the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912
Arguably the most famous essay every written about the impact of land on American history, Frederick Jackson Turner's "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" explains how Americans' relationship with the environment shaped...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Epa: A Student's Guide to Global Climate Change
The signs of global climate change are becoming more and more evident. The EPA provides an excellent guide for students that acquaints them with the basic causes, effects on people and the environment, and solutions that they can engage...
The Wonder of Science
The Wonder of Science: K Ess3 3: Environmental Solutions
This NSTA vetted source includes resources to teach ideas on reducing the impact of humans on the environment. Included are assessment ideas, videos, examples, lesson plans, and photos of student work.
The Newberry Library
Newberry: Environmental History: Map 7: Distribution of Woodland in u.s., 1873
Lesson plans for K-12 using maps that show the distribution of wooded land in 1873. Students examine the impact of humans on the environment.
Other
Lehigh University: Land Use Change
An inquiry-based science unit for middle school students centered on how human activities affect environmental changes related to land use. The lessons integrate technology and lab activities while teaching about today's land use and how...