Activity 57: Democracy in Action
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Democratic systems depend on the involvement of citizens in policy making and decision making. This activity will help students learn about the roles and responsibilities of citizens’ groups in environmental policies and decision-making, and about how young people can become involved in the process.
This is one of 96 activities that can be found in PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. To get the activity, attend a training either in person or online and receive PLT’s PreK-8 Guide.
The PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide is a supplementary curriculum that is multi-disciplinary, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
Each activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts expected by the following national academic standards so teachers can easily see where the materials will fit into their lesson plans:
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Common Core Toolkit, includes
- English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)
- Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)
- College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)
Our professional development further demonstrates these connections, as well as to state and local standards, contact your state coordinator.
Song of the Trees
Song of the Trees Grades 6-8 ISBN-13: 978-0142500750 Puffin Books, 1975; reissue edition, 2003 Authored by Mildred D. Taylor Recommended Reading It’s the 1930s in rural Mississippi. The people are black and white, but the issues that surround them are not. You have three brothers– one older and two younger– and you remember a... Read more »
EE Resources
PLT’s 12 Green Job Fact Sheets
Learn more about the wide array of jobs related to forests with PLT’s 12 Green Jobs Fact Sheets, which highlights the following green jobs: Forester, Environmental Educator, GIS Specialist, Indigenous Relations Specialist, Forestry Technician, Park Ranger, Hydrologist, Silviculture Technician, Urban Forester, Machine Operator, Wildlife Biologist, and Sustainability Manager. Green jobs offer opportunities for people with... Read more »
Finding Your Path
Learn more about the life of a field forester and more in this booklet Find Your Path from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. Joe Newton, once a professional football player for the Seattle Seahawks, now works for Lone Rock Timber in Roseburg, Oregon as a Field Forester. He collaborates with tree-planters, helicopter pilots, and other... Read more »
Imagine If
Imagine If is a podcast on climate resilience. Developed by the National Association for Environmental Education and National Geographic, Imagine If interviews change-makers affecting positive change on the world. Imagine If features high school students designing solutions to environmental issues in their communities. Listen with your students and inspire them to become change-makers in their community!
Beat the Uncertainty: Planning Climate-Resilient Cities
Imagine you and your friends are citizens, policymakers, business leaders, and nonprofit leaders of a coastal city. As a decision maker, your job is to make sure your city is resilient to the impacts of climate change. Use this game, Beat the Uncertainty: Planning Climate-Resilient Cities, with students to help them visualize the impact of... Read more »
Environmental Justice – EPA’s Data and Mapping Tool
EJ SCREEN is an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that combines environmental and demographic indicators to provide interesting and important regional data related to public health and environmental quality. By clicking anywhere on the map, users can view an area’s ozone levels, traffic concentrations, lead paint indicators, and more. EJSCREEN can assist in the... Read more »
The People Speak Global Debates
This UN Foundation will work with high school students across the U.S. and select countries. During a ten-day period in October 2007, March 2008 and , students across the globe will be organizing public debates in their high schools and coordinating a global vote on the debate topics. You can view the debates and student created... Read more »
Connect4Climate Student Video
Connect4Climate is an ongoing project between University of Maryland students and the World Bank. The video represents 50 sociology students’ perspectives after visiting the World Bank in Washington, DC. The video shows students’ passion and enthusiasm towards connecting other people, adults and students alike, to issues of climate change, “right here, right now, together.”
EPA Environmental Justice Blog Highlights Map Tool for Equitable Planning
In this blog post, Makara Rumley writes about the Metro Atlanta Equity Atlas, a map tool showing key areas of community well-being. Learn how this tool can be used to help understand the issues of affecting neighborhoods and encourage equitable policies, development, and planning.
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