Consumers love – and live on – their smartphones, tablets and laptops. However, even the tiniest devices have deadly environmental and health costs. From the electronics factories in China, to the high-tech innovation labs of Silicon Valley, Death by Design tells a story of the fast-approaching tipping point between consumerism and sustainability.
It can be difficult to visually represent climate change. This illustrated timeline of the Earth’s average temperature since the last Ice Age glaciation demonstrates the exponential increase in temperature in today’s world. The piece is a wonderful demonstration of how rapidly the climate is changing compared to historic data.
A STEM education simulation game from the California Academy of Sciences called Cornucopia is a free online resource. The game teaches students in grades 5-12 about natural resource use and management, the effect of climate conditions on water availability and food production, and the way agricultural technology impacts water use.
Desmos creates digital math tools, such as this online graphing calculator that students can use for free. They also create activities and their Activity Builder helps teachers create digital math activities. The online calculator has many uses in science and math settings, from graphing functions, plotting tables of data, and evaluating equations, to exploring transformations and… Read more »
Did you know that indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted than outside air due to the accumulation of volatile organic compound (VOC) levels caused by chemical cleaning agents? Have students investigate the impact of common cleaning products on their environment, learn about “green cleaning,” and how to create their very own… Read more »
There are over 7,000 school gardens across the nation and you can have one at your own school! This fact sheet from USDA’s Farm to School program provides successful gardening examples and tips in PreK-12 school settings.
Have a Netflix account? Bill Nye (The Science Guy) is staring in a new Netflix original series, Bill Nye Saves the World. The first episode “The Earth is a Hot Mess” discusses climate, how greenhouse gases affect our climate, and the science behind global climate change. Each episode is roughly 30 minutes long, includes short… Read more »
The Teaching in Nature’s Classroom: Core Principles of Garden-Based Education e-book highlights 15 principles and best practices for successful garden-based education programs. Use this guide to deepen elementary and middle level students’ connection to nature, food, and outdoor education.
Forest management in the eastern United States is faced with many modern challenges. To address the changes, researchers designed a long-term, large-scale experimental study of forest management and its impacts on plants and animals. This study, referred to as the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment, is in its 10th year and there are already some interesting findings.
Videos from California Academy of Sciences explore today’s environmental issues related to water use, from water shortage to waste water recycling. Intended for middle school students, these short videos come with background information for better understanding. You can extend the concepts covered by facilitating a student-led discussion or making connections to the Next Generation Science… Read more »