Composting Experiment
Observing how different organic materials and plastic react to the composting process
Real Change from Students
Promoting pro-environmental behaviors using Community-based Social Marketing
From Garbage to Green
Creating a student-led recycling club to develop a school-wide waste-reduction plan
Thinking Outside the Bin
Upcycling and recycling: life skills for students with intellectual disabilities
Citizenship-building via Marine Debris Surveys
Empowering urban teens to become environmental stewards through socio-ecological mapping and data collection
Ecojustice Education through Pictures
A visual approach for exploring environmental justice in education
Undercover Litter Picker
Transitioning from anthropocentrism to Earth-centrism by way of a humorous photo contest
Integrated, Social Justice Learning for Those At-Risk
An integrated unit on marine debris makes learning relevant and real for 12-18 year-olds
Take the Green Challenge
Green Challenges provide easy access points for incorporating environmental themes into school culture, and help green schools get back to the basics
Returning to the Earth
Learning about decomposition both on the schoolyard and inside the classroom
Understanding Micro Particles in the Ocean
A fun classroom activity that uses beach transects to help middle schoolers understand the impact of marine debris
Fracking: Unlocking the Great Debate
The controversy behind hydraulic fracturing provides fuel for high school students to become critical thinkers
The Human Body as Recycling Machine
Introducing urine nutrient recovery to high school science students from a multidisciplinary perspective
Just Add Water
How the student-driven Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program is changing the way we deal with leftover meds
Turning Rotten into Right: A Kindergarten Study of Decomposition
How a year-long study of decomposition turned a class of Kindergarten students into unlikely environmental stewards.
Beyond Eco-Footprints: Using the STEM Process
Getting K-12 students involved in all stages of the greening process in their schools
Stop the E-Waste Crisis: Engaging the Technological Generation
An introduction to the topic of electronic waste, created by technological obsolescence. A condensed 90-minute lesson plan on e-waste for grades 7 - 12 uses multiple media to analyze the e-waste crisis from the perspectives of environmental justice, toxicology, civic engagement and ‘green’ chemistry.
The Mathematics of Trash
Multiplication and graphing exercises for upper elementary students which demonstrate the magnitude of waste produced by modern society.
Green Schools Programs
An overview of the green schools movement in North America and worldwide, including examples of successful green schools programs and their environmental and academic benefits. Includes recommendations for schools interested in implementing such programs.
A Plastic Bottle Greenhouse
A middle school in rural India removes water bottle litter from a local forest picnic site, and uses the discarded bottles to construct a greenhouse. Saplings are grown in the greenhouse to help regenerate the same forest from which the plastic bottles came.
Evaluating & Promoting Eco-Products
Activities for middle school students which promote student and community awareness about the ethics of consumer products
Parties, Praise, and Plastic Bottles
Three projects to help elementary schools up their green factor – creating a reusable classroom party box, celebrating environmental ‘idols’ in the school and community, and setting environmental world records.
Beyond our Beaches: Ocean Trash
What research about long-term plastic marine debris is telling us, and how young people can respond
The Pet Waste Project
Integrate science and language arts in a grade 5 study of local problems with storm water run-off and water quality due to pet waste.
Zero Waste for Schools
A comprehensive guide to developing a realistic waste reduction program in your school.
Collecting Pop Can Tabs for Charity
Are these fundraising programs worth the effort, or do they do more harm than good?
Designing a Sustainable Industrial Park
This step-by-step exercise asks students to plan a “green” industrial park that generates its own energy, conserves and reuses materials, and minimizes waste. The exercise is adaptable for use with students from elementary grades through high school.
Leaving ‘Leave No Trace’ Behind: Towards a Holistic Land Use Ethic
The authors question the notion that it is possible to live in the natural world without leaving a trace. They suggest we adopt Conscious Impact Living, a more holistic land use ethic that supports a stronger sense of connection with the natural world by recognizing that because humans live within nature, they will always have an impact on it.