LA Unified School Board President Zimmer speaks to students
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Curriculum, Guides & ReferencesThis page highlights resources for sustainability-related curriculum and presentation resources.
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Citizen Science
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Birdsleuth K-12 - designed to help educators explore the process of inquiry and scientific investigation inspired by outdoor observations and citizen-science participation.
Energy
Energy Information Administration
- Energy information for students K-12
- Includes extensive general and specific information on various energy topics (including energy generation and conservation), games, experiments and lesson plans
- Lesson Plans and Teacher Guides
- Information on energy efficiency, many games and interactive features exploring energy efficiency
- Interactive, student friendly game and supporting materials
- Board Education Energy Website – Includes links to partner agencies
- Energy Education Materials, Resources and Teacher Guides
- Curriculum/State Standards Correlation
- Project-Based Curriculum
- Teacher Trainings
- Competitions: Energy Conservation Competition and Earth Day Campaign Contest
- Green Career Conferences
- Energy Kids - website with information on energy efficiency, many games and interactive features exploring energy efficiency
- Education Toolbox - Includes K-12 lesson plans, labs, projects, videos, and resource pages
- Energy Literacy Framework - and links to Energy Literacy video Series
Climate Change
Earth Day Network - Climate Education Week
- The Climate Education Week Toolkit is a free, easy-to-use, ready-to-go resource with hand-picked lesson plans, activities, and contests for all your K-12 students. It meets both Next Generation Science and Common Core standards.
- With the goal of educating and engaging K-12 students on climate change, this cross-disciplinary resource includes a range of activities from an energy conservation action plan to reading and discussing Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Earth Day Network - Digital Textbook: The Story of Climate Change
- The Story of Climate Change is a first of its kind, interactive digital textbook for middle school students. Students watch glaciers melt, dive into the world’s coral reefs, and explore how bike share programs reduce carbon emissions – all from their personal tablets.
- Digital textbooks are the next wave in teaching climate science. Studies show that children learn better when they use multimedia resources. Digital textbooks go way beyond written content, allowing students to explore videos, graphs, and animations with just a touch of the screen.
- A Teacher’s Guide is also available on Earth Day Network’s website. It includes in-depth activity lesson plans, Next Generation Science Standard Alignments, student action plans, and handy resources to help educators make the most out of every chapter.
Curated/Comprehensive
Center for Green Schools Learning Lab - Empower your students to become global citizens.
- Learning Lab provides K-12 teachers and school leaders with comprehensive, project- and STEM-based curriculum that encourages student leadership, environmental literacy, and real-world action.
- Discover best-in-class content, training and tools. Access curated catalog of more than 300 lesson plans, interactive projects, assessment opportunities, and other multimedia resources in English and Spanish. Lessons are mapped to meet current educational standards, and were created by educators, for educators.
California Regional Environmental Education Community
- CREEC curriculum page is a comprehensive index of environmental education. CREEC also provides a comprehensive list of environmental education partners throughout the state.
Earth Echo International
- A collection of videos, lesson plans, and other materials designed to support high-quality classroom experiences by assisting educators as they equip young people to explore and protect their local natural resources.
Let's Go Solar
- Let’s Go Solar provides information and resources to help everyone achieve solar success, utilizing its extensive research to help you understand all the ways solar energy can be part of your life, whether through photovoltaic panels on your rooftop, a career in the solar industry or simply greening your home through energy conservation techniques. They have many guides full of expert advice and tips to help you make your best solar choices. Their Sustainable Cities guide offers resources on how individuals and organizations can help their cities become more sustainable.
National Wildlife Federation Eco-Schools
- Eco-Schools is an internationally acclaimed program that provides a framework to help educators integrate sustainability principles throughout their schools and curriculum.
- Through school-based action teams of students, administrators, educators, and community volunteers, the National Wildlife Federation's Eco-Schools USA combines effective "green" management of the school grounds, the facilities, and the curriculum; truly providing students with a unique research and application based learning experience.
Strategic Energy Innovations - Energize Schools
- Strategic Energy Innovations curriculum is freely available to California 9-12 teachers. These projects will engage your students in sustainability topics while learning and practicing valuable career skills, and are aligned with the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Full year-long curriculum to learning units are available on green technology, energy, waste, water, transportation, biomimicry and more.
Think Earth
- Free online standards-based environmental education curriculum units and student assessments related to natural resource conservation, waste reduction, and pollution prevention covering water, air, and land. Award-winning Think Earth curriculum is behavior-based, teaching students not only why taking care of the environment is important but also what they can do personally, every day.
Campus Ecology
Living Schoolyard Activity Guides
- Are you looking for ideas about how to bring students outside at school? The free, downloadable Activity Guides compiled by Green Schoolyards America, include 147 hands-on activities written by 123 organizations. Written in honor of the celebration of Living Schoolyards and International School Grounds Month in May, they are intended for use with Pre K - 12th grade students on their own school grounds. They include activities that are directly tied to age appropriate curricula, as well as ideas to enliven recess and increase community engagement.
Kids Gardening Educator Resources
- Gardening engages kids by providing a dynamic environment to observe, discover, experiment, nurture and learn. Gardens are living laboratories where lessons are drawn from real life experiences and fueled by a child's innate curiosity and enthusiasm, resulting in an environment that encourages them to become active participants in the learning process. For over three decades, Kids Gardening has been creating and publishing resources to help teachers, volunteers, and parents plan successful youth gardens and implement effective youth garden programs, including webinars, books and curricula, lesson plans, garden activities, and tips on garden design and on creating and sustaining a garden program.
Nutritional Education
Dig In! Standards-Based Nutrition Education from the Ground Up
- Ten inquiry-based lessons from USDA that engage 5th and 6th graders in growing, harvesting, tasting, and learning about fruits and vegetables. Schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or other Child Nutrition program may request a free print copy of the curriculum. The curriculum comes with 35 copies of the Dig In! At Home parent handout and the six Dig In! posters.
Professional Development
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) Teacher Institute
- An engaging three-Saturday Teacher Institute utilizing investigation-focused pedagogy to maximize collaborative learning in environmental education and place-based stewardship.
Project Learning Tree
- Professional Development
- Curriculum
- Grants
- Service Learning Opportunities
Strategic Energy Innovations - Energize Schools
- Introduction to Green Technology Teacher Training: Introduction to Green Technology (IGT) is a project-based learning course designed to prepare students for careers in the energy industry. This year-long course is approved as a UC A-G D-lab science and is the first in a two-course series designed to meet the California Technical Education Standards for the Energy and Power Technology Pathway in the Energy, Environment, and Utilities sector. The IGT Teacher Training allows the teacher to be the student for the week and complete the curriculum's hands on projects like building an electric circuit and building a wind turbine.
- Advanced Green Technology Teacher Training: Advanced Green Technology (AGT) is a project-based learning course during which students complete projects related to sustainable design, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. This year-long course is approved as a UC A-G G-elective and is the second in a two-course series designed to meet the California Technical Education Standards for the Energy and Power Technology Pathway in the Energy, Environment, and Utilities sector. The AGT Teacher Training allows the teacher to be the student fo the week and complete the curriculum's hands on projects like designing an aquaponics system and solar installation.
Waste Reduction
US Environmental Protection Agency
- “Wastes” Educational Materials.
- These resources will assist you in teaching your students about the waste we generate in our schools, homes, and communities—and what we can all do to make a difference! From classroom activities, to starting a school electronics recycling program, these materials will help you and your students learn what we can do to reduce and better manage waste in the world around us. Many of these resources are provided in both English and Spanish.”
Water Stewardship
CA Department of Water Resources – Water Education Materials
- Water Education Materials for Educators
- Education services and materials are provided to schools throughout California by the Public Affairs Office
- Includes student materials and a teacher guide
- Links to additional related online resources
- A variety of grants, learning guides, curriculum, tool kits, activities, a video lending library, and other teacher and student resources related to our oceans and coastlines.
- Interdisciplinary microbiology, chemistry, physics, and environmental curriculum designed to stress the importance of water stewardship and pollution prevention to high school students. Opportunity for students to build skills in public speaking, leadership, and networking while serving their community. City Engineers volunteer as mentors to introduce students to the field of engineering.
- Focus on storm water pollution prevention
- Classroom materials, teacher resources, and interactive, hands-on learning opportunities throughout LA County
- Water conservation information from various sources throughout Southern CA
- Some links include information geared toward teacher and students
- “Water Quality, A Field Based Water Quality Testing Program for Middle and High Schools” is a field-based program appropriate middle school and high school students.
- Other free materials for suitable for teachers or grades K-12
- Water education lesson plans that adhere to California content standards available for purchase
- Water Resources Information for Students and Teachers
- Education Materials provided by National Partner Organizations
