Comprehensive K-12 lesson plans, activities, and classroom materials to teach students the environmental impact of school lunch. Transform your cafeteria into a classroom and protect the planet for future generations! Includes toolkits with activities and lessons by grade level and classroom/teacher resources for teaching about food waste.

This series of 5 high-quality, standards-aligned, inquiry-based activities have been field-tested by first grade students and families of Wequiock Children's Center for Environmental Science during Safer At Home orders. These activities encourage students to use natural areas around their homes and in their neigbhorhoods as they improve their science observation skils. The materials used are ones generally available at home and the activites require little preparation on the part of caregivers.Created as a part of a WISELearn OER Innovation project, Connect, Explore, and Engage: Using the Environment as the Context for Science Learning was a collaboration of the Wequiock Children's Center for Environmental Science and the Wisconsin Green Schools Network. One of the goals of the project was to create standards-aligned lessons that utilize the outdoor spaces of the school (as well as those of the students' homes).  Each section of this resource is an individual activity. While each activity builds on the previous ones, it is possible to use them individually.The observation protocol "I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of, I Think Maybe" has been adapted from that of the BEETLES Project.The title image was used with permission and is courtesy of Joe Riederer.

The "I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of" observation protocol helps students develop a mindset of curiosity, and provides language tools to actively and directly engage with the natural world. These are important skills students can carry away and apply in any natural setting. Using this routine makes any field experience more student- and nature-centered.

Modified 5E lesson plan to match the CEE inquiry model of the ELS of WI.

The resources and project outline are the collaborative efforts of the Chain Exploration Center Grades 5 & 6 teachers and a FIELD Edventures educator. The goals of the project were for students to take civic action on environmental issues of local importance. Additionally, the teachers wanted students to become familiar with the four habitat areas, and observable species present in each area.  It was decided that conducting a bioblitz across 4 days–one in each area–would provide students with data that would be the basis for individual and small group investigative questions, issue definition and investigation, and a proposal for conservation, protection, and/or restoration of natural resources, habitats, or species of Wisconsin. Students then presented their proposals to their state senator in a visit to the Wisconsin State Capitol.

2-week unit with activities for Biodiversity Unit within Introduction to Environmental Studies college class.

Through spatial and graphical analysis of bird populations on a fictional island, students learn the meaning of biodiversity, species richness, endemism, and abundance. With the teacher acting as a facilitator, students use an interactive PDF map to explore various ways to represent and compare biodiversity across ecoregions. Students manipulate information layers to identify, describe, compare and graph bird distribution patterns in the island's different ecoregions. Rather than being given a list of vocabulary words, students grapple with the material to discover the meaning of these words and concepts. Through this experiential process, they combine the newly acquired terminology with complementary skills to evaluate and communicate their findings on bird biodiversity. This lesson prepares students for the more complex use of spatial and graphical analysis in our GIS-based Amazon unit.

The three teachers of the third and fourth grade team joined forces to create these standards-aligned resources. We discussed a middle-school curriculum unit, Birds & Flight, that one of us had written about fifteen years ago regarding using math to study and understand birds in different ways. As a team, we translated some of those concepts into middle-elementary activities.We discussed that the lessons could be taught in any order, but recommend using the Actual Size lesson as a fun capstone project.

A webquest is a classroom or virtual-based lesson where most of the information students explore is from different locations on the internet.

Students will discover contributions of Black inventors and pioneers in the field of energy efficiency and the assets they possessed that helped them overcome challenges. ABOUT THIS WEBQUEST: Built around the themes of Black Leaders in Energy, Representation, & Climate Change 5E lesson format: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, EvaluateEach “E” can be used as an independent lesson or all five can be completed as a unit (Each “E” takes 1-2 class periods to complete)Requires collaboration/discussion with peers and as a whole classCan be embedded in Energy or Climate curriculum or used as stand-alone lesson/sCan be modified to meet the needs of your students Recommended for grades 7-12This lesson requires use of the internet.Use this slideshow with the Black Leaders in Energy Webquest Activity Sheet.If students are utilizing a digital copy of the activity sheet, all links provided are active.If students are utilizing a paper copy of the activity sheet, please share a copy of the slideshow with them so they have easy access to links needed for the webquest.Remix this resource to have a version you can edit to meet your needs.This resource was developed by KEEP—Wisconsin's K-12 Energy Education Program. 

The Boston School Forest is a field trip destination for 6,000 students each year providing high quality outdoor environmental education programs that expand and authenticate classroom learning. Science education in our district is transitioning to provide greater opportunity for inquiry, and teachers are now searching for resources that can be used in either face-to-face or e-learning formats. The Backyard Habitat Series focuses on connecting kids to an outdoor place through use of sensory observation, exploring the natural features and animals, and engaging in the improvement of habitat for neighborhood wildlife species. Classroom teachers, preservice teachers, and families will discover straightforward instructions, few materials or background knowledge required, and a format that is easily adaptable to the e-learning environment.

This activity lesson plan is called “Build a Better Wall” where students are planners and constructors who are trying to construct a wall using various materials that can withstand an earthquake.

Common Plants of Wisconsin - developed by UW Stevens Point Department of Biology.
Pictures and descriptions of each common plant found in Wisconsin. Organization topics include: Seedless Plants, Gymnosperms, Woody Dicots, Dicot Herbs, and Monocots.

Copyright information:
The images contained in the COMMON PLANTS of WISCONSIN web site may be freely used for non-profit, educational purposes, as long as complete citation information is included.

Use in any copyrighted document or any web site is prohibited without specific permission of the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Department of Biology. Please contact Webmaster for more information.

This resource is for teachers who want to teach their students about earthquakes and human involvement. This lesson plan is designed for older students to learn about earthquakes, hydraulic fracturing, and hydrocarbons while collecting and analyzing data to create a scientific poster of their findings based on their argument driven inquiry.

Wild edible, medicinal and poisonous plants are an ideal way to connect students to the natural world just outside their door. In this unit, students will be able to identify edible, medicinal and poisonous plants using guide books and plotting them on the Siftr app. Using the collected edibles, students will then follow a procedural text to create food from their wild edibles. Students will then create recipes on their own based on a wild edible of their choice to create community cookbooks.

Lesson plans and ideas for recognizing people that work in the forestry and environmental fields .

When the United States Government’s land grabs put his people in harm’s way, this Menominee leader pushed back and proposed a new plan to protect their homeland and way of life.

Resources available for exploring this story include:
- A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English and Spanish
- A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story
- Questions that can be used for conversation, reflection, and connection with the story
- A historical image gallery full of primary and secondary sources to explore
- A guide for activating the media with learners that includes story stats, extension activity ideas, and standards supported

This story is part of Wisconsin Biographies, a collection of educational media resources for grades 3-6. Explore the full collection at pbswisconsineducation.org/biographies.

Interested in solar, wind, electric power distribution, or energy efficiency? Students don’t need to go far: local Wisconsin vocational schools—along with traditional colleges and universities—all offer degrees and programs to help meet this workforce demand.Slipstream partnered with Wisconsin’s K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP) to obtain interviews from several stakeholders that are on the front lines of a clean energy future. Join us for a behind the scenes look into some of these careers and the people that are making an impact every day here in Wisconsin.

Climate expert Richard Alley of Penn State adds perspective on how our activities can make a difference as our planet warms.

A free three-week extension course on how to get to net-zero emissions. Designed for high school social studies classrooms. Focused on climate education, policy, and student action.