EE Activities - Urban and Built Environments
EE Activities - Urban and Built Environments
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Links on this page are for activities and materials dealing with environmental concerns in urban areas and for urban audiences in built environments.
Greenbelt Alliance is a bay area-based non-profit organization dedicated to preserving open space and promoting smart-growth. One goal is to educate young people about the urban natural world. Our unique curriculum, “The Greenbelt in Your Schoolyard”, can be used in many different youth programs called for grades 3-8. To receive a copy, email or download the PDF online.
The URL is: http://greenbelt.org/resources/reports
Tox Town helps high-school students and teachers learn about environmental health concerns and toxic chemicals pictured in an imaginary town. Includes a text version and some Spanish-language resources.
The URL is: http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
The Common Fire Housing Co-op is the first Platinum building in New York State and the "Greenest" building in the Eastern USA, as certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. This site provides an in depth approach to the concept and need for green building as well as the details of the Common Fire project. It also provides a specific link for educators, with a teacher's guide to the site.
The URL is: http://www.commonfire.org/community/greenwelcome.h...
Tox Town
Want to learn about the toxic chemicals and environmental health risks you might encounter in everyday life, in everyday places? Tox Town is an interactive Web site that enables the general public, students, and teachers to learn about the environmental health concerns in various neighborhoods. The URL is: http://www.toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
Site provides booklets and a newsletter that teachers/administrators can use to help improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in their schools.
The URL is: http://www.rxhealthyschools.com/
This site is good for upper elementary students. It contains “Idea Enrichers”
for teachers with a resource list, selected experts, key aspects, and an integrated curricular theme. It also hosts 4 lesson plans (“Starter Ideas”): Water in the City, Stuff in the Air, A Sense of Relief, and Transportation in the City. Each lesson has an activity, ideas for further exploration, and extensions. The URL is: http://sln.fi.edu/city/investigate.html
A rating system used to judge the quality of the water sampled reinforces the concept that water is not just H2O. This is an activity created by the 1991 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute.
The URL is: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/WWC/1991/w...
A nonprofit, volunteer association that has members from over seventy countries. Originally founded by astronomers who were concerned about the way Light Pollution was affecting their scientific research, now educating others on how to properly illuminate the outdoor environment without causing a negative impact to flora, fauna, and the starry night sky.
The URL is: http://www.darksky.org/index.html
Students determine how difficult it is to study subsurface contaminants contained in underground storage tanks. This is an activity created by the 1991 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute.
The URL is: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/WWC/1991/g...
Students will follow a raindrop from its source into the water supply for their houses and then back to the environment. The students will draw and/or understand a diagram of a water treatment plant and a sewage treatment plant. This is an activity created by the 1991 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute.
The URL is: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/WWC/1991/s...
Students demonstrate how everyone contributes to the pollution of a river as it flows through a watershed and recognize that everyone's "contribution" can be reduced.
The URL is: http://www.wetcity.org/resources/reference.htm
Three activities concerning solid waste management. This is an activity created by the 1991 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute.
The URL is: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/WWC/1991/d...
The videos focus on water quality and solid waste disposal issues in urban communities. Topics include wastewater collection and treatment, industrial discharge, storm water management, recycling, composting and waste minimization. Produced by the University of New Orleans' Urban Waste Management & Research Center. Ordering information provided.
The URL is: http://www.uno.edu/~engr/civil/uwmrc/videos.html
Lesson having kids evaluate green space in their city. Students choose a park, find out about the history, usage, wildlife etc. pertaining to the park.
The URL is: http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/bi/1991/green_spac...
LUFNET is a non-profit that provides toolkits and teaches a hands-on, collaborative process for conceptualizing land development that maximizes improvements to the existing human and wildlife neighborhood. Teacher's page includes possible subject areas for teaching land use.
The URL is: http://www.landuse.org/kit.html
"Engaging lessons are aimed at helping the urban child bridge the gap between the world of nature and the city. The focus is on raising student's curiosity about the natural world and about the sources of their water, food, energy and the resources they consume every day."
Grades K-12. A project of Schlitz Audubon. Can be ordered online. The URL is: http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/product1.asp...
This site contains 8 lesson plans on recycling with objectives, resources, and procedures. Waste – Where does it come from? Where does it go? Litter Detectives; Used Motor Oil Recycling; Disposal and Recycling Costs; Composting Project.
The URL is: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/enved/Rec_...
Based in Kansas, CUBE provides workshops, teaching materials, curricula, a resource catalog and a newsletter about urban planning and development.
The URL is: http://www.plannersweb.com/
"Programs that teach young people ecology, community stewardship, urban resource management and basic job readiness skills in the context of their urban environment." School programs and downloadable urban activities for grades preK-6.
The URL is: http://www.communityresources.org/
"The Forest Where We Live" is a documentary which looks at successful educational and hands-on conservation programs developed around the country that try to halt the deforestation of cities. Includes lesson plans for elementary and junior high students on urban forestry and tree biology and appreciation. A project of the Louisiana Educational Television Authority.
The URL is: http://www.lpb.org/programs/forest/classroom.html
"A global collaboration that helps people everywhere make their own local Green Maps...encouraging us to discover new ways to experience the local urban ecology." Background info, examples of Kids' Green maps and an activity guide to get you started are available online. A project of Modern World Design.
The URL is: http://www.greenmap.org/ymaps/ymindex.html
This site helps to locate eco-resources such as bike lanes, farmers markets and wildlife habitats, along with cultural sites that make our hometowns special. It encourages new ways to experience the local urban ecology. Find out ways to put the places and things you like about the local environment "on the map."
The URL is: http://www.greenmap.org/ymaps/activity.html
An innovative environmental education and leadership program for high school educators and students across the country. This program is designed to create an awareness for conserving natural resources, to provide opportunities for action at the individual and community level, and to introduce students to environmental careers. A project of the National Wildlife Federation.
The URL is: http://www.nwf.org/kidzone/kzPage.cfm?siteId=4
Vegetative Green Roof Research program at Michigan State University. Green roofs require little maintenance; reduce airborne pollution; reduce storm water runoff by greater than 60 percent; moderate temperatures for the building and those around it; reduce noise; and increase roof longevity. MSU advised Ford Motor Co., in 2000, on installing a 10.6 acre green roof - on a new assembly plant in Dearborn, MI, which is being closely monitored.
The URL is: http://www.hrt.msu.edu/greenroof/
"The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC)serves youth in Greater Boston, New York and Philadelphia through programs which provide outdoor skills training for youth workers, global and urban environmental education for youth, and outdoor and environmental career internships for youth."
The URL is: http://www.outdoors.org/education/yop/index.cfm
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry Web site for kids to explore an interactive map of Chicago neighborhoods to view the results of soil samples that were taken to determine the amounts of various pollutants they contain. Students can conduct their own experiments (with help from teacher or parent) to learn about the health of soils where they live.
The URL is: http://www.msichicago.org/labs/tales/index.html
The City of Chicago hosts this web site which give information on selecting, planting, caring for urban trees. It also provides local references and resources.
The URL is: http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/porta...
"The Center's curricula are designed around projects through which students learn science by conducting scientific investigations...(using) interactive computer software..., along with scientific visualization and graphing tools." Topics include: global warming, water and air quality, and ecological systems.
The URL is: http://www.letus.nwu.edu/curr2.html
The Pangea Partnership conducts workshops in third world countries which connect students with local youth. We teach participants how to construct healthy, ecological and economic buildings such as homes, schools and medical clinics, that are essential to a community's well being.
The URL is: http://www.pangeapartnership.org/
"Healthy Communities Environmental Mapping — HUD E-MAPS — is a free Internet service that combines information on HUD’s community development and housing programs with EPA’s environmental data."
The URL is: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cio/emaps/index.cfm
A simulation that involves students in the complexities and consequences of planning--both socioeconomic planning and environmental planning. Downloadable lesson plans (grade 9-12) from the Forum for Global Education.
The URL is: http://www.globaled.org/curriculum/urban.html
A nonprofit environmental education organization, "committed to making environmental education relevant to urban learners and to helping them address their unique environmental concerns." Providing urban programs, teacher education, professional speakers for classroom presentations, and resources supporting urban EE concerns.
The URL is: http://www.ecoeducation.org/programs/model_schools...
"An information source and clearinghouse for urban wildlife-related matters. A major objective is to facilitate interaction and cooperation...to achieve better management of natural resources in urban and urbanizing areas through research, planning, design, and education." Conservation Ed packets for teachers (4-7th grade)and related books can be ordered from UWR.
The URL is: http://users.erols.com/urbanwildlife/bookstor.htm
The World Resource Institute site looking at sustainability in urban communities. Case studies from the U.S. and around the world illustrate the challenges urban areas face and how they are striving to overcome them.
The URL is: http://pubs.wri.org/pubs_description.cfm?PubID=253...
"Explores the importance of water, the pressures our cities are placing on this precious resource, and ways that individuals can protect local drinking water supplies." Ordering information on "After the Rain" and other videos on environmental topics - produced by the Oregon State University Extension Service.
The URL is: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/videos/
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