These websites contain lesson plans (or teaching materials that could be used in the creation of lesson plans) incorporating technology, in some fashion, to teach about the environment. Take your time exploring these sites. Not all the lesson plans are equally useful. Some do not use technology in any significant way. You have to spend time looking. They are arranged here in no particular order.
GEM: The Gateway to Educational Materials http://www.thegateway.org/
This is the big catalog of educational materials, over 40,000 items, including many lesson plans and activities, but also web resources and collections that teachers would find useful in creating their own activities and lesson plans. It is really a model in its field! This is a consortial effort, with materials contributed by government agencies, non-profit organizations and a variety of educational associations.
To use it, type a simple keyword or phrase, like WATER or AIR POLLUTION, in the search box on the right. You will then have an opportunity, if you scroll down, to select a grade level or other refinement.
Environmental Protection Agency's Curriculum Resources Page http://www.epa.gov/teachers/curric-index.htm
This page is part of the EPA's Teaching Center. It is a browsable set of annotated links arranged in six subject areas: Air, Ecosystems, Waste & Recycling, Conservation, Human Health, and Water. The links go to some very nifty things, some lesson plans and some just resources that you can easily see would fit in lesson plans!
To use it, just click on one of those six categories and browse.
Biodiversity and Environment Teacher Resources http://www.nbii.gov/education/biodiversity.html
This page is from the National Biological Information Infrastructure, a collaboration between government agencies, colleges & universities, various scientific organizations and associations and even industry to provide better access to biological data and information. Their section on teacher resources describes what is available by grade level. These aren't lesson plans, but web resources that would be particularly valuable to teachers at those grade levels.
To use it, simply click on your grade level of interest and browse.
ActionBioscience.org http://www.actionbioscience.org/index.html
This is a non-profit educational website created and supported by the American Institute of Biological Sciences to promote bioscience literacy. It is quite academic, with peer-reviewed articles from scientists, science professors or teachers and students. These articles often are often accompanied by original lesson plans, coded for Middle School, High School or Undergraduate College levels.
To use it, click on LESSON DIRECTORY in the lefthand panel.
Learners Online http://www.learnersonline.com
This is actually a magazine for teachers focusing on using the internet in classroom instruction. While the magazine itself requires a subscription, there are some great free online lessons, in broad subject areas, including science, http://www.learnersonline.com/weekly/subject/science.htm. These are updated weekly.
To use it, you just have to browse.
Computer Cache http://www.schoollibrarymedia.com/columns/computercache/index.html#
This is actually the name of a column in a professional magazine for school librarians, School Library Activities Monthly. This particular edition of the column is available for free on their website. It is a nicely annotated, selective list of web resources for teachers, chiefly lesson plans.
To use it, just browse and read the useful descriptions.
Lesson Plans Library http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/
This is from the Discovery Channel and, so, most of the plans are related to Discovery Channel programs and they are selling a lot of stuff here! But, they have links to free online materials as well, including relevant video and sound clips. There are hundreds of lessons plans contributed by teachers in all subjects.
To use it, look at your options in the left panel. You can either browse everything by grade level or click on the most relevant subject, in this case that would be ECOLOGY. Then, within ecology, plans are grouped by grade level. As part of the lesson plan format, adaptations to different grade levels are included.
California Content Standards http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/
This is the webpage for the California State Department of Education Content Standards. You can download any standard as a pdf file. Environmental education would fall under the Science standards (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/scmain.asp). If you click on that (instead of the pdf file), you will see it broken down by grade level, for K-8, and by subtopic for 9-12. There is no specific single subtopic that is explicitly "environmental education", but, there are specific statements within these that are related, some more directly than others. Select your grade of interest and read carefully!
The following professional associations have great web pages with links to other useful websites. They also have material that can only be accessed by members. You probably should think about joining one, or more! As a student, you can get a good deal on membership.
National Association of Biology Teachers http://www.nabt.org/
The magazine the NABT publishes had two articles recently that listed useful websites. You can download these articles as pdf files or html files by clicking on the links given here. You will be asked to enter your name and barcode. The BARCODE is on the BACK of your ACCESS card. Enter it with no spaces.
Baggott La Velle, L. (2005, Autumn) Virtual field trips. Journal of Biological Education, 39 , 189. Retrieved April 18, 2006, from Education Fulltext.
This article is an annotated list of websites offering virtual field trips!
html is HERE
pdf is HERE
Baggott La Velle, L. (2004, Summer) Biology animations can be useful and fun. Journal of Biological Education, 38 , 151. Retrieved April 18, 2006, from Education Fulltext.
This article is an annotated list of websites useful to teachers using animation in their teaching materials.
html is HERE
pdf is HERE
National Science Teachers Association http://www.nsta.org/
North American Association for Environmental Education http://naaee.org/pages/index.html
especially their EELINK http://eelink.net/pages/EE-Link+Introduction
This site created on April 17, 2006 by Gail Gradowski, Orradre Library, Santa Clara University
Last updated on April 18, 2006