Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
This website provides information about solid waste in addition to curricular, classroom activity, and project ideas on reducing solid waste. It is divided into four distinct curricula: (a) Planet Protectors Club—Grades K-5, (b) Make a Difference Campaign—Grades 6-8, (c) Your Environment Your Choice—Grades 9-12, and (d) Teach English, Teach about the Environment—ESL. (In order to access "Teach English, Teach about the Environment," click on teachers on the left-hand side of the homepage.)
Various full-color visual aids are available for download on the EPA website to help students understand how consumers' buying habits can contribute to excess solid waste. Visual aids include posters describing The Life Cycle of a DVD or CD, The Life Cycle of a Soccer Ball, and The Life Cycle of a Cell Phone.
For a listening and speaking activity that uses the above posters for an in-class scavenger hunt, click here. Then, scroll through the FORUM article about implementing environmental education into the ESL/EFL classroom until you find the "Scavenger Hunt" activity in Appendix A.
To view instructions for printing the posters in a larger size, download the file below.
printing_instructions_epa_posters.doc | |
File Size: | 76 kb |
File Type: | doc |
The Rainforest Heroes! curriculum packet, produced by the Rainforest Action Network, serves as a wonderful supplemental resource for grades 3-6. The diversity associated with the rainforest is similar to the diversity of learners’ learning styles in a language class. With diversity as the main theme, the material is designed with an interdisciplinary focus incorporating natural science, language arts, mathematics, physical education, fine arts, performing arts, and social studies. The lesson plans and worksheets in Rainforest Heroes! focus on three areas that can directly save the rainforests—wood-use reduction, oil-use reduction, and beef-consumption reduction. The activities are designed to empower students with simple actions that they can take to reduce wood and oil use and beef consumption in their daily lives.
Project Learning Tree
Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program for teachers working with students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Its goal is to develop students' critical thinking skills about environmental issues. There are activities and resources on a variety of topics including forests, wildlife, community planning, waste management, and energy.
Talking Trash in Tucson
Talking Trash in Tucson is a middle-school curriculum about the importance of recycling that was designed to target students in Tucson, Arizona. While the information was not written for L2 learners, the well-designed lesson plans and visual aids are suitable for more intermediate- to advanced-level learners and can be adapted for beginner students. The four-lesson unit allows students to understand (a) the consequences of waste, (b) why recycling is important, (c) how students can recycle, and (d) how recycled materials become usable products.
talking_trash_in_tucson.pdf | |
File Size: | 4255 kb |
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role_play_environmental_content.doc | |
File Size: | 56 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Ryan's Well Foundation was started after six-year old Ryan (now a young adult) learned that millions of people in the world did not have access to clean drinking water. Since the foundation's inception, Ryan and a small group of friends and family have built almost 600 wells in 16 countries. Ryan's story is truly inspiring and shows students that one person really can make a difference. The website includes a wealth of educational resources for primary and secondary school curricula, including math, science, language, and the arts. Lesson plans, written to accompany the book Ryan and Jimmy and the Well in Africa that Brought Them Together, can be downloaded below. The book, less than $10 to purchase (as of November 2011), would be best suited for beginner to intermediate English learners. Some resources are also available in French. Ryan and his foundation were featured in the documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars, a film about the world's water crisis.
ryan_jimmy_african_well_lesson_plans.pdf | |
File Size: | 208 kb |
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This volume, part of the Forum's electronic journal Language and Civil Society, contains 10 chapters on different aspects of the environment, including endangered species, human population, energy conservation, and waste management, among others. Written for intermediate-level students, each chaper incudes topic background information, classroom activities, Internet resources, and a bibliography. This environmental education volume is offered by The Office of English Language Programs, U.S. Department of State.
Know of a another great "green" resource? Have a question about "greening" your classroom? Please contact the author.