Technology

The reduction of fossil-fuel consumption and exhaust pollution are two goals of present-day automobile design. Hybrid automobiles tackle this design issue by maintaining the range and re-fueling advantages of internal combustion engines, while incorporating the environmentally desirable characteristics of electric motors. In this lesson, students will learn the basic principles of engines, motors and generators, how hybrid vehicles work, and the pros and cons of both traditional and hybrid technology vehicles.

Get ideas from other teachers who have successfully incorporated green building concepts into their classrooms. This page lists curriculum developed by USGBC grant winners applying concepts of green buildings into their K-12 education.

The University of Minnesota has partnered with National Geographic to develop this innovate GIS mapping tool for educators. This website will help teachers use real data to convey how decisions are made and better understand geographical impacts on society.

This toolkit created by Cool School Challenge is an in depth strategy to have students perform energy audits in schools in order to recommend changes in behaviors and practices to reduce energy consumption. This document includes suggestions on how to approach administration and community partners to get them involved. Use it to get ideas of how to pursue similar projects in your school.

This extensive curriculum created by NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), focuses on comprehensive lessons and activities addressing estuarine environments.

This National Geographic lesson uses maps created by the Wildlife Conservation Society and helps students understand how GIS and other mapping tools have helped researchers develop programs to mitigate human development for conservation efforts.

ESRI, Inc.’s website provides several data sets and lesson plans using GIS technologies applied in physical and earth sciences. The lesson plans cover areas from earthquakes, tsunamis and tectonic plates to watershed dynamics. Also included are labs that focus on gathering GPS data so students are exposed to the data-collection aspect of GIS technologies.

This USGS portal provides information and links to lesson plans that utilize aerial photography, maps and GIS. There is a GIS-Based Lessons section including topics such as Exploring the Titanic, Analyzing Hurricanes and Exploring World Demography. There is also an Activities and Lessons for Exporing the Earth section, with activities not requiring GIS.

This USGS-developed activity proposes a hypothetical scenario where students are asked to determine the effect mines and landfills will have on the water quality in a watershed in Montana. Students use EPA, USGS and National Hydrography Dataset data to examine this Montana watershed.

This dataset contains seven activities covering several physical and cultural geography topics, including: climate, population density, relief, mining, manufacturing, earthquakes, faults, volcanoes, tsunamis, and fires. Each activity builds on the data, skills, and concepts learned in the previous activity, and all are based on ArcView (GIS) software from ESRI, Inc.