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Students participate in an oil extraction simulation and experience the increasing difficulty of extracting a nonrenewable resource over several years. Students consider the challenges posed by using nonrenewable sources of energy and analyze global trends in oil production and consumption.

Students begin by considering the impacts of energy use on society, economy, and environment. Students then investigate their own energy use by performing a personal energy audit. In reflection, students identify ways they can conserve energy or use energy more efficiently in their daily lives.

Students identify an activity they do which requires electricity. Working backwards from this activity, they sketch the path electricity travels as far back as they can. Small groups then read about a nonrenewable or renewable energy source used to generate electricity and identify its pros and cons. Small groups share their research with the class and together come up with a sustainable fuel mix for their region.

Students begin this unit of study by brainstorming and analyzing the many ways humans use energy. In small groups, they review some basic energy science by using energy cards to classify different forms of energy (such as light, sound, and nuclear) as potential or kinetic.

This lesson page provides free resources for you, the teacher, to advance your own knowledge of sustainability and green building, and support your teaching.

This page is a great starting point for new sustainability teachers or a resource for experienced teachers. It will provide you with some background information to help you understand the impact of green schools and prepare you to start to take actions at your own school.

All the materials are available for free download in the “Prepare” tab below. For additional information about each resource, check out the “Teach” tab.

We’ve broken them down by:
- Green Schools Profiles and Case Studies
- Reports and Guides
- LEED Resources
- Pedagogy
- Videos

And check out additional resources in the Extend tab to expand your school's sustainability initiatives. We've called out reports to share with your legislators to drive green school initiatives as well as training to share with your facility staff.

The materials in this lesson are designed to support teachers, not implement as instruction in your classroom. But feel free to share materials with your students, colleagues, or community!

When you are ready, dive into the Learning Lab lessons. Looking for a place to start? Check out Every School Can Be A Green School: Getting Started Checklists. Or search the catalog by grade level, subject and theme.

Students classify forms of energy as potential or kinetic and explore the law of conservation of energy.

Students begin this unit of study by brainstorming and analyzing the many ways humans use energy. In small groups, they review some basic energy science by using energy cards to classify different forms of energy (such as light, sound, and nuclear) as potential or kinetic.

Green school (n): a school building or facility that creates a healthy environment that is conducive to learning while saving energy, resources and money.

Whether you are a parent, teacher, school staff member, student, or community volunteer, you want your school to provide a healthy, welcoming place to learn. The important effort of running greener schools needs action from everyone in the school community, and sometimes the scale of the task can make it hard to know where the start. Follow these 12 simple priority actions from the Center for Green Schools to help make your school healthy, efficient, comfortable and environmentally responsible.

This lesson provides resources and suggestions of actions to make your school a green school. Included Action Checklists:

1: Find your superstars
2: Ready, set – wait, which bin do I put this in?
3: What’s a watt?
4: Go behind the scenes
5: Put the kids in charge
6: Hey, what’s this thing do?
7: You are what you eat…and recycle, throw away and compost…
8: Let the Sun Shine In
9: You know it’s dust, but what IS it?
10: No really, what is that smell?
11: Lights out!
12: Carpooling – jump in, the water’s fine!

Checklists include:
- First steps to getting started
- Resources to support your actions
- Related lessons in Learning Lab to dive deeper into topics