On this virtual field trip, we’ll first travel to the lush, rain-soaked splendor of the Olympic Peninsula and explore the urban watershed of Seattle. The abundant rainfall here provides plenty of water, but keeping it clean and safe can be a challenge. Next, we’ll head to Arizona’s dry, desert landscape and take a tour of the Verde River, one source of water that nourishes this parched land. Here, people and other living things must adapt to a limited water supply, yet sudden and violent storms can dump seven inches of rain in a single night! Join The Nature Conservancy's water scientist Kari Vigerstol on this virtual field trip to find out how geography, people, and water interact in two of America’s “wildly” unique biomes.
In this lesson plan, students address the impact of unsustainable fishing practices, as applied to the case of salmon fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. In session 1, they simulate variation in nutrient input by comparing growth of plants with different concentrations of fish-based fertilizer control. In session 2, students test a simple, computer-based interactive population model to estimate sustainable salmon harvest. Extra sessions will be needed to conduct some of the extend options.
Themes:
Forests provide many benefits, including net production of oxygen.
Students will learn about the importance of large-scale forest landscapes and the impacts of deforestation and reforestation with a focus on global climate change. Focus will be given to the carbon cycle and the ways in which forests decrease carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thereby minimizing climate change, and improving air quality. Consideration will also be given to the ways in which deforestation and forest restoration affect wildlife.
A companion interactive whiteboard presentation that incorporates video and glossary terms used throughout this lesson is provided to use in classroom instruction (see Downloadable Resources to download).
Lesson 6 explores a game-changing action in real time: How to use our constitutional rights to limit the power of a centralized government, drawing on real examples from the youth-driven, game-changing climate cases in federal and state courts. Students explore: (1) constitutional rights cases, trial proceedings, and legal concepts like standing; (2) climate justice as constitutional rights cases, how the court recognizes new fundamental rights, and the Public Trust Doctrine; (3) remedies in constitutional rights cases and how youth might engage in local climate recovery actions to support their peers; and (4) how these constitutional rights cases proceed through the U.S. judicial system. Students gain an understanding of how values, law, science, and politics interface when addressing complex public problems with multiple perspectives.
Many elements are interconnected and function together to create the natural and productive living system that is your garden. Look to the end of this activity guide for additional lesson plans, activity guides, and videos that can help you bring together soil, water, habitat, food, and community to explore your dynamic garden ecosystems.
In this lesson, students distinguish between a wildfire and a controlled burn, also known as a prescribed fire. They explore multiple controlled burn scenarios. They explain the positive impacts of fire on ecosystems (e.g., reduce hazardous fuels, dispose of logging debris, prepare sites for seeding/planting, improve wildlife habitat, manage competing vegetation, control insects and disease, improve forage for grazing, enhance appearance, improve access, perpetuate fire-dependent species) and compare and contrast how organisms in different ecosystems have adapted to fire.
The internal threats institutionalized in the Constitution triggered a power dynamic, a class struggle for power and control, that continues to shape our society. This lesson examines three large-scale shifts in the balance of power after the Civil War. It explores why these shifts occur, who is driving the dynamic, and the growing social and political consequences of this power imbalance at the core of our democracy. Students reflect on the democracy journey and create their own narrative of who rules.
Students critically examine the conceptual framework of the Constitution and Bill of Rights to understand how internal threats institutionalized in these documents triggered a power dynamic that has shaped our society from inception to present. Students are introduced to a third entity that existed at the time of founding – corporations – and then explore the young government’s dilemma of where to fit this entity into the legal framework. Students critically examine “judicial review,” two other early landmark laws, and the Civil War Amendments and the effects of these on the balance of rights, powers, and privilege during the first 100 years of the democracy journey.
