This multi-week project begins with a measurement of baseline consumptive behavior followed by three weeks of working to reduce the use of water, energy, high-impact foods, and other materials. The assignment uses an Excel spreadsheet that calculates direct energy and water use as well as indirect CO2 and water use associated with food consumption. After completing the project, students understand that they do indeed play a role in the big picture. They also learn that making small changes to their lifestyles is not difficult and they can easily reduce their personal impact on the environment.

This five-week project asks students to examine the environmental outcomes of their lifestyle choices, to investigate and try out more sustainable choices, and to write about their experiences.

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I use the Lifestyle Project in my Introduction to Environmental Issues class. This 3-week project asks students to make changes to their everyday environmental habits. This helps students realize that they have control of their lives and they can make decisions and make changes if they want to. And, given this empowerment, students can think about their impacts on Earth and their obligations to the planet and our society.

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This three-week project begins with a measurement of "baseline" consumptive behavior followed by two weeks of working to reduce the use of water, energy, high-impact foods, and other materials. The assignment uses an Excel spreadsheet that calculates direct energy and water use as well as indirect CO2 and water use associated with food consumption.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

One of a suite of online climate interactive simulations, this Greenhouse Gas Simulator uses the bathtub model to demonstrate how atmospheric concentrations of CO2 will continue to rise unless they are lowered to match the amount of CO2 that can be removed through natural processes.

This is Unit 1 of a larger module and centers on the fundamental concepts of major storms and community resilience. In this unit, students acquire a vocabulary related to storm systems and risk, engage in practical exercises on event probability and frequency, and complete written activities and oral presentations that reinforce these concepts, using two case studies as examples.

Students will learn about the environmental justice movement from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries through reading about key movements in time.

This video is one of a series produced by the Switch Energy project. It reviews the pros and cons of natural gas as a source of energy.

This video describes how Colorado has planned for and uses clean energy resources to reduce its carbon footprint.

In this multi-part activity, students distinguish between adaptation and mitigation, in response to climate change, and research and discuss/debate strategies to minimize the effects of climate change.

This video describes the foundation Plant for the Planet, a foundation created by a 9-year-old German boy, Felix. This foundation has planted more than 500,000 trees in Germany, which he says help sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The student rallies, first his community and then other children, to plant millions of trees to offset our energy-use emissions.

In this classroom activity, students measure the energy use of various appliances and electronics and calculate how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is released to produce that energy.

This resource provides an easy-to-read table summary of solutions to decrease anthropogenic releases of CO2 to the atmosphere. The sources in the data set are clickable for a deeper look into the emission source, references, and a list of additional resources.

Students build a watershed model to define what a watershed is, identify the different parts within a watershed, and discover how water moves within a watershed. After learning Best Management Practices and mitigation techniques, students rebuild their models.

This visualization offers a variety of realistic actions anyone can take to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Topics include how to create an energy efficient home, how to practice sustainable shopping, how to adopt sustainable eating habits, and how to prioritize eco-friendly transportation and travel.

Students work in pairs to pick black and white beads out of a bag to represent the percent of renewable and nonrenewable resources used in different countries, and then graph the information.

This is a National Geographic video that defines renewable energy and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of different examples.

This video explores the myth that developing or emerging countries/cities (Africa, Mexico, Dubai, Peru) must be dependent on coal, oil or gas because of their poor economies and not on clean, renewable energy sources because of the expense. Innovative clean energy storage techniques and base load power is discussed.

This video segment explores whether, in principle, renewable energy resources could meet today's global energy needs of about 15.7 terawatts.

Students listen to radio broadcasts about climate change causes, impacts, and solutions and learn how this creates a framework for effective scientific communication.