T.R.E.E.S. (Teaching Reforestation, Environmental Engagement, and Sustainability) School Program Resource Library

One Tree Planted, a nonprofit organization dedicated to worldwide reforestation efforts, has developed an environmental education resource library for K–college educators. The library houses standalone lessons, learning modules, videos, and other resources to inspire students, teachers, and parents to learn about the environment and take action to protect it. For example, Seven Sustainable Homeschool Activities Your Kids Will Love (grades K–8) presents how-to activities for creating a sustainable garden at school or home, such as How to Start a Compost, How to Make a Seed Ball, and How to Make a Pollution Catcher. Other resources include learning modules for grades K–8, addressing environmental topics relating to Air, Biodiversity, Carbon Footprint, Climate Regulation, Green Innovation, Parts of a Tree, and Water. Each module contains a teacher’s guide, a slide presentation for students, and an online quiz for assessment. 

Resources for the high school level include standalone lessons such as Learning to Live Sustainably, which includes a sustainability checklist survey for students, and Your Local Environment, which challenges students to work together to research local environmental challenges and create action plans to help solve the problems. An Assets section—suitable for all levels, K–college—presents a selection of printable posters, fact sheets, and infographics promoting messages of sustainability.

Thinking Outside of the (Nest) Box 

This five-lesson curriculum was developed by NestWatch, a participatory science program of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Targeted for grades 5–8, the lessons teach students about nesting birds and their habitats and engage learners in authentic, participatory science through the construction, installation, and monitoring of nest boxes for the Lab’s NestWatch citizen science program. Students learn how to collect data from their own nest boxes, then use that data in the classroom. (Free e-mail registration is required to download the curriculum.)

Geology Virtual Trips

The website Geology Virtual Trips: Bringing Rock Outcrops to the Classroom! provides photos and descriptions of rock outcrops and the general geologic setting in the form of a field trip that can be brought into the classroom. Questions related to the geology of the particular field locality are provided for students to research. The content is used in schools to supplement the curriculum. The website is a labor of love from Ed Marintsch, a Ph.D. geoscience teacher who has more than 35 years of teaching experience at both the high school and college levels. 

Robert F. Schumann Foundation Grants 

Nonprofit organizations focusing on animals, environmental sustainability efforts, and arts and education can apply to receive grant funding through the Robert F. Schumann Foundation. Projects with an emphasis in ornithology and open space habitats will be prioritized. Applications are due by February 28.

Data Lens: Exploring Earth's Visual Stories From NOAA's Science On a Sphere

Do you teach grades 5–12+ and need quick, engaging, and consistent ways to help your students understand data? Attend a free virtual NOAA Science On a Sphere (SOS) workshop on January 29, which will equip you with ready-to-use 10- to 20-minute activities regularly delivered to your inbox that spotlight current and relevant data. Designed by NOAA's Science On a Sphere, these lessons help students interpret and reason with scientific data in an engaging way. Here’s why you should attend:
•    Learn how to teach scientific data visualizations without having to know the right answers.
•    Participate in a full (10- to 20-minute) Data Lens activity as a student.
•    Discover strategies for implementing these activities in your classroom.
•    Receive resources and lesson plans directly in your inbox.
•    Gain insights from Hilary Peddicord, NOAA’s SOS Education Lead, about the research and data literacy approach behind Data Lens.

Toshiba America Foundation Grants

Teachers of grades 6–12 can apply online for a Toshiba America Foundation grant of less than $5,000 to help bring an innovative project into their own classroom. If you have an innovative idea for improving STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning in your classroom, and if your idea involves project-based learning with measurable outcomes, apply by March 1.