North Coast
Serving Humboldt, Del Norte, Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties

Free Teacher Resources

DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES: WATER USE EFFICIENCY

A Middle School Water & Energy Curriculum is available for download in PDF format at http://wwwowue.water.ca.gov/

The Energenius® Program consists of six activity guides that incorporate science, language arts, and sometimes mathematics, using energy conservation, efficiency, and safety as an integrating theme. These materials are correlated to the content standards and include a teacher’s guide, student materials, posters, and a video. A new Kindergarten program is now available and contains a teacher's guide with three lessons, a Big Book, as well as little books and calendars for students. Classroom teachers who work in the PG&E service territory can order these free materials online at http://www.pge.com/energenius/ These materials are produced by the School Resource program of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Free workshops are available by contacting Olga Clymire.

ADVANCING EDUCATION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY

A new publication and CD-ROM on environmental education is now available at no cost from the Environmental Education & Training Partnership (EETAP). EETAP collaborated with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development to produce "Advancing Education Through Environmental Literacy". The new publication focuses on how education and the environment can be linked to advance student learning. Included are descriptions of schools successfully implementing environmental education programs and summaries of research documenting how schools have raised test scores of their students by using the environment to help teach content in subject areas such as social studies, science, reading, and mathematics. The CD-ROM provides a sampler of 43 free EE activities (includes several PLT activities). The activities are linked to different grade levels and subject areas, making it easy for teachers to choose the ones that are right for their situation. To obtain your copy send your name and mailing address by E-mail to the following address: EnviroEdTrainingPartnership@uwsp.edu

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT TEACHER'S WEBSITE The BLM website for teachers contains a library of reference material, student activity plans, curriculum correlations, and teacher resources on the subjects of wildfire and energy. Check out http://www.blm.gov/education/LearningLandscapes/teachers/activities.html

CLIMATE CHANGE, WILDLIFE, AND WILDLANDS: A TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS AND INTERPRETERS The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency collaborated with the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to produce an award-winning, educational tool that addresses climate change and its potential impacts on wildlife and public lands. Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands: A Toolkit for Teachers and Interpreters consists of: a twelve minute video about how climate change is affecting our nation's wildlife and public lands, twelve flash cards (the size of baseball cards) that give information about the range and vulnerability to climate change of individual animals, insects, trees, and ecosystems, a hand-held, interactive, wheel-card that helps a person calculate their household greenhouse gas emissions and learn how they can reduce these emissions, a CD-ROM that includes fact sheets on climate change, case studies about national parks in four regions (Western Mountains, Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and the Everglades), interactive activities, and a slideshow presentation. Most of the Toolkit components can be downloaded from the web at http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/index.html, or you can receive a complete copy of the Toolkit, at no charge, by contacting Karen Scott, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at (202) 564-3482.

WATER SCIENCE FOR SCHOOLS This site from the U.S. Geological Survey explores many aspects of water. This website includes pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can test your water knowledge. A glossary and related links are also included. For more information, check out: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/.

DOWNLOAD WIND RESOURCE MAPS FOR CALIFORNIA New wind resource maps for California are now available. For more information, please go to: http://www.energy.ca.gov/maps/wind.html. The Energy Commission has contracted with TrueWind Solutions LLC to generate high-resolution wind maps for California using state-of-the-art numerical modeling techniques along with site data validation. JPG versions of the maps are available for Annual Wind Speed Maps at 30, 50, 70 and 100 meters, Annual Wind Power Map at 50 meters and 50 meter Seasonal Wind Speed Maps are also available (fall, winter, spring, summer). (Note: These JPG files are 300-380 kilobytes.) Please contact the Commission Cartography Office for details about ordering printed versions of maps by calling 916-654-3902.

FREE SEEDS! America the Beautiful Fund is offering grants of 100 to 1,000 vegetable and flower seed packets on the basis of availability and relative need to schools and nonprofits. These are 2001 and 2002 seeds with germination rates of 85% - 95%. Visit http://www.america-the-beautiful.org/FreeSeeds_order_form.htm for instructions and order form.

FREE COMPOST! The California Department of Education and the California Integrated Waste Management Board are pleased to announce that participating supermarkets from around the state have agreed to donate compost to the "Garden in Every School" program. Schools can order up to 2.5 tons of quality compost that will be delivered to the school free of charge.The participating supermarkets have agreed to furnish schools with up to 2.5 tons of bulk compost. One ton of compost is equal to 10 large wheelbarrows. If your school garden project would like to order some of our free compost, please forward the information requested below to: compost@communityrecycling.net Please send: School name, district name, street address, city, major cross street, contact name, phone number, fax number, email address, and amount requested. Does your school have access for a truck of this size?(The trucks making the deliveries are 65' long) If you are not sure we can have one of our field representatives meet with you to discuss it with you. If you have any questions about the "Garden in Every School" program, please contact Deborah Tamannaie at 916.323.2473 or dtamanna@cde.ca.gov.

TEACHERS' DOMAIN MULTIMEDIA DIGITAL LIBRARY. WGBH, through funding from NSF, provides a digital library of multimedia for teaching and studying life sciences, including ecology & ecosystems, evolution, adaptation, genetics, and more (check out the whales). It includes more than 150 broadcast clips & video modules from programs such as NOVA, A Science Odyssey, & ZOOM; interview segments; out-take footage; & interactive web-based activities. Photos, animations, images, & text are catalogued & presented with contextual information designed to help teachers present science concepts and for independent study by students. For more information, check out: http://www.teachersdomain.org

USGS WATER POSTERS The U.S. Geological Survey's Water Education Poster series offers 6 colorful, educational, and fun posters on the following topics: wetlands, water use, wastewater, navigation, ground water, and water quality. Each poster is available in two versions, one for elementary students and one for middle-school students. Information is available at this web site: http://water.usgs.gov/outreach/OutReach.html or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.

THE WATER SOURCEBOOKS CURRICULUM. Created by the Environmental Protection Agency, The Water Sourcebooks contain 324 activities for grades K-12. This environmental education program explains the water management cycle using a balanced approach showing how it affects all aspects of the environment. Activities are available online in PDF and are also available on CD-ROM. To order the CD, call (800) 424-4372 or send an email to haertel.jan@epa.gov. For more information about this free resource visit: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/wsb/

WAVES, WETLANDS, AND WATERSHEDS CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds is a classroom activity guide that addresses California's critical coastal and marine issues such as endangered species, marine debris, coastal geology, water use, and much more. It is carefully aligned to the California State Science Content Standards for grades 3 through 8, and includes Community Action lessons adaptable for all ages up to and beyond grade 12. The connection between inland areas and the ocean is emphasized throughout, so the lessons are relevant for students living in all regions of California. For more information or to request a free copy, please visit the Coastal Commission's Public Education website at http://www.coastforyou.org.

WYLAND OCEAN CHALLENGE "Clean Water for the 21st Century” is designed to promote the student’s understanding of the complex and interrelated issues that affect our water systems through art. The program is a new marine life art and science educational curriculum available free to every K-6 classroom in the United States. The program meets all national standards for science and art, and is filled with art activities, case studies and science experiments to teach students about the wonder of water on our planet. For more information, check out: http://www.wylandoceanchallenge.org.

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