Healthy School Environments
Schools across the country are finding creative ways for teachers to incorporate lessons about environmental health and safety in the classroom. Listed below are examples of curricula to use or adapt in your school.
This nine-lesson curriculum from EPA is designed to excite kids about environmental health and empower them to take steps in their everyday lives to improve the environment for their community and reduce their environmental risk.
Find More From...
EPA and Federal Partners
- EPA for Students, Educators and Parents includes games and quizzes, homework resources, information on science fair or community service projects, lesson plans, teacher guides and environmental education resources.
- Environmental Health and Safety in the Arts is a manual by EPA that covers art education and production. The manual is available in English and Spanish.
- Pollution Prevention Toolbox from EPA contains tools to help teachers integrate pollution prevention into the classroom.
- K-12 Lesson Plans and Activities from the U.S. Department of Energy help teachers enhance required curriculum by teaching the importance of green energy. Users can search by topic, grade level or keyword.
- The Students and Educators section of the American Chemical Society website lists green chemistry and engineering textbooks, links to online teaching resources, and materials for students to apply green chemistry principles in their studies.
- The Quick and Easy Guide to School Wellness from the Healthy Schools Campaign offers practical advice, tools and resources to develop and adopt a school wellness program.
- The PowerSave Schools Program from the Alliance to Save Energy offers resources to incorporate energy efficiency into students' education and involve them in making a difference in the way their schools use energy.
Regional, State and Local Resources
Careers in Environmental Health
Introduces students to various careers in environmental health, including chemists, biologists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, and many more. Scientists from Oregon State University and the Environmental Protection Agency were interviewed about their job, as well as how they ended up becoming a scientist.
- Teacher's Resources from the Northwest Clean Air Agency (NWCAA) provide facts and classroom activities related to air quality and climate change. NWCAA serves schools in Island, Skagit and Whatcom Counties in Washington State.
- "Mercury, the Community, and Me" Teacher Resources from the Oregon State University Superfund Research Program offers an educational package to teach students about mercury in their community and the effects of mercury on human health. The package includes five modules that teachers can select and adapt for their classrooms.
- Green Your Lesson Plans by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency discusses lesson plans that can be incorporated into curricula on environmental topics. Topics addressed include chemistry, green energy, waste reduction and air quality.
- Green Schools Profiles on the Green Schools Initiative website enable schools to share their stories of how they are reducing their environmental footprint while generating fun, learning and action for the school community.