Our Shared Environmental History
Lesson Plans
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences, History
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by Population Education
What it is
- In this lesson, students will research events throughout environmental history, creating a timeline of events and analyzing the cause-and-effect relationships between events.
- Students will understand how environmental disasters influence environmental action and evaluate the effectiveness of Earth Day.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The images included in the resource are thought-provoking and paint a picture of the environmental impacts of human actions.
- In giving every student or group of students an event to research, each student will feel a sense of ownership and responsibility in the activity.
Prerequisites
- The link to Gaylord Nelson's Earth Day speech is broken. Teachers can find the link here.
- Teachers may need to define some terms, such as galvanize, for students before they answer the discussion questions.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Language arts students can practice creative writing skills by writing a historical fiction piece that takes place during one of the events throughout environmental history.
- After creating the timeline, civics students can analyze the process behind environmental legislation and regulations.
- Some students may benefit from a list of websites for researching their event.
From the scientist review
The lesson is a good introduction to environmental events and provides many opportunities for students to learn about other climate and environmental topics. The information presented is accurate and this resource is recommended for teaching.
Ready to use it?
Hosted on populationeducation.org
Want this to fit your class?
Add your location for local examples, questions, and action ideas.
