Amber Medina

Elementary School Teacher

Amber is a third grade elementary school teacher who has taught ELA, Environmental Education, and SEL. With a degree in Environmental Policy and Planning, her passion for environmental justice and action integrated curriculum led her to her commitment to climate education.

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan

Green Spaces Lesson: Geography and Design
This lesson introduces the idea of green spaces to students. 

Inquire: Students examine the idea of a green space and read the book Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty.
Investigate: Students learn the definition of green space and explore their neighborhood using Google Maps or Google Earth.
Inspire: Students design their own "perfect green space."
Grade 3-5
Subject Geography,English Language Arts
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Spaces Lesson: Environmental Justice
This lesson explores the benefits of green spaces, how green spaces are disappearing, and how the disappearance of green spaces relates to environmental justice.

Inquire: Teacher introduces the idea of goods and services. Students brainstorm ideas on how green spaces provide goods and services.
Investigate: Students watch a video on the disappearance of green spaces around the world. Students discuss how this makes them feel. Finally, students watch a video of Jaysa Hunter-Mellers, an environmental activist.
Inspire: Students look at maps to understand that green spaces are not distributed equally in all communities. After learning more about environmental justice, students have the option to write a reflection, draw or write a story, or make a list of ways that green spaces provide goods and services to their community.
Grade 3-5
Subject Geography
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Spaces Lesson: Indigenous Communities
This lesson connects Indigenous communities with the natural environment.

Step 1 - Inquire: Teacher reviews ecosystem services and introduces the four types of ecosystem services: giving services, checking services, supporting services, and cultural services.
Step 2 - Investigate: Students read two articles on Newsela about Indigenous Peoples. One is about government policy, and the other is about climate activism.
Step 3 - Inspire: Students share their notes from the articles and watch one final video on youth climate activists.
Grade 3-5
Subject Geography,English Language Arts
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Spaces Lesson: Health Benefits
This lesson asks students to consider how their communities would look and feel with and without green spaces.

Inquire: Students draw a community without any green space. Students think, notice, and wonder about this community and how it might feel for humans and animals to live in that community.
Investigate: Students learn about a community activist named Ken Sparks who turned his patio into a green space and inspired others to do the same. Then students listen to a read aloud of Bee and Me.
Inspire: Students conduct research to further explore the relationship between green spaces and mental health, physical health, ecosystem health, and climate change. Teacher collects student notes on a word wall. Finally, students draw another map of their community featuring as many green spaces as they would like to include.
Grade 3-5
Subject Geography,English Language Arts
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Spaces Lesson: Civic Action and Data Analysis
This lesson explores ways in which students can address environmental justice.

Inquire: Students review information from previous lessons and discuss the guiding questions: “How could putting more green spaces into low-income communities help?” and “How would this be an example of environmental justice?”
Investigate: In groups, students compare the two cities of Compton and Pasadena, California. Students discuss income levels, demographics, tree cover, and air pollution.
Inspire: Students watch a video on youth climate activists. Then students choose one of three options: learn about Greta Thunberg, create a climate protest sign, or research the 2019 Youth Climate Summit.
Grade 3-5
Subject Geography
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Spaces Lesson: Citizenship
In this final lesson in the green spaces unit, students will use their knowledge to take action.

Inquire: Students brainstorm how to incorporate green spaces in their classrooms, school, and community.
Investigate: Students think about which ideas they would like to pursue. Students see an example of one possible action: writing a letter to a government official advocating for more green spaces.
Inspire: Students take action! Students pursue any of their own ideas or collaborate with the teacher to create a classroom or community garden.
Grade 3-5
Subject Civics
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Transportation Lesson: Carbon Emissions
In this lesson, students explore how plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen through photosynthesis, learn about the greenhouse effect by calculating their ecological footprint, and then brainstorm ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

Inquire: Students reflect on what they know about photosynthesis and how plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Investigate: Students learn about the greenhouse effect and calculate their ecological footprint.
Inspire: Students generate ideas on how to reduce their carbon footprint and impact on the environment, and write a paragraph response.
Grade 3-5
Subject Earth and Space Sciences
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Transportation Lesson: Emissions Data
In this lesson, students compare and contrast emissions from different modes of transportation and explore the concept of transportation planning.

Inquire: Students analyze a bar graph of carbon dioxide emissions by different modes of transportation and calculate the most environmentally conscious modes of travel based on emissions.
Investigate: Students analyze commuter survey results of the top concerns with public transportation and complete real-world math problems based on different transportation scenarios, calculating the difference in carbon emission outputs.
Inspire: Students learn about transportation planners and watch a video about Hong Kong’s transit system.
Grade 3-5
Subject Mathematics
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Transportation Lesson: Green Careers
This lesson explores different transit systems around the world and unpacks the decision-making process behind transportation planning.

Inquire: Students analyze the transit route maps of four different cities.
Investigate: Students explore in greater depth the elements and features of four different transit systems.
Inspire: Students recall transit rider concerns and create a reimagined metro system to appeal to more riders in the community.
Grade 3-5
Subject Geography
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Transportation Lesson: Media Literacy
This lesson promotes students’ understanding of the power and influence of the media. Students will leverage this understanding to develop their own media campaigns for their reimagined metro systems.

Inquire: Students reflect on how their reimagined metro systems address the top ten concerns riders had with the metro.
Investigate: Students think critically about how different transportation advertisements get consumers to want to use their services or purchase their products.
Inspire: Students brainstorm an advertisement for their reimagined metro system.
Grade 3-5
Subject English Language Arts
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Transportation Lesson: Student Project
In this lesson, students use six questions to explore critical media literacy and begin creating their own advertisements using a rubric as a guide.

Inquire: Students explore the definition and guiding questions of critical media literacy.
Investigate: Students analyze advertisements about car-free cities.
Inspire: Students begin creating their own advertisements for their metro designs.
Grade 3-5
Subject English Language Arts
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Green Transportation Lesson: Presentation
This lesson features the final advertisement presentations and provides students with the opportunity to think about how to use these projects to make an impact in real life.

Inquire: Students reflect on the advertisement process and their role in their small groups.
Investigate: Students present their final advertisements to their peers.
Inspire: Students brainstorm what to do with their ideas in order to increase metro/public transit ridership in their community.
Grade 3-5
Subject English Language Arts
Resource Type Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan

Petroleum Agenda Solutions: Media Literacy Lesson

In this lesson, students engage in critical media literacy investigating the impacts of petroleum extraction, and promote sustainable alternatives.


Step 1 - Inquire: Students explore the impacts of petroleum extraction and analyze two different media literacy forms that promote petroleum-based products.


Step 2 - Investigate: Students conduct research on how a product’s components are derived from petroleum and find a sustainable alternative for the same or similar product.


Step 3 - Inspire: Students reflect on how consumer choices can impact the environment and create a media message to promote the sustainable product from their research.

Grade 6-8
Subject English Language Arts
Resource Type Lesson Plan
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