This lesson introduces African environmentalist Wangari Maathai and links deforestation with the concepts of governance, poverty, and income opportunities for women in Kenya. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Students watch a video explaining ways to monitor the world's forests. Next, students explore the Global Forest Watch Interactive Map showing the health of the world's forests.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students watch a video about Wangari Maathai & The Green Belt Movement. Students answer guided questions as they watch the video.

Step 3 - Inspire: Teacher reads Wangari Maathai’s version of the “hummingbird story.” After listening, students write pledges about how they can contribute to restoring our Earth.

This lesson introduces the idea of green spaces to students. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Students examine the idea of a green space and listen to the book Sofia Valdez, Future Prez. 

Step 2 - Investigate: Students learn the definition of green space and explore their neighborhood using Google Maps or Google Earth. 

Step 3 - Inspire: Students design their own "perfect green space."

This lesson explores the benefits of green spaces, how green spaces are disappearing, and how the disappearance of green spaces relates to environmental justice. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Teacher introduces the idea of goods and services. Students brainstorm ideas on how green spaces provide goods and services.

Step 2 - 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.

Step 3 - 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.

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.

This lesson asks students to consider how their communities would look and feel with and without green spaces. 

Step 1 - 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.

Step 2 - 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.

Step 3 - 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.

This lesson explores ways in which students can address environmental injustice, looking at disparities between two California cities.

Step 1 - 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?"

Step 2 - Investigate: In groups, students compare the two cities of Compton and Pasadena, California. Students discuss income levels, demographics, tree cover, and air pollution.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students watch a video on young 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.

In this final lesson in the green spaces unit, students will use their knowledge to take action.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students brainstorm how to incorporate green spaces in their classrooms, school, and community.

Step 2 - 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.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students take action! Students pursue any of their own ideas or collaborate with the teacher to create a classroom or community garden.

In this lesson, students learn how to analyze characters in stories, reread Why Is Coco Orange?, and complete a journal entry. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Students learn about and practice identifying character traits.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students read Why Is Coco Orange?

Step 3 - Inspire: Students identify character traits in Coco and Coco's friends. Then students complete a journal entry, choosing one of three provided options.

In this lesson, students learn about vehicle idling, gather and interpret data, and take action at their school. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Students learn about car idling and its harmful impacts on human health.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students study idling vehicles at their school by making observations, creating graphs, and interpreting data.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students take action by creating an awareness poster, bumper sticker, or launching a No Idling Campaign at their school!