Students learn how to use air photographs to measure and classify land use. They learn how to map land use and understand how the use of land changes over time.

Students are given information about the ways that Michigan lands are used. The land use information is classified and presented in tables. Students apply several methods to compare land uses.

Students examine short readings about individuals’ land use preferences and identify the different views of the land held by different individuals. They compare and contrast these individual views of the land. The big idea for this lesson is that land can be used
for many different purposes

Students examine and graph data about land use patterns and land use trends in their local county. As a result, the lesson plan is a procedural outline, since the content will be unique to each county.
Students use census data for their county (or counties if the school
district crosses county boundaries) to graph changes in land use.

In this extension lesson, students examine and graph data about land use patterns and trends in their local county. As a result, the lesson plan is a procedural outline, since the content will be unique to each county. .

The intent of the lesson is to introduce students to the process that people in a local community undertake when they ask for a change in land use zoning. The lesson is intended to show students how a local government agency makes decisions and how individual citizens are part of the process. The lesson also presents a typical urban land use conflict through a play.

Students examine photographs of brownfields and greenfields, and residential and commercial land uses with accompanying captions. They discuss the information
shown in the photographs after reading the captions.

Students synthesize information about land use, water, and air from a poster. In this lesson, students are asked to use prior knowledge about water and air issues and combine those with what they have been studying about land use.

Students learn how energy consumption has changed over the past 100 years, why it has changed, and the impact it has had. Students brainstorm and categorize uses of energy, take part in an optional consumption simulation, interpret graphs about energy use, take surveys, and engage in small group and classroom discussions about energy comparisons.

Students use pictures, graphs, and a map to identify the kinds of energy we use in Michigan, differentiate between renewable and non-renewable energy resources, and identify the sources of Michigan’s energy resources.

Students build a model turbine to observe how different energy resources can be used to turn a turbine, inquire how the interaction between a wire and a magnet generates electricity, and investigate the different mix of energy resources used to generate electricity in Michigan, the United States, and the world.

The advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of non-renewable energy sources are the focus of this lesson. Students match different kinds of energy resources with their advantages and disadvantages, and then discuss whether these advantages and disadvantages are economic,ecological, or social. As an extension students identify the environmental impacts of their family’s electricity usage using EPA’s Power Profiler web site. The next lesson will deal with renewable resources.

The focus of this lesson is learning about the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of renewable energy resources and their potential use in Michigan. Students read about different renewable resources, watch a teacher demonstration, and match different kinds of energy sources with the advantages and disadvantages of each. Students then compare the advantages and disadvantages of renewable and non-renewable resources and use the comparisons to write a letter to their state legislators.

Energy conservation and energy efficiency are the focus of this lesson. Students learn how basic energy conservation and energy efficiency choices can save their family money, reduce energy consumption, and prevent energy-related pollution. Students learn how to identify and fix air leaks,compare incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs, and list ways they can conserve energy and increase energy efficiency in their daily lives. An extension lesson, “In the Driver’s Seat,” which focuses on transportation and fuel efficiency, is also provided on the MEECS Energy Resources CD.

The lesson introduces the concept of a product life cycle and how it can be used as tool for the consumer to make more environmentally friendly product choices. The lesson uses the life cycle of a CD or DVD as an example to investigate the life cycle of an everyday product and examine options for reusing, recycling, or disposing of the item after its useful life. Students are introducedto pollution prevention strategies (the three Rs), how consumers can use them, and how the strategies can be incorporated at different stages of a product’s life cycle to make a product more economically and environmentally sustainable.

This lesson develops the concept of an ecological footprint. Students use data and tools to assess the impacts of their energy and resource consumption. They examine their results and assess their impacts on the environment. Students discuss and compare their impacts and try to identify actions to reduce their footprints.

This lesson focuses on the availability of freshwater on Earth. Students review the basic terms and processes associated with the water cycle, play a game to determine the percentage of the Earth’s surface covered by water, work together in groups to estimate the distribution of water in the various locations on Earth where it is found, and discover how much fresh water is available on Earth for human use.

This lesson focuses on how we use water in our daily lives.Students calculate their weekly water use and predict howtheir use would change if water were less available or morecostly.

This lesson builds on students’ prior knowledge of the water cycle. The teacher creates a watershed model to demonstrate runoff. Next, students locate their watershed on Michigan’s Water World poster and determine into which Great Lake their watershed empties. Lastly, they investigate how streamflow characteristics vary between Michigan rivers depending upon watershed size, time of year, and other factors.