Young citizens learn about human impact on Earth's resources through engaging video, books and simulations. And also discover ways to be kind to the Earth on Earth Day 2020.
BrainVentures are engaging & interactive, digital, enrichment activities meant to supplement your standard aligned curriculum. They can be used as indepent or collaborative practice as well as remotely or on campus.

Our team of experts is excited to share with you their favorite tips and tricks about how to access and use Census Bureau Data.

So we created the Data Gems: a series of "how-to" videos available for data users who are looking for an easy and quick way to enhance their knowledge of Census data.

They will introduce you to various concepts and techniques to improve your ability to navigate our website and use our data-access tools.

We hope you find these Gems valuable! Drop us a line at census.academy@census.gov and let us know what you think!

Energy policy sits at the crossroads of science and policy. And now, energy and climate policy are inextricably linked; the policies we choose have very real consequences for our climate. This intersection of science and policy is chaotic and bustles with activity motivated by various competing (and conflicting) interests and factors. We must understand the motivations driving them and bridge the divides between our reliance on fossil fuels and our need to transition to less carbon-intensive and renewable alternatives. While the science and math behind these problems is often fairly straightforward, the politics and behavioral changes are not. Come stand at this busy intersection with us as we navigate toward progressive climate policy alternatives at all scales of governance!

This collection uses primary sources to environmental preservation in the Progressive Era. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Description: When learning the theme of «environment and sustainability", students must design an educational game, using software that best responds to the question that aim to address and the goals they have set to the game. AIMS1. Develop students’ environmental consciousness.2. Motivate students to an active environmental protection and sustainability, by creating educational games.3. Develop creativity and critical thinking. OUTCOMES Knowledge: To know and knowing how to use software for educational games. Comprehension: To know how important games could be in citizenship. Affective learning outcomes: Recognize the importance of cooperation and collaboration (teamwork) as main skills to raise creativity and self-esteem.

LESSON DESCRIPTIONStudents will research potential careers of stakeholders involved in making land use decisions then engage in a role-playing scenario about a proposed dam removal in their community.

In this group of activities students will investigate their schoolyard or other nearby space in orderto identify what is around them and arrive at the definition of an ecosystem. Students will take a walk or go to a specific location to observe the types of constructed and natural features that are there. Students will record their observations and then begin to categorize their findings into living and non- living things. Once students have identified the living things, they will discuss what living things need to survive. Students will learn new terms, biotic and abiotic, and review what a habitat is as they discuss the components of an ecosystem. Students will also be introduced to the term biodiversity.

In this group of activities, students will think more deeply about the ways in which organismsinteract within communities in their ecosystems. Students will learn about different types of relationships including commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism and will role play predator/prey relationships through an interactive game. Students will also discover how energy movesthrough ecosystems via food chains and food webs and look at energy pyramids.

In this group of activities, students will investigate how nutrients and water move through ecosystems in cycles. Students will begin by investigating how carbon cycles through organisms as part of photosynthesis and cellular respiration and then through food chains. Students will discuss what happens when living things do not decompose under normal conditions and become fossilfuels. Students will then review the water cycle and discover that water connects everything inecosystems. Students will explore stories of the water cycle as told by molecules of water anddiscuss water’s importance to all living things.

Students will learn about Michigan’s four ecological regions, how these unique regions come together to help support Michigan’s environment, and the important role they play in Michigan’s economy, as well as globally. Students will become “CSI agents” investigating and collecting information that supports why Michigan‘s environment is unique. Students will apply what they have discovered by creating an infographic that advertises the importance of their region.

There are many different types of ecosystems in the state of Michigan. Many of these ecosystemshave changed over time due to fires, storms, or animals. No animal has had a bigger impact onMichigan’s ecosystems than humans. Humans have transformed ecosystems all across the state.These ecosystems have been transformed in many different ways, like draining wetlands, cuttingdown forest for farm fields, and cities getting larger and expanding outward. Many ecosystems andorganisms are resilient and have adapted to the changes; others unfortunately have not.

LESSON DESCRIPTIONStudents will use problem-based learning to engineer a solution to the animal car collision problem.

Michigan has a variety of different ecosystems ranging from large forests all the way to shallow creeks, streams, and wetlands. Humans use these ecosystems in a variety of ways (good or bad). Students will investigate both the unique terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems found throughout Michigan through researching and developing detailed maps.

Students will learn about primary and secondary succession through an on-line interactivesuccession game, as well as conduct a historical analysis of the Great Thumb Fire of 1881.

LESSON DESCRIPTIONStudents will explore the benefits of ecosystems by engaging in a simulation utilizing ecosystemservices.

LESSON DESCRIPTIONStudents will analyze existing data to determine potential cause/effect of invasive species in population dynamics. Students will collect their own data in a field study to demonstrate the carrying capacity (competition and availability of resources) of an ecosystem.

LESSON DESCRIPTIONStudents will study existing examples of habitat restoration efforts related to promoting biodiversityin order to write their own management plan for an endangered species/habitat.

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.