In this lesson, students are introduced to global climate change. They explore the ramifications of global climate change for Michigan, as well as individual actions that
can decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In this lesson, the Internet is used as a resource for students to access daily (and hourly) information about air quality. The National Air Quality Index provides color-coded information about levels of air pollution and health effects. The color codes of the AQI, posted daily, can be found on the Internet and in some newspapers. The UV index alerts people to levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Students use the Internet to find out about the UV index in Michigan and around the country.

Students explore how public policy decisions are made and practice solving problems that require choices. Students learn that solving environmental issues involves a
diversity of stakeholders and that everyone can contribute to solutions to air pollution problems.

Investigate characteristics of major biomes and examine the impact of land-use changes as the result of human activities.

GeoInquiries are designed to be fast and easy-to-use instructional resources that incorporate advanced web mapping technology. Each 15-minute activity in a collection is intended to be presented by the instructor from a single computer/projector classroom arrangement. No installation, fees, or logins are necessary to use these materials and software.

The true, inspiring story of Beauty, the bald eagle, who was shot, rescued, and received a 3D-printed prosthetic beak. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenges: (1) Use paper and pencil to design a prosthetic body part for a human or animal. Then use tinkercad.com to create a prototype. Finally, use a 3D printer to print the prosthetic. (2) Have students research animals who use prosthetics. Then, improve the design in Tinkercad and 3D Print.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

This template course was developed from generally available open educational resources (OER) in use at multiple institutions, drawing mostly from a primary work published by OpenStax College Concepts of Biology, but also including additional open works from various sources as noted in attributions on each page of materials.

Submitted as part of the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) Phase 3 Digital Textbook Initiative (CA DTI3), CK-12 Foundation’s high school Biology FlexBook covers cell biology, genetics, evolution, ecology, botany, zoology, and physiology. This digital textbook was reviewed for its alignment with California content standards.

As GIS technicians, students examine dams along the Mersey River Watershed to determine whether there are any locations suitable for the construction of a fishway. Once they identify the best potential location, they will calculate the dam's upstream watershed to help determine how much additional habitat could be made accessible by constructing the fishway.

Students are challenged to design a permanent guest village within the Saguaro National Park in Arizona. The design must provide a true desert experience to visitors while emphasizing sustainable design, protection of the natural environment, and energy and resource conservation. To successfully address and respond to this challenge, students must acquire an understanding of desert ecology, environmental limiting factors, species adaptations and resource utilization. Following theintroduction, students generate ideas and consider the knowledge required to complete the challenge. The lectures and activities that follow serve to develop this level of comprehension. To introduce the concepts of healthy ecosystems, biomimetics and the importance of sustainable environmental design, students watch three video clips of experts. These clips provide direction for student research and challenge design solutions.

The major goal of this lesson is to provide students with some of the tools they will need to analyze and solve the many complex problems they will face during their lifetimes. In the lesson, students learn to use Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams to analyze a very complex problem of ecological sustainability. The lesson looks at a specific case study—from my home town in the Philippines—of the Live Reef Fish Trade now threatening survival of the Coral Reef Triangle of Southeast Asia. Live reef fish have long been traded around Southeast Asia as a luxury food item, but in recent decades trade in fish captured on coral reefs has expanded rapidly. Although the trade has provided communities with additional income, these benefits are unsustainable and have come at considerable cost to the environment. This lesson begins by having students analyze a familiar or personal problem, using Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, and then moves on to the application of those tools to a complex environmental problem. The lesson could be completed in a 50-minute class session, but using it over two class sessions would be preferable. Everything needed for the lesson is downloadable from the BLOSSOMS website, including blank Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, as well as articles on the Philippines case study from the World Wildlife Fund and the United States Agency for International Development.

The major goal of this lesson is to provide students with some of the tools they will need to analyze and solve the many complex problems they will face during their lifetimes. In the lesson, students learn to use Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams to analyze a very complex problem of ecological sustainability. The lesson looks at a specific case study—from my home town in the Philippines—of the Live Reef Fish Trade now threatening survival of the Coral Reef Triangle of Southeast Asia. Live reef fish have long been traded around Southeast Asia as a luxury food item, but in recent decades trade in fish captured on coral reefs has expanded rapidly. Although the trade has provided communities with additional income, these benefits are unsustainable and have come at considerable cost to the environment. This lesson begins by having students analyze a familiar or personal problem, using Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, and then moves on to the application of those tools to a complex environmental problem. The lesson could be completed in a 50-minute class session, but using it over two class sessions would be preferable. Everything needed for the lesson is downloadable from the BLOSSOMS website, including blank Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, as well as articles on the Philippines case study from the World Wildlife Fund and the United States Agency for International Development.

Using this lesson plan students will be more aware of how plants and animals adapt to wildland fire. They will: Discuss the adaptive strategies of plants and animals to survive fire. Observe plants and animals in your local area. Design a plant or animal that is adapted for fire survival.

This practicum focuses on applying the principles of sustainability to improve the quality of life and activity along the Foshan downtown riverfront. The City has recently engaged in several planning efforts that, with the help of consultants and experts, will help to identify strategies to revitalize the City's center and establish a new downtown. This practicum will compliment these efforts by focusing on planning and design options in and around the Pearl River, a now underutilized waterway that runs through the City's new downtown.

After the Great Depression struck, Ford especially wanted to support ailing farmers. For two years, Ford and his team researched ways to use farmers’ crops in his Ford Motor Company. They discovered that the soybean was the perfect answer. Soon, Ford’s cars contained many soybean plastic parts, and Ford incorporated soybeans into every part of his life. He ate soybeans, he wore clothes made of soybean fabric, and he wanted to drive soybeans, too. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Think about the people in your community and the challenges they face. List three challenges that affect their daily life. Consider something you use every day and brainstorm how it could be repurposed or modified to address this problem.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

Meet savvy scientist and inventor Hedy Lamarr, also known for her career as a glamorous international movie star. Dubbed "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World," Hedy actually preferred spending time creating inventions in her workshop to strutting down the red carpet. Hedy co-invented the technology known as frequency hopping, which turned out to be one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century! Today's cell phone, computers, and other electronic devices would be more vulnerable to hacking without the groundbreaking system discovered by a world-famous actress and gifted inventor. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Create small groups. Pass out one of the challenges listed in the lesson plan/book card to each group for them to come up with an invention that will solve the problem at hand.

The Ecology Student Edition book is one of ten volumes making up the Human Biology curriculum, an interdisciplinary and inquiry-based approach to the study of life science.

Meg set out to climb up and investigate the rain forest tree canopies — and to be the first scientist to do so. But she encountered challenge after challenge. Male teachers would not let her into their classrooms, the high canopy was difficult to get to, and worst of all, people were logging and clearing the forests. Meg never gave up or gave in. She studied, invented, and persevered, not only creating a future for herself as a scientist, but making sure that the rainforests had a future as well. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Your community has many different areas to explore - it might be a park, a grocery store, a forest, or an alley. For some people, it might be difficult to explore these areas because they may have differing abilities. Select one area in your community, and come up with a plan to build a way for it to be more accessible to everyone.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

A young girl has a wonderful idea to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl repeatedly tries and fails. Eventually, she quits, but a walk with her dog and time to think, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Create small groups. Pass out one of the challenges listed in the lesson plan/book card to each group for them to come up with an invention that will solve the problem at hand.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

The goals of the International OER Exchange Pilot project are to: facilitate the development and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) by teachers and students globally, track the development and use of the science learning materials and data collection, especially around climate change study, created in the project through OER Commons, and highlight the process and results through workshops and conference presentations.The broader purpose of the project is to support the international exchange of information and understanding through freely available resources among teachers and students, especially in the area of environmental science and climate change investigation.