project learning tree environmental education activity guide

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Pre K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide 4th Edition

Purchase options and add-ons.

A popular resource for educators of elementary and middle school students, PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide includes 96 hands-on, multidisciplinary activities that bring the environment into the classroom, and students into the environment. This guide is filled with practical, hands-on activities for teachers, nonformal educators, and youth group leaders to connect children to nature and increase young people’s awareness and knowledge about their environment.

Charting Diversity. Birds and Worms. Pollution Search. These are some of the fun, hands-on activities with emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies that use the environment to engage students in learning – both outside and indoors. Topics include trees and forests, wildlife, water, air, energy, waste, climate change, invasive species, community planning, and more. Each activity is tailored to specific grade levels and learning objectives.

Background science content is provided for teachers. The lesson plans are flexible and can be incorporated into existing curriculum and non-formal education programs. The activities are correlated to state and national academic standards, including Common Core, and have an emphasis on STEM.

What’s included:

• 96 hands-on, multidisciplinary activities integrate core subjects like science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
• The activities are interactive and fun for both educators and students. They engage students in learning and connect children to nature and the outdoors.
• Activities can be applied in urban, suburban, or rural settings. Lesson planning worksheets help you plan how to facilitate activities with your students in your own setting.
• Each activity includes background information and science content for teachers to effectively teach each activity's topic. Topics include forests, wildlife, water, air, energy, waste, climate change, invasive species, community planning, and more.
• Lesson plans are flexible and can be easily incorporated into your existing curriculum. Activities are practical and adaptable. They are easy to do, require minimal preparation; no special supplies are needed.
• Activities can be used as individual, stand-alone lessons, or several activities can be linked together into a unit of instruction using a storyline technique. Storylines suggested in the guide support learning progressions that hold areas of knowledge and skills together.
• How to think, not what to think. Activities are designed to develop students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Independent evaluators determined activities increase students’ knowledge, reasoning, and academic skills.
• Each activity includes correlations to state academic standards, Common Core State Standards, and supports the Next Generation Science Standards' three-dimensional approach.
• Activities are also correlated to scouts merit badges, 4-H and other nonformal programs for positive youth development through in-school and after-school programs, school and community clubs, and summer camps.
• Supporting features include literature connections; technology extensions; cooperative learning; differentiated instruction; enrichment suggestions; and tools to assess student learning.
• Cross-reference indices for activities include Subject; Grade Level; Time Consideration & Setting; Technology Connections; Topic; and Skills.
• Also included are a variety of appendices, for example, tips for teaching out-of-doors; tips for bringing nature indoors; and the role of the teacher for teaching about environmental issues in the classroom and effective environmental education that does not advocate any particular viewpoint on environmental issues.

Benefits of Environmental Education

Environmental education is the study of the relationships and interactions between dynamic natural and human systems.

Environmental education:

• Includes learning in the field as well as the classroom.
• Incorporates the teaching methods of outdoor education, experiential education, and place‐based education.
• Promotes school/community partnerships.
• Is inherently interdisciplinary. Outdoor activities increase student engagement and interest in science and in all core subjects.
• Boosts student achievement in science, math, reading, writing and social studies.
• Is hands‐on, student‐centered, inquiry driven, engages higher level thinking skills, and is relevant to students' everyday lives.
• Is especially good for incorporating STEM, civic skills, and green career pathways.
• Develops awareness, increases knowledge, builds skills, and creates the capacity for stewardship and good citizenship regarding the environment upon which we depend for life support.
• Helps improve the health of children. Getting kids outdoors to experience their natural world is an important tool in the battle to prevent obesity, alleviate attention deficit disorder, and address other related health problems.
• Helps young people make informed choices in their own lives, prepares students for real-world challenges and equips them with the skills needed for a 21 st century workforce. Business leaders increasingly believe that an environmentally literate workforce is critical to their long-term success.
• ISBN-10 0997080604
• ISBN-13 978-0997080605
• Edition 4th
• Publisher Project Learning Tree
• Publication date January 1, 2021
• Language English
• Dimensions 8.25 x 1 x 10.75 inches
• Print length 480 pages
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

From the Publisher

Explore Nature

Project Learning Tree is an environmental education program that gets children out into nature to explore and learn about their environment — with a focus on trees. It aligns with Common Core State Standards in English language arts and math, and science and social studies standards.

Children learn why leaves turn yellow in the fall. They learn about pollinators and how bees help produce the food we eat. They learn how seeds travel through the wind and grow in the soil where they land. They create nature journals, develop their creative writing skills, craft stories from their observations. They “adopt” a tree and learn about that species and watch how it changes through the seasons. They pretend to be trees and gather the nutrients they need for them to survive, collecting different colored squares for each element. They learn to “read” a cross section of a tree to see how old it is through the number of rings and what happened in each year. They learn to focus and observe using their five senses. They map out sounds they hear, they collect data and build bar graphs, comparing different elements in nature they find. They learn in a different way.

Designed to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Lesson plans are flexible, easily incorporated into existing curriculum or nonformal education programs.

Use the environment to teach core subjects

Our hands-on activities are fun and full of learning.

Multi-disciplinary, inquiry-based, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies. Correlated to state and national academic standards.

Activities contain background information and science content for teachers. Supporting features include literature connections, technology extensions, differentiated instruction, enrichment suggestions, and student assessment tools.

• Make teaching and learning fun!

Outside and indoors

• Suitable for urban, suburban, or rural settings

Teaching About the Environment

Project Learning Tree is for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth of all ages.

In urban, suburban, and rural settings

Take kids safely outdoors with award-winning supplemental lesson plans and easy-to-do activities.

Fun and hands-on

Children don’t realize how much they’re learning!

Engaging Children in Learning

• Age-appropriate activities
• Practical and flexible
• Thoroughly tested teaching techniques
• Multidisciplinary, focus on STEM
• Correlated to academic standards
• Build communication, collaboration, critical-thinking skills
• Improve health, social and emotional learning
• Connect children to nature, introduce green careers

Editorial Reviews

“The most amazing and helpful book in the universe! The students love the activities. It helps make learning more engaging for students, and in turn less stressful for me. Thank you!

– Rachel Hill , 7th Grade Science Teacher, Salem Church Middle School , Richmond, VA

“Practical, simple ideas that kids will love and meet state science standards.”

– Auburn School District Elementary Teacher , WA

“As a result of using PLT, my students definitely improved in their application of real-world math skills and their test scores in science went up significantly, too. Part of the strength of the PLT curriculum is that it’s fact‐based, teaching students how to think, not what to think. Students develop a knowledge base about natural resources and develop their own sense of stewardship.”

– Karen Christenson , Science Teacher, St. Anthony Park Elementary School , St. Paul, MN

“The PLT curriculum is one of the best. A busy teacher can teach the standards without adding something new to their already hectic schedule. ‘Teaching how to think, not what to think’ is vital to good education, not just good environmental education.”

– Michael Stewart , Naturalist, Miami County Park District, OH

“Not only are Project Learning Tree activities great for teaching science concepts, they are excellent tools to teach life skills.”

– Joy Cowart , English Teacher for Speakers of Other Languages, Lowndes County Schools, Valdosta, GA

“PLT’s support has got our kids bursting at the seams with enthusiasm and excitement about the journey we are taking this year.”

– Christine Matthews , Kindergarten Teacher, Hillside Elementary School, Niskayuna, NY

“For the active teacher who is looking for help in lesson planning a new unit, or a teacher who is starting a new curriculum, PLT is a fantastic place to go. The hands-on approach and critical thinking requirements of each lesson fulfill the expectations of today’s classroom.”

– Charles Schnabel , Medina County Career Center , OH

“Finding time to teach a science lesson in the field experience classroom can be challenging, given the amount of time devoted to literacy and math in the elementary curriculum. But PLT activities are a great way to incorporate teaching science with math and language arts.”

– Mary Heuwinkel , Ed.D., Professor, Metropolitan State University , Denver, CO

“Project Learning Tree provides teachers with powerful tools that they can immediately incorporate in their classrooms.”

– Tom Shimalla , New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

“With the hands-on activities, and often times outdoor experiences that go along with teaching these lessons, learning is always exceptional.”

– Teacher in Idaho

“Having worked for years at various schools in either Principal or curriculum roles, I was acquainted with PLT, and loved everything about it.”

– Kathy Yeloushan , Curriculum Consultant, Renaissance High School , Clarkson, MI

“I like how the activities can be modified and applied in multiple settings depending on age and skill level.”

– Koloa Elementary School Teacher , HI

“If we wish to pass on our passion for plants and animals to those who hold the future health of our world in their tiny hands, PLT is the tool which helps us enchant the younger generation with the natural world.”

– Jo Fessett , Illinois Audubon Society

“I now feel a commitment to teach my students about our responsibility to understand and care for our environment. I feel I have the skills to help the next generation become thinkers, explorers, and community-minded citizens.”

– New Hampshire Educator

“We appreciate you providing us with the great opportunity to help kids learn more effectively. Thanks for investing in our future!”

– Lezley Simonson , Middle School Educator, Lander, WY

About the Author

Project Learning Tree® (PLT) is an established, reputable, award-winning environmental education program designed to help young people learn how to think not what to think about complex and pressing environmental and sustainability issues. Through interactive and engaging activities, suitable for all ages and settings, PLT builds understanding and appreciation of the natural world, advances environmental literacy, and grows stewardship using trees and forests as windows onto the world

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Project Learning Tree; 4th edition (January 1, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0997080604
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0997080605
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.35 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.25 x 1 x 10.75 inches
• #302 in Trees in Biological Sciences
• #835 in Hiking & Camping Instructional Guides
• #982 in Environmental Science (Books)

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PREK-8 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ACTIVITY GUIDE

Project Learning Tree. Charting Diversity. Birds and Worms. Pollution Search. These are some of the 96 hands-on interdisciplinary activities found in Project Learning Tree’s  PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide . Topics include forests, wildlife, water, air, energy, waste, climate change, invasive species, community planning, and more. Each activity is tailored to specific grade levels and learning objectives. The materials provide educators the tools they need to bring the environment into their classrooms — and their students into the environment.

• 96 multidisciplinary activities  that integrate core discipline areas, including STEM subjects, reading, writing, and social studies
• Background information and science content for teachers
• Alignment to state and national education standards, including connections to Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) three-dimensional approach
• Supporting features, such as literature connections, technology extensions, differentiated instruction, and student assessment tools

Attributes: PreK 1-3 4-5 6-8 Lesson Plan

Resource Link:  https://www.plt.org/curriculum/environmental-education-activity-guide/

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Pre K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide Paperback – Jan. 1 2021

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 480 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Project Learning Tree
• Publication date Jan. 1 2021
• Dimensions 20.96 x 2.54 x 27.31 cm
• ISBN-10 0997080604
• ISBN-13 978-0997080605
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

From the Publisher

Explore Nature

Project Learning Tree is an environmental education program that gets children out into nature to explore and learn about their environment — with a focus on trees. It aligns with Common Core State Standards in English language arts and math, and science and social studies standards.

Children learn why leaves turn yellow in the fall. They learn about pollinators and how bees help produce the food we eat. They learn how seeds travel through the wind and grow in the soil where they land. They create nature journals, develop their creative writing skills, craft stories from their observations. They “adopt” a tree and learn about that species and watch how it changes through the seasons. They pretend to be trees and gather the nutrients they need for them to survive, collecting different colored squares for each element. They learn to “read” a cross section of a tree to see how old it is through the number of rings and what happened in each year. They learn to focus and observe using their five senses. They map out sounds they hear, they collect data and build bar graphs, comparing different elements in nature they find. They learn in a different way.

Designed to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Lesson plans are flexible, easily incorporated into existing curriculum or nonformal education programs.

Use the environment to teach core subjects

Our hands-on activities are fun and full of learning.

Multi-disciplinary, inquiry-based, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies. Correlated to state and national academic standards.

Activities contain background information and science content for teachers. Supporting features include literature connections, technology extensions, differentiated instruction, enrichment suggestions, and student assessment tools.

• Make teaching and learning fun!

Outside and indoors

• Suitable for urban, suburban, or rural settings

Teaching About the Environment

Project Learning Tree is for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth of all ages.

In urban, suburban, and rural settings

Take kids safely outdoors with award-winning supplemental lesson plans and easy-to-do activities.

Fun and hands-on

Children don’t realize how much they’re learning!

Engaging Children in Learning

• Age-appropriate activities
• Practical and flexible
• Thoroughly tested teaching techniques
• Multidisciplinary, focus on STEM
• Correlated to academic standards
• Build communication, collaboration, critical-thinking skills
• Improve health, social and emotional learning
• Connect children to nature, introduce green careers

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Project Learning Tree (Jan. 1 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0997080604
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0997080605
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.07 kg
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 20.96 x 2.54 x 27.31 cm
• #2,425 in Children's Books on the Environment & Ecology

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Project Learning Tree: Environmental Education PreK-8 Activity Guide

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Project Learning Tree

What is Project Learning Tree?

Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12. Using trees and forests as windows on the world, this hands-on, interdisciplinary, award-winning program teaches students how to investigate, interact with, and develop skills for how to think, not what to think, about forests and the broader environment.

Why become a Project Learning Tree Educator?

Project Learning Tree is a great way to incorporate environmental education into your existing lesson plan in many subjects areas including science, math, social studies, and even PE. Innovative Teacher-Leaders utilize these comprehensive guides full of activities to create dynamic, interactive, and engaging learning opportunities that can be designed for either indoor or outdoor learning or a combination of both! Classroom teachers, environmental educators working in parks or nature centers, child care providers, Scout leaders, and more can benefit from the high-quality, easy-to-use materials, the professional development in environmental educaton, and an extensive state and national network of support.

How to Access PLT and Attend a Training in Maryland

MAEOE offers training to help you support integration of PLT into your program and classroom curriculum. We have virtual and in-person professional development opportunities.

Contact Mary Westlund, Maryland's PLT Coordinator, to learn more about PLT workshops in your area. Send an email to [email protected].

E-Curriculum and Self-Paced Online Training for Educators

Not able to attend an in-person workshop? You can access our professional development anytime and anywhere through PLT’s online courses. For information about online training/E-Curriculum go to the PLT store and check out these e-units:

• Treemendous (K-2)
• Energy and Ecosystems (3-5)
• Carbon and Climate (6-8)

What Courses and Guides are offered through PLT?

PLT’s new flagship curriculum Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide includes 50 hands-on, multidisciplinary activities to connect children to nature and increase young people’s awareness and knowledge about their environment. Activities include detailed step-by-step instructions, academic correlations, time and material requirements, and corresponding student worksheets with green career connections. This supplementary curriculum is designed to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide offers educators a wide variety of engaging, hands-on activities, organized into grade bands: K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Many activities also suggest variations for doing the activity with a different grade level or audience.

Topics include trees and forests, wildlife, water, air, energy, waste, climate change, invasive species, community planning, and more. The activities encompass the economic, ecological, and social aspects of environmental issues and are designed to help students learn how to think, not what to think.

The activities are suitable for use in formal classrooms and non-formal settings and several are particularly suited to exploring urban environments. Most activities are designed to take one or two 50-minute periods of instruction.

PLT activities are designed to be easy to use. Each activity contains all the information needed to teach the core lesson, including background information, preparation instructions, materials and time requirements, step-by-step instructions, student pages, assessment suggestions, and suggestions for extending the lesson.

Taking students outdoors to make observations or collect data is the core of many lessons and while there are lessons for both indoors and outdoors, all activities offer ways to “Take It Outside!” to extend student learning. In addition, many suggest service-learning opportunities that take students into their community.

Charting Diversity. Birds and Worms. Pollution Search. These are some of the 96 hands-on interdisciplinary activities found in Project Learning Tree’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide . Topics include forests, wildlife, water, air, energy, waste, climate change, invasive species, community planning, and more. Each activity is tailored to specific grade levels and learning objectives. The materials provide educators the tools they need to bring the environment into their classrooms — and their students into the environment.

• 96 multidisciplinary activities that integrate core discipline areas, including STEM subjects, reading, writing, and social studies
• Background information and science content for teachers
• Alignment to state and national education standards, including connections to Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) three-dimensional approach
• Supporting features, such as literature connections, technology extensions, differentiated instruction, and student assessment tools

Perhaps more than any other environmental issue, the topic of climate change challenges science teachers to accurately convey data, reveal assumptions, and engage critical-thinking skills.

Designed for 6th-8th grade teachers, Carbon & Climate provides activities and resources to help educators meet these challenges, introducing students to some of the complex issues involved in climate change.

• Hands-On Activities: Get students excited about science through hands-on activities, rather than simply memorizing facts.
• Meet NGSS Standards: The e-units are constructed around targeted performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
• Flexible Curriculum: Use activities as stand-alone, or move through all e-unit activities from beginning to end.
• MAEOE offers hybrid training opportunities incorporating this curriculum and it's e-materials with the additional benefit of a trained facilitator to make the learning truly dynamic.

For K-2 teachers, Treemendous Science! helps young children explore, experience, and collect data to understand how trees grow, the roles trees play in ecological systems, and how humans and trees interact.

• MAEOE offers hybrid training opportunities incorporating this curriculum and it's e-materials with the additional benefit of a trained facilitator to make the professional development learning opportunity truly dynamic.

Designed for 3rd-5th grade teachers, the Energy in Ecosystems e-unit investigates ways in which organisms depend on each other to survive and thrive.

Students focus on forests (one of the largest and most complex types of ecosystems) and come to understand some of the interactions present in all ecosystems. In doing so, they learn to appreciate the natural systems on which we depend and begin to widen their circle of compassion to include all of nature.

Developed with preschool educators and early childhood specialists, Project Learning Tree’s Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood includes over 130 experiences that engage children in outdoor play and exploration. It is specifically designed for educators who work with children ages three to six. Topics include exploring nature with five senses, meeting neighborhood trees, and experiencing trees through the seasons. An accompanying music CD features songs from children’s musician Billy B. Brennan that encourage children to sing, dance, and move.

Standards Alignment

Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood provides a structured alignment to the following early childhood accreditation programs:

• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
• Head Start Child Outcomes Framework
• North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Early Childhood Environmental Education Guidelines for Excellence

Get the Materials

Attend a training — either in person or online — to get Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood.

• Contact your PLT State Coordinator about scheduled in-person workshops in your area, or work with him or her to plan one for your unique setting!
• Alternatively, if you want to do professional development when and where it’s convenient for you, check out this online course with an E-Guide .
• MAEOE Annual Conference
• PLT Training Events
• PLT Facilitators
• Project Learning Tree Resources & Pricing
• Environmental Education Certification
• Courses and Training
• Robert Finton Award

On This Page

Project Learning Tree Unit Lessons and Plans and Training Information

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Professional Preparation for Science Teachers in Environmental Education

• First Online: 01 January 2010

Cite this chapter

• James T. McDonald 4 &
• Lynn A. Dominguez 5  

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Environmental Education (EE) is intended to be interdisciplinary and supplemental throughout the K-12 curriculum. However, because EE is not confined to one subject area the professional preparation in EE for preservice teachers becomes complex. The National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) and the Guidelines for the Initial Preparation of Environmental Educators (NAAEE, 2000) guide how preservice teachers should be prepared to implement EE. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is as important in EE methods as it is with any other subject area. The complexity of environmental issues introduced throughout the K-12 curriculum demands a strong science-content base. Consequently, teacher preparation in EE involves a dual pedagogical challenge that requires addressing social change and the ability of teachers to become reflective practitioners. A mentoring program at Central Michigan University for preservice teacher preparation in EE is presented within this chapter. Recommendations for professional preparation of preservice teachers in EE are included.

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Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development, Central Michigan University, EHS 134C, Mt. Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA

James T. McDonald

Department of Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Servises Administration, Central Michigan University, 103 Finch, Mt. Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA

Lynn A. Dominguez

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McDonald, J.T., Dominguez, L.A. (2010). Professional Preparation for Science Teachers in Environmental Education. In: Bodzin, A., Shiner Klein, B., Weaver, S. (eds) The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9222-9_2

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Teaching Materials for Elementary and Middle

Explore your environment: k-8 activity guide.

PLT’s new flagship curriculum Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide includes 50 hands-on, multidisciplinary activities to connect children to nature and increase young people’s awareness and knowledge about their environment. Activities include detailed step-by-step instructions, academic correlations, time and material requirements, and corresponding student worksheets with green career connections. This supplementary curriculum is designed to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Purchase this guide (available in print or as an e-book) from PLT’s Shop and/or  find out about professional development opportunities in your state . 

P reK-8 Guide

A popular resource for educators of elementary and middle school students, PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide   includes 96 hands-on, multidisciplinary activities that bring the environment into the classroom, and students into the environment.

Charting Diversity. Birds and Worms. Pollution Search. These are some of the fun, hands-on activities with emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies that engage students in learning – both outside and indoors. Topics include trees and forests, wildlife, water, air, energy, waste, climate change, invasive species, community planning, and more. Each activity is tailored to specific grade levels and learning objectives and filled with opportunities to build critical thinking skills and differentiated instruction techniques.

To receive the PreK-8 Guide (available in print or as an e-book) ,  attend a Project Learning Tree professional development workshop in your state  or purchase the curriculum  from our Shop.

Grades K-2: Sensational Trees

Sensational Trees is a downloadable resource for educators of students in grades K-2 that uses sensory exploration to understand objects, spaces, people and interactions. 

Three hands-on activities connect children to nature in the city and the outdoors while integrating core discipline areas, including STEM subjects, reading, writing, and social studies. Students learn to investigate trees and develop a greater appreciation for their local environment. The activities can be used as individual, stand-alone lessons, or all together as a cohesive unit of instruction using a storyline technique. 

Purchase this activity collection from  Shop.PLT.org  and/or  find out about professional development opportunities in your state .

Grades K-2: E-Unit – Treemendous Science!

PLT’s  Treemendous Science!  e-unit is an invitation to increase the quantity and quality of your K-2 learners’ contact with nature and trees. With Treemendous Science! , students will experience, explore, and collect tree data to develop understandings about how trees grow, the roles trees play in ecosystems, and the ways in which trees and humans interact.

Grades 3-5:  E-Unit – Energy in Ecosystems

With PLT’s Energy in Ecosystems  e-unit students focus on forests (one of the largest and most complex types of ecosystems) and come to understand some of the interactions present in all ecosystems. In doing so, they learn to appreciate the natural systems on which we depend and begin to widen their circle of compassion to include all of nature.

Grades 3-5: Biodiversity Blitz

Biodiversity Blitz is a downloadable resource for educators of students in grades 3-5.  It  invites learners to investigate variability among species in an ecosystem, and how this variability – or biodiversity – helps sustain life on Earth. 

Three hands-on activities, with an emphasis on science, English language arts, math and social studies, engage students in learning about why biodiversity is one of the most important indicators of an ecosystem’s health, and how greater biodiversity means a greater ability to cope with change.

Grades 3-5: Trillions of Trees

Trillions of Trees is a downloadable resource for educators of students in grades 3-5. It invites young learners to investigate the unique characteristics of different tree species and how best to plan, plant, and care for trees in their community. Three hands-on activities, with an emphasis on STEM subjects, reading, writing, and social studies, engage students to connect children to nature in the city and the outdoors.

Grades 6-8: E-Unit – Carbon & Climate

Perhaps more than any other environmental issue, the topic of climate change challenges science teachers to accurately convey data, reveal assumptions, and engage critical-thinking skills. Project Learning Tree’s Carbon & Climate  e-unit provides activities and resources to help educators meet these challenges, introducing, and educating students to some of the complex issues involved in climate change.

Note: PLT’s e-units are all online. To get this e-curriculum,  attend a Project Learning Tree professional development workshop in your state or purchase the e-unit with an accompanying online course from our Shop .

Grades 6-8: Discover Your Urban Forest

Discover Your Urban Forest is a downloadable resource for educators of students in grades 6-8 that invites learners to explore their urban environment and investigate environmental issues that affect their urban community.

Three hands-on activities, with an emphasis on science and social studies, engage students in learning about the place they live and how we depend on natural systems to sustain us. Students learn to value diverse perspectives about different landscapes whether it is a city sidewalk, an urban forest, or a community park. The activities can be used as individual, stand-alone lessons, or all together as a cohesive unit of instruction using a storyline technique. 

Grades 6-8: Nature of Fire

Nature of Fire is a downloadable resource for educators of students in the grades 6-8 that invites students to investigate wildland fire and ecosystem change. Three hands-on activities, that integrates core discipline areas, including STEM subjects, reading, writing, and social studies. Students learn about the three elements that a fire needs to burn and find out how this “fire triangle” can be used to prevent and manage wildland fires and graph changes in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) over the course of several decades to explore the relationship among CO2, the Earth’s climate, and wildfires, and suggest ways to reduce negative effects of fire.

Grades 6-12: Teaching with i-Tree

PLT’s  Teaching with i-Tree unit, designed for use with middle and high school students, includes three hands-on activities that engage students in discovering and analyzing the many ecosystem services that trees provide. Students use the free, online i-Tree Design software – developed by the U.S. Forest Service –  to calculate the dollar value of the benefits provided by a tree or a set of trees. 

Download Teaching with i-Tree . 

Grades 6-16: Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers

Help youth discover careers in sustainable forestry and conservation!  Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers includes four hands-on instructional activities to help youth research forestry jobs, and practice managing and monitoring forest resources.  It is designed for educators, career and guidance counselors, Scouts, 4-H, and FFA leaders, foresters, and job training advisors to use with learners aged 12–25.

Learn more and  get the guide!  Available in print or as an e-book.

Energy & Society

Project Learning Tree’s Energy & Society  kit offers K-8 students opportunities to learn about their relationship with energy. The activities develop students’ critical thinking skills to help them make decisions about their personal energy use. In addition to hands-on activities, this curriculum integrates music and dance to enhance the study of energy issues. 

To get Energy & Society ,  attend a Project Learning Tree professional development workshop in your state .

GreenSchools

Engage students in STEM as they investigate their school site, energy use, water, waste and recycling practices. Five investigations empower students to make their schools green and healthy.

Register to access each investigation online, or purchase a print copy of the complete set. Attend an online GreenSchools training for tips on starting a program at your school, how to obtain equipment, collect data, etc.

Family Activities

Nature is a great teacher!  Try these activity ideas from Project Learning Tree to connect the children in your life to the outdoors and nature. This printed guide contains a collection of more than 30 fun and easy-to-do activities. Suitable for children ages 3 – 15, some activities work better for younger children, others are more suited for older children. The way you present them will change depending on your child’s knowledge and ability. 

Purchase  Nature Activities for Families  from shop.plt.org .