Click Here for a list recyclable items and recycling tips
National Energy Education Development Energy Infobooks
National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project has Complete Energy Infobooks in PDF form. The Infobooks are available for Primary, Elementary, Intermediate, and Secondary levels. The comprehensive classroom resource containing fact sheets that introduce students to energy and describe energy sources, electricity consumption, efficiency, conservation, transportation, climate change, and emerging technologies. Infobooks can be used as a resource for many energy activities.
The Green Education Foundation has developed a clearinghouse for sustainability-related lessons
The clearinghouse allows teachers to freely utilize lesson plans, upload their own plans, and comment and rate plans left by others. Lessons are organized by K–2, 3–5, middle school, and high school levels. You can seach by lesson type (e.g., group work, lecture, project), sustainability topic (e.g., water, energy), and based on different green education foundation program categories.
The clearinghouse appears to be in its infancy, but is definitely worth checking out to see if any lessons can integrate into your current plan or perhaps into future plans. As more teachers join and share, the clearinghouse will be more and more valuable.
https://www.greenschools.net
Washington Green Schools is a non-profit program supported by government agencies, individuals, businesses and foundations. Its robust educational resources are available to all public and private K-12 schools in Washington state.
https://www.wagreenschools.org/
Illinois Greening Schools Program - This is a directory of web resources that relate to greening curricula and activities.
www.greeningschools.org/resources
Energy Conservation
U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy – energy conservation lessons & activities
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/education/lessonplans/
Energy Star for Kids – energy conservation lessons and interactive games
https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=kids.kids_index
Material Resources Conservation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Waste Reduction Guide – information, resources, and case studies related to waste reduction
https://www.epa.gov/osw/education/pdfs/school.pdf
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools – variety of tools and resources for minimizing waste production and recycling materials at school
https://www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/toolkit.htm
Earth 911 – information about various recyclable items and a search function to help identify entities in the local area that accept and recycle certain products
https://earth911.com/recycling/
Water Conservation
Get Wise – classroom materials and tips for water (and energy) conservation
https://getwise.org/
Transportation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: National Idle-Reduction Campaign – information and resources related to reducing vehicular idling at schools
https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/antiidling.htm
Metro Area Ride Share – site dedicated to helping people identify carpooling opportunities for traveling to school and work
https://www.mapacog.greenride.com/
General/Miscellaneous Resources
Nebraska Alliance for Conservation and Environmental Education – various resources related to environmental education and conservation activities
www.nacee.org
Green Schools Alliance – various resources, tools, and information to help schools lessen their environmental impact
https://www.greenschoolsalliance.org
Green Omaha Coalition’s Green Schools Program – information and various resources (e.g., scorecard) to assist green teams in measuring their efforts to become a green school https://www.greenomahacoalition.org/councils/green-education/
Funding is available to K-12 schools enrolled in Fuel Up to Play 60. The competitive, nationwide funding program can help your school jumpstart and sustain healthy nutrition and physical activity improvements.
Green Thumb Challenge
GEF and Gardener’s Supply Company have teamed up on an exciting funding opportunity for established youth garden projects nationwide! The organizations are calling on schools and youth groups to submit chronicles of their garden projects in a race to win a $1,000 prize. The award is designed to support the continued sustainability of an exceptional youth garden program that has demonstrated success, and has impacted the lives of kids and their community.
Kids Gardening
Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program
Lowe’s Toolbox for Education
Project LearningTree GreenWorks! Grant
Safer Brand Garden Grants
Safer Brand, a company that sells organic gardening products, just announced they will are starting an annual school garden grant to help kids build healthy habits through gardening.
Whole Kids Foundation Garden Grants
Whole Foods Foundation is accepting new grant applications from K-12 schools and/or 501(c)3
organizations. $2,000 grants are available to those developing or currently maintaining a garden
project on school grounds that will engage children with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Gardening is a valuable tool for a variety of settings and content areas.
The graphic below is from the KidsGardening Helping Young Minds Grow web site.
There are many things to consider before beginning a gardening project. It is important that you read the document Garden Planning OPS Policy prior to implementing any phase of the project.
School garden provides hands-on learning opportunities A school garden allows a Pennsylvania learning-support teacher to incorporate math, reading, science and nutrition into hands-on lessons for students in first through fourth grades. Each Friday, students are able to taste the fruits of their labor after a cooking class. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (9/27)
The following sections contain Resources and Grants. If you plan to apply for a grant, please be certain you complete and submit the OPS Request to Apply for a Grant document prior to applying.
Gardening Resources
Browse Green Education Foundation's (GEF) resources and tool to help make your garden the best it can be!
COMPOSTING
Compost is a great way to create a sustainable garden! Learn how to take your leftovers and food waste and turn it into a nutrient rich fertilizer. Learn More!
VEGETABLE GUIDE
Keep gardening simple and use this handy guide to decide what vegetables to plant and how! The guide also includes critical harvesting information. Learn More!
MONTHLY ORGANIZER
Find out what steps to take throughout the year to make your garden as successful as possible. Learn More! GARDEN MAINTENANCE
Maintaining your garden properly is critical to a successful harvest. Find out what steps you can take to continuously improve your garden and its harvest! Learn More!
GARDEN GLOSSARY
From A to Z, learn all the key terms to improve your garden vocabulary! Learn More!