Books

  • Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
    The first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development – physical, emotional, and spiritual. What’s more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. A “must read” for all parents and teachers.
  • A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
    It is simply one of the great works of nature literature and from it has sprung the environmental movement.  It was over 50 years ago that the book was first published, but his words and insights are as fresh as ever.
  • Walter the Raindrop by Tim Olson, P.E.
    Follow Walter the Raindrop and Tim, a water resources engineer, to learn more about the water cycle.
  • Doug the Water Drop by Rick Lohmann
    Doug the Water Drop goes on a journey from your drinking well, into your home, and through a wastewater treatment plant with the help of Rick, a wastewater operator.

Magazines

  • Green Teacher – Education for Planet Earth
    A magazine that helps youth educators enhance environmental and global education inside and outside of schools. Fifty pages of ideas and activities, four times a year.
  • Instructor
    A magazine created to help teachers of kindergarten through 8th grade design activities, insights and resources for their classroom. Each issue comes filled with great new teaching ideas, lesson plans and advice from fellow educators that will give your class a thrilling educational boost.

Websites

  • Michigan Ag in the Classroom – Agriculture is Michigan’s second largest industry and an essential part of our daily lives. To assist you in integrating agriculture into your classroom, we have resources such as lesson plans, activities, agricultural information, and much more. Each of our lesson plans conforms to state standards.
  • Michigan Department of Natural Resources – Classroom activities, field trips, resources for educators, outdoor education partners, and summer Academy of Natural Resources just for educators!
  • Arbor Day Foundation Youth Education – Here, you’ll find everything from tree facts to videos to hands-on activities. Your school can even use these resources to help earn recognition for inspiring young tree planters through Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus K-12 program.
  • Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) – Five Michigan-specific units which provide an opportunity for students in grades 4-9 to learn about Michigan’s environment through inquiry oriented, data-based lessons: Land Use, Ecosystems and Biodiversity, Water Quality, Air Quality and Energy Resources.
  • Virtual Middle School Library – lists of science resources from lesson plans to links for activities and teaching guides for parents and teachers all maintained by retired school librarian, Linda Bertland.
  • Extreme Explorer for teachers offered by National Geographic – Downloadable teacher’s guide for comprehensive, research-based lesson plans, curriculum, connections, and innovative ideas on how to extend your student’s learning.
  • TEACHERS Where Teachers Come First – Student activities, teaching resources, books and authors, scholastic products, lesson plans, teacher store, etc. Home page connect with other teachers and find educational materials fast.
  • PlanetPals – Books for kids, books for teachers, music, fundraising, games, crafts, blogs, just for teachers pages, Earth Day projects and more…
  • EPA Teaching Resources – A collection of websites, documents and lesson plans to use in explaining environmental topics. These resources offer basic and clear information to assist you in teaching your students about the environment.
  • Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) – A professional association supporting and advancing environmental education in a variety of settings, including but not limited to: K-12 classrooms, nature centers, camps, youth programs, government agencies, as well as for-profits and nonprofit organizations.
  • Sea Grant Michigan – Curricula and K-12 programs, camps, cruises, educator resources supporting Michigan’s formal and non-formal educators by helping youth and adults increase their knowledge about the Great Lakes and the oceans.
  • Clean Water Education Partnership– Their virtual storytime is a library of recorded storytimes accompanied by short lessons.  They are a great resource for librarians, teachers, and parents educating youth about water.