This is one of the 'growth' areas of Geography. A lot of this content was introduced when the subject was updated through the last few decades of the last century to remove the 'regional' and emphasise the 'applied' nature of the subject. Environmental issues are on a series of scales from local to global. I put together a 9 week course on Environmental Education about 10 years ago as part of the old PSHE curriculum, which was then replaced with something else (which has since been replaced with something else....)
Don't forget to look for the materials on
ESD (Education for Sustainable Development)
BIOMES: NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS HERE
An important place for regular visits is the site of GEORGE MONBIOT.
One of the organisations / sites which people associated with the Environment is WWF. Several of my students look at this: unfortunately they're looking for details on 'The Rock', or the 'Royal Rumble'. WWF is the WORLDWIDE FUND FOR NATURE.
Another development of interest was the opening of the DARWIN CENTRE at the Natural History Museum. This has a tremendous range of materials and a commitment to education.
For details, go the dedicated page on GLOBAL WARMING LINKS.
This is a location we have used for some years as an example of the one of the few places left where there has been minimal environmental damage. There are increasing problems in the area however, especially with the waste generated by scientific bases, and the upheaval caused by constructing the necessary buildings and airstrips etc. There is also an increased demand for the area as a tourist destination, and not the least on South Georgia with the increased interest in Shackleton.
The BBC Online website recently sent its correspondent Christine McGourty to Antarctica, and she has filed a series of reports on the website in a feature called White Continent. Each article looks at a different aspect of life in one of the last few wilderness areas on the earth. I recommend Sara Wheeler's 'Terra Incognita' as a way in to the continent. Once there, you have to succumb to the heroics of Ernest Shackleton.
One of the themes which is relevant to Antarctica is damage to the Ozone layer over Antarctica. In September, on the 16th to be precise, is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (TIPDOL). For more on this go to the page based around this OZONE AWARENESS DAY.
Most environmental organisations worth their salt have an online presence, as it saves on mailings and costs. First try the RSPCA, then the FRIENDS OF THE EARTH (this also has a Factory Watch section where you can find out who's polluting your local area..)
People tend to like WHALES and DOLPHINS too.
If you want to find out the latest on the 'Royal Rumble', try WWF.
It's worth getting on the mailing list for the WWF's LIFELINES magazine. This offers News and Ideas for Teachers.
They have hosted a series of ONLINE DEBATES on issues such as CHEMICALS and HEALTH and OIL POLLUTION.
2 important dates for the diary:
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY - 5th of June
WORLD OCEANS DAY - 8th of June
A chance to register for the WWF's COFFEE CORNER. This is a place where people can pop in and discuss Environmental issues and ESD (Education for Sustainable Development)
Information on SUSTAINABLE schools, and calculating ECO FOOTPRINTS for buildings and organisations. These are perhaps the schools of the future. Read more on these and Sustainable housing.
ENGLISH NATURE are concerned with what you'd expect them to be concerned with.
A good general site is NATURENET.
The DISCOVERY CHANNEL have lots of excellent programming: Sky Digital certainly changed my life for the better.
The GLOBAL WWF SITE is here. They have a huge range of resources, and overall the site is Recommended.
Another useful site from an educational point of view is the CENTRE FOR ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY.
GREENPEACE have a good web presence. Their DIGITAL site links to their various campaigns, but may be filtered out by school systems.
For a list of Environmental Campaigns, the TIDY BRITAIN GROUP site is rather good.
There are many opportunities to back the Environment by boycotting certain products. A list is HERE but be careful - if you join them all you won't be left with much to buy. Lots of charities here too.
Try a GLOBAL ACTION PLAN. A little US based, but some interesting ideas for changing your neighbourhood. Work out your Air Quality Footprint.
TOURISM CONCERN has information on environmentally sound holidays.
In the days before the Internet...I used to get factsheets from The Young People's Trust for the Environment and Nature Conservation. I wrote a 9 week PSE course on Environmental Education which I taught for several years, before the Government decided to replace it with more RE, and now Citizenship, and the YPTENC badges were a popular prize for project work of a good quality. They now have a website which includes an online newsletter called The DAILY GECKO. This has been revamped and now has teaching resources and downloadable factsheets.
Try the GREENBANK TRUST's Understanding the ENVIRONMENT pages. They include loads of links for schools and colleges. They have TEACHER GUIDE and WORKSHEETS which are downloadable. They link particularly to the NEAB syllabus, so if that's the syllabus you do you're in luck...
Become a LITTER DETECTIVE here. Register as a detective and find out about the scheme to clean up London.
Try UK ENVIRONMENT. They have useful information on 'green' transport.
I picked up a postcard on a recent visit to the London Aquarium which was publicising a group called BITEBACK. This organisation campaigns against the demand for shark products in restaurants, fishmongers and retailers.
Try the WWF POACHER PERIL game.
The WILDFOWL AND WETLANDS TRUST have added a lot of materials for Key Stages 1 - 3 to their site.
A good site is about the issue of Climate Change, and is called COOL KIDS FOR A COOL CLIMATE. This is currently a nominee for an award.
The RSPCA have recently launched a press campaign against the purchase of eggs from intensively farmed or 'battery' units. The main idea is that people are not prepared to pay a few extra pence a dozen for free range, so there is little incentive for producers to change over. At the same time, there seems to be a move towards organic farming because people are prepared to pay a little more for that. RSPCA campaign explains that:
Over 20 million hens live in battery cages in the UK. Crammed in so they can't open their wings and bones don't develop properly. 86% of the British public say the system is cruel, but only 32% of eggs sold in Britain are barn or free range.
A useful gateway to other environmental sites is GREEN SOLUTIONS.
Some useful environmental activities produced by EXETER University.
For NOAA imagery of SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS go to the OSEI website. Large archive of imagery.
The NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM has introduced a new broadband filled site.
Two BBC sites which offer a lot of useful materials. SPRINGWATCH fits in with a series with Bill Oddie. There is another site which is a weekly repository of useful information: COUNTRYFILE has a series of useful factsheets which are updated each week.
ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL commissioned a thermal image of the city. This shows the amount of heat being lost from houses and other properties. This could be explored even by pupils who are not familiar with the city. They could explore the differences in different areas of the city - edge of city estates compared with inner city housing perhaps ? The image can be accessed from HERE.
NEW for 2007
The BIODAVERSITY CODE: a FLASH animation parody of the Da Vinci Code from the makers of STORE WARS: http://www.daversitycode.com/ which looks at Biodiversity. Thanks to Tony Cassidy for the find...
RECYCLING LINKS
Do you take your glass to the bottle bank ? Try the GLASS FOREVER site to find out what happens to it once you've tried your best to smash other bottles in the bank by throwing yours in... A good interactive site with some games. Recommended. It's (wait for it...) A SMASHING SITE !
I have a mouse mat made from RECYCLED car tyres by a company called REMARKABLE.
There is a very useful site related to the work of the CARYMOOR ENVIRONMENTAL CENTRE in Somerset. They put across the old 3 R's adage that I remember from the mid 90's when I produced a course that the whole of Year 10 at my school did on a 9 or 10 week rotation. Visitors to the centre see trucks of household rubbish recycled into compost, water and electricity. Well worth a visit to the site if you can't get to Somerset.
Try running your own dump in RECYCLE CITY.
The average soft-drink can lasts 95 days before it is reborn. Ray Oliver produced a very useful resource in the TES in January 2003. He produced the following flow chart to show the stages in the production and rebirth of a can.
| 1. BUY THE CAN AND DRINK THE CONTENTS |
| 2. DISCARD THE EMPTY CAN (preferably in a recycling bin..) |
| 3. BULK COLLECTION OF EMPTY CANS FROM RECYCLING FACILITY AND TRANSPORT TO RECYCLING PLANT |
| 4. CRUSHED AND SHREDDED CANS CANS PASS A MAGNET TO REMOVE STEEL CANS |
| 5. LACQUER COATING REMOVED
FROM THE METAL THIS IS INSIDE THE CAN TO PREVENT A REACTION BETWEEN THE CAN AND ITS CONTENTS |
| 6. METAL SCRAP IS MELTED AND
IMPURITIES REMOVED NEW METAL INGOT CAST |
| 7. INGOT ROLLED INTO STRIPS AND FORMED INTO NEW CANS |
| 8. NEW CANS ARE FILLED AND GO BACK TO THE SUPERMARKET |