Lesson Plans, Teacher Guides and Online Environmental Resources for Educators

Acid Rain: A Teacher's Guide (PDF 56 pp, 4.6 MB)
Lesson plan and activities from EPA for teachers on acid rain.
Grades: 6-8
Type of Resource: Lesson plan

Acid Rain Student Pages
Find the acid rain student pages, as well as general information for older students or adults.
Grades: K-12
Type of Resource: Lesson plans and experiments

AIRNOW
Get up-to-the-minute information about air pollution in your community, through a joint project from EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Park Service and other partners. The AIRNOW website includes maps, forecasts, and information about the health effects of air pollution.
Grades: 9-12
Type of Resource: Website

AIRNOW Air Quality Resources 
Find air quality curriculum materials and activities from AIRNOW, including a toolkit and workshop opportunities for teachers.
Grades: K-8
Type of Resource: Curriculum guide

Measuring Air Quality Improvements from Vegetative Barriers
This unit has been designed by EPA as a teaching aid on the topic of air quality; particularly, investigating the role vegetative barriers play in improving air quality for surrounding areas.
Grades: K-5
Type of Resource: Lesson Plan

Carl Gets Some Rest (PDF 12 pp, 765 KB)
This EPA coloring and story book, for children in pre-school through 2nd grade, teaches a simple lesson: there are many transportation alternatives to using a car.
Grades: K-2
Type of Resource: Coloring Book

Creating Healthy Indoor Air Quality in Schools
This EPA page provides information on indoor air quality in school buildings and how to order the Tools for Schools Action Kit. The kit shows how to carry out a practical plan of action to improve indoor air quality at little or no cost using common-sense activities and in-house staff.
Grades: K-12
Type of Resource: Toolkit

EnviroAtlas Educational Materials
These ready-made lesson plans can be used in formal and informal education settings and are aligned with Next Generation and State Science Standards.
Grades: K-12
Type of Resource: Lesson Plans

Noise Pollution for Kids (PDF 15 pp, 6.54 MB)
This EPA booklet for your students will teach you how to identify which sounds are loud and ways to protect your hearing and health.
Grades: K-5
Type of Resource: Activity book

Particulate Matter (PM) Air Sensor Kits
Particle pollution known as particulate matter (PM) is one of the major air pollutants regulated by EPA to protect public health and the environment. A PM air sensor kit has been developed by EPA researchers as an educational tool to teach children about air quality and air science.
Grades: 5-12
Type of Resource: Hands-on activity guide

Basic Ozone Layer Science
Find a straightforward explanation of the ozone layer and ozone depletion.
Grades: 9-12
Type of Resource: Website

AIRNOW's Ozone: Good Up High, Bad Nearby (PDF 4 pp)
Ozone acts as a protective layer high above the Earth, but it can be harmful to breathe. This publication provides basic information about ground-level and high-altitude ozone.
Grades:6-12
Type of Resource: Booklet/Brochure

Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act
A brief introduction to the 1990 version of the Clean Air Act, to help you understand what is in the law and how it may affect you.
Grades: 9-12
Type of Resource: Booklet

RadTown USA
EPA's RadTown USA is a virtual community that aims to educate students about the sources of radiation in our daily lives.
Grades: 9-12
Type of Resource: Virtual activity

Teaching Kids to Conserve Energy at Home: Resources for K-12 teachers and parents
This 11-minute presentation focuses on an introduction to energy and the environment, energy saving tips, how to use the Energy Star home energy yardstick, and homework ideas.
Grades: K-12
Type of Resource: Video

Village Green Project
These lessons provide a unique opportunity for students to learn about air quality as it relates to various topics of science appropriate to their grade level. The purpose of these lessons is to engage students of varying ability levels through hands-on and minds-on thinking. Each lesson is designed to focus around the topic of air quality; from issues of human health to career and 21st century skills.
Grades: K-8
Type of Resource: Lesson Plan (PDF) (52 pp)

Why is Coco Orange?
Coco has a problem. He is a chameleon, but he cannot change colors, and his asthma is acting up. Read how Coco and his friends at Lizard Lick Elementary solve this mystery as they learn about air quality and how to stay healthy when the air quality is bad.
Grades: Pre K-2
Type of Resource: Book

Other resources

NOAA's Education Resources Website
Explore this site to find the information you need to teach students about weather, climate change, and oceans. You'll find activities, background information, and much more!
Grades: 6-12

National Park Service Education Resources
Classroom materials, field trip opportunities and professional development programs for educators from the National Park Service.
Grades: All

Climate and Health Lesson Plan and Toolkit by The American Public Health Association
This lesson adopts materials developed by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIH) to make it easy for public health professionals to guest teach at local high schools. For more resources aimed directly at teachers, see Climate Change and Human Health Lesson Plans by NIH.
Grades: 9-12