The characters in this story learn what a Superfund site is, how it became contaminated, and how it will be cleaned up. In the course of the story, they perform an experiment that demonstrates what happened at the Superfund site, which was the contamination of the groundwater from the leaching of the tailings at an old silver mine. The experiment also illustrates the pump and treat method of restoring ... Full description.

This fictional story about a real Superfund site is available in English or Spanish. The Secret of Bog Creek Farm is a story about a real Superfund site where children learn through the eyes of local residents. The story explains how soil can become polluted and how it can be cleaned up by incineration. Full description.

This game will teach concepts and terms relating to air quality and air pollution. Students in teams will play the game by using one of the thirty three terms and its definition to draw or find in magazines a picture that represents the term. The game is over when all of the terms have been used. Full description.

This activity is designed to make students aware of just how much clean fresh water is wasted while waiting for the water to become warm in our spigots. They will make predictions of the amount of time and the quantity of water wasted, collect data for the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and calculate the class average of time and water wasted per sink. They are then introduced to the concept of projections, ... Full description.

This section of the children's page of the United Nations Environmental Programme contains essays, poems, and art by young people from around the globe, with a focus on environmental preservation. In the 'Our Earth' section are works about pollution and problems with deforestation, biodiversity, and urbanization. The second section, 'Our Future', concentrates on what the future holds if no actions ... Full description.

Younger students can visit the United States Forest Service's mascots Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl. Smokey Bear helps create and maintain awareness of the need to prevent unplanned, human-caused wildland fires. Woodsy Owl has been America's environmental champion since 1970, and is most recognized for his wise request, "Give a hoot. Don't pollute." A link is provided to the USDA's Kids Page which provides ... Full description.

This collection of activities and coloring book pages presents basic information about water for younger children. It offers crosswords, a word search, a maze and other activities, all conveying the message that water is very important and should not be wasted or polluted. Full description.

Minerals are all around us. They're in our kitchens and bathrooms, our classrooms and school buildings, and our cars and bicycles. This interactive feature lets users discover which minerals are found in items they probably encounter every day. Rolling the cursor over items in an illustrated room accesses pop-ups that describe what mineral products may be found in them. A background essay and list ... Full description.

In this lesson students learn about the differences in precipitation levels and elevation in the regions of the Nile and its source rivers (the White Nile and the Blue Nile) and will be able to explain the importance of the source rivers to civilization in Egypt. They use the MapMachine, an online atlas, and create elevation zones and precipitation maps of Africa. As they create each map, they compare ... Full description.

In this lesson students will identify and interpret different types of maps. Following a group introduction, they will work in cooperative groups to compare and contrast information provided by maps. This activity is an introduction for a more in-depth evaluation. Students will also learn the following vocabulary words: commercial, cultivated, deciduous, herbaceous, industrial, and residential. This ... Full description.