Lessons

Free, hands-on environmental education lesson plans and labs.

Resources for teaching effective environmental education.

Featured Lesson!

How and where are plastics made?

Find out how plastics are produced in the US and learn how this process impacts communities using FracTracker Alliance's interactive, digital map. Applicable subject areas: Geography, Environmental Science, Social Science, Civics, Chemistry, Synthetic Materials

Co-created with FracTracker Alliance

Grades 7 and up
30 to 60 minutes

Includes an editable student worksheet

Free and ready-to-use classroom lessons and labs

These lessons are designed to fit in one class period. All materials can be downloaded, edited, printed, and uploaded to your Learning Management System (LMS). Click on the lessons below to access.

A classroom desk.

Synthetic or Natural?

Contemplate the difference between synthetic and natural materials that make up common items and explore the pros and cons of synthetic materials.

Grades 5 and up
30 to 60 minutes

Close up of an albatross, sea bird, sitting on the ocean surface.

Sources and Sinks

How does plastic get into and impact ecosystems?

Grades 4 and up
30 to 60 minutes

Assorted plastic debris objects arranged by color.

The Problem with Plastics

Brainstorm and discuss the benefits and consequences of plastic for human societies.

Grades 6 and up
30 minutes

A fracking well pad with containers and equipment sits among trees.A fracking well pad with containers and equipment sits among trees.

How and where are plastics made?

Find out how plastics are produced in the US and find out how it impacts communities using geography tools like our GIS interactive map.

Co-created with FracTracker Alliance

Grades 7 and up
30 to 60 minutes

View of a sandy beach on a bay, littered with trash and a snowy mountain in the distance.

Trash Cam LIVE

Monitor plastic pollution in Alamitos Bay and find out how environmental conditions influence the flow of plastic through the environment.

Co-created with Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research

Grades 4 and up
30 to 60 minutes

recycling bin with chasing arrows symbol

Can it be recycled?

Find out why less than 10% of plastic gets recycled globally and what we can do about it.

Grades 5 and up
60 to 90 minutes

A red pipe sticking up from the ground emitting a large flame.

How is plastic production connected to climate change?

Analyze how plastics production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions using our interactive map.

Co-created with FracTracker Alliance

Grades 9 and up
60 to 90 minutes

Standards Alignment Guides

Suggested outlines for incorporating our free materials into your standards-aligned curriculum.

Workers sweep plastic debris washing over seawall

AP Environmental Science Unit 8: Plastic Pollution and Solid Waste

This guide outlines our suggestions for how to incorporate our resources into your Advanced Placement Environmental Science Unit 8 curriculum on aquatic and terrestrial pollution.

Grades 10 to 12
2 to 6 hours

Close up of sand grains and plastic particles.

NGSS MS-PS1-3 Synthetic Materials

This guide will outline our suggestions for how to use a few of our resources to teach about the following Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Performance Expectation: MS-PS 1-3 Gather and make sense of info to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

Grades 6 to 8
Variable Timing

 

“Algalita has opened my eyes and I am even more motivated to continue teaching the new generations how we can save our planet. There is hope, if we start with education.”

-Laura Bermudez, Educator

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