Celebrating Afterschool Environmental Education


Thank you for joining us to celebrate environmental education this April!

Check out the Storify recap of our #AfterschoolEE tweetchat, and keep working to strengthen and grow environmental education in out-of-school time spaces with these resources.

Environmental Education Resources


Nonformal Environmental Education Programs: Guidelines for Excellence

This resource guide from the North American Association for Environmental Education is great for practitioners interested in developing a high-quality program and for those who have already implemented environmental education to make their program even better.

Plum Landing Curriculum

Aimed at kids ages six to nine, this curriculum from WGBH Boston helps kids develop a love for and a connection to Earth. The curriculum is designed especially for afterschool and summer learning programs and aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Greening STEM Learning Center

The National Environmental Education Foundation's suite of tools includes educator toolkits, activity guides, and video resources to get you started with environmental education or enhance your program.

4-H Environment and Outdoors Curricula
These books and online resources for ages 8 to 18 cover a wide variety of topics, from outdoor adventures to water conservation to entomology.
Amphibian Alert
This curriculum for grades 2 to 5 teaches children what amphibians are and why amphibian population declines are important. You don't need to be a science specialist to teach the curriculum—it includes lesson plans, field activities, and all the background information you'll need.
BOOST Collaborative EE Resources
These resources, appropriate for grades K-12, include water conservation curriculum, recycling and gardening programs, community service projects, and more.
California Academy of Sciences
The Academy offers a wide breadth of environmental education resources, including lesson plans for every grade level from K-12, distance learning opportunities, and the youth-powered Flipside Science video series.
Creek Freaks
Creek Freaks programs teach kids about their creeks and how to protect them. Their website provides information, tools, and training to help start your own program or add outdoor activities to your existing K-12 afterschool program.
Department of Energy Education Toolbox
The Department of Energy offers tons of energy basics, K-12 lesson plans, hands-on activities, and videos to help teach kids about clean energy.
Earth Force
Earth Force is an international nonprofit that believes young people should play a central role in building environmentally resilient communities. They offer curricula around water sustainability and health.
Guide to Teaching Climate and Energy Science
This guide from the Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) faces some of environmental education's biggest challenges head-on, discussing possible controversies and strategies to effectively teach these topics.
Immersion
This website offers programs focusing on tide pools, underwater volcanoes, deep-sea creatures, and more. Each program page includes games, photos, puzzles, videos, and links to help bring the undersea world to life.
Learning Landscapes
The Bureau of Land Management offers activity books to help kids explore everything from native plants to wild horses. State-specific activities are available for ten states, while several others are appropriate for a national audience.
Project WILD
This national program from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department includes several different interdisciplinary curriculum guides that are correlated to national academic standards and cater to many different audiences. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department also offers free workshops to educators.