Course Materials

Please note: I regularly modify my Environmental Science curriculum. The latest and greatest versions are available on Google Drive here: Mr. Carman's Environmental Science Curriculum & Lesson Plans

This is a list of the course materials I use in my Environmental Science course. This includes assignments, labs and field activities. Some of these change from year to year, and I don't use every assignment each year depending on the weather, but I tried to include everything I've used recently. All of these assignments are free for you to use in your classroom however you see fit, without attribution, although if you do use or modify anything I'd love to hear about it! Because some of these assignments are modified from commercially published resources, they cannot be used in publications of any kind; they are only for classroom use.

I give some assignments using Google Classroom and others on paper, but they've all been replicated on Google Drive for my students who are absent or would rather type on a computer. You can download anything from Google Drive as a Word, Powerpoint, Excel or PDF file by going to the "File" menu and selecting "Download As…".

For those assignments that I normally give on paper, I've included links to the PDFs and Microsoft Word documents. All of these assignments are designed so that they can be completed online or on paper, although the field and lab activities are much better on paper. If you have any questions, please contact me at ccarman *at* kentschools *dot* net!

This is a simple list of every assignment in Environmental Science from the 2021-2022 school year in chronological order with just a link to the Google Doc, PDF, etc. I've also included links to the "Essential Knowledge" slides for each unit.

Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems [notes]

• #1-1: What's Important to You?

• #1-2: Predator-Prey Relationships

• #1-3: Biomes of the World

• #1-4: Citizen's QHEI [PDF] [Google Sheet]

• #1-5: Biogeochemical Cycles

• #1-6: Food Webs and Trophic Levels

• Unit 1 Creative Task

Unit 2: The Living World: Biodiversity [notes]

• #2-1: Map of Life

• #2-2: RHS Tree Benefits

• #2-3: Natural Selection Simulation

• #2-4: Hawks & Mice Lab

• #2-5: ORAM Form for Wetlands [PDF] [Google Sheet]

• #2-6: Ohio Wildlife Trivia Game

• #2-7: Species Poster

• Unit 2 Creative Task

Unit 3: Populations [notes]

• #3-1: Cemetery Demographics Lab [online] [paper]

• #3-2: The Lesson of the Kaibab Deer

• #3-3: Human Population Dynamics [online] [paper]

• #3-4: Population Pyramid Presentation

• #3-5: Solutions to Population Growth

• Unit 3 Creative Task

Unit 4: Earth Systems & Resources [notes]

• #4-1: Soil Tests Lab

• #4-2: Web Soil Survey

• #4-3: "Dirt! The Movie" WS

• #4-4: Watersheds of the United States and Ohio [online] [paper]

• #4-5: Earth's Seasons, Weather & Climate

• Unit 4 Creative Task

Unit 5: Land and Water Use [notes]

• #5-1: The Tragedy of the Commons (aka "The Fishing Lab")

  • #5-1: The Tragedy of the Commons MAKE-UP

• #5-2: What the World Eats

• #5-3: "Food Machine" Video WS

• #5-4: The Impact of Food Choices

• #5-5: Greening a Recipe Presentation

• #5-6: Your Ecological Footprint

• #5-7: Sustainable Land Use

• Unit 5 Creative Task

Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption [notes]

• #6-1: Kill-a-Watt Lab

  • #6-1: Energy Resources and Consumption (ALTERNATE)

• #6-2: Oil Class Presentation

• #6-3: Impacts of Natural Gas

• #6-4: Wind Turbine Competition

  • #6-4: Wind Turbine Competition ALTERNATE

• #6-5: Renewable Energy

• Unit 6 Creative Task

Unit 7: Atmospheric Pollution [notes]

• #7-1: Air Quality Index (AQI)

• #7-2: Air Pollution in Kent

• #7-3: Greenhouse Effect Lab

• #7-4: "Cosmos – The World Set Free" Reflection

• #7-5: Acid Rain Lab

• #7-6: Noise Pollution Lab

• Unit 7 Creative Task

Unit 8: Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution [notes]

• #8-1: Pollution in Your Neighborhood

• #8-2: Pollutants in the Body Poster

• #8-3: Bioaccumulation Activity

  • #8-3: Bioaccumulation Activity MAKE-UP

• #8-4: Eutrophication Lab

• #8-5: Lethal Dose (LD-50) Lab

• #8-6: Forensic Groundwater Contamination Lab

• #8-7: Water Purification Lab

• #8-8: Environmental Laws Timeline directions

• #8-8 AP: US Environmental Laws

• #8-9: Infectious Disease Activity

• #8-9: Infectious Disease Activity MAKE-UP

• Unit 8 Creative Task

Unit 9: Global Change [notes]

• #9-1: The Hole in the Ozone Layer

• #9-2: Greenhouse Effect Simulations

• #9-3: "Polar Extremes" Video

• #9-4: Human Health and Climate Change

• #9-5: Impacts on the Oceans

• #9-6: HIPPCO

• Unit 9 Creative Task

Unit 10: Action!

• #10-1: Climate Mixer

• #10-2: The Wedges Game WS

• #10-3: Petition for Change

• #10-4: Green Job Profile

• #10-5: Green Business Profile directions

Unit 11: Stream Metrics

• #11-1: Water Quality Index

• #11-2: Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) Form [PDF] [Google Sheet]

• #11-3: Invertebrate Community Index (ICI) Form [PDF]

This is a more detailed version of the course curriculum that may be slightly out of date but is pretty close to what I did in 2021-2022:

In the 2020-2021 school year, I re-wrote the entire Environmental Science curriculum to be completed in a "hybrid" setting, where some students were in the classroom two days a week while other students were learning remotely from home every day. I've posted the online curriculum below; please feel free to use any or all of it with your own classes!