An effective way to teach young students about abstract concepts related to the environment and sustainability is by making connections to their existing knowledge and real-world experiences. These videos provide elementary teachers with hands-on activities that bring to life concepts such as materialism, interconnection and the urban heat island effect. Each videos contains concrete lesson plan ideas that use outdoor learning, collaboration and community-minded projects to help students engage with environmental education in meaningful ways, and that can easily be adapted by teachers for any grade level.
Teaching Sustainability Through Sharing and Choice
This video presents one way to introduce the concept of sustainability using simple language, familiar concepts and a real-world activity that can be easily adapted to any grade level.
Immaterial Joys : Exploring Alternatives to Consumerism
This video proposes activities designed to encourage reflection about materialism, present alternatives to consumerism, and guide students toward a broader sense of happiness and gratitude.
Introduction to Nature Journaling
This video introduces nature journaling as a simple and effective tool to provide students with regular opportunities to learn outdoors.
Reimagining Your Schoolyard
This video proposes activities designed to give students a chance to reflect on the type of world they want to live in by reimagining a greener schoolyard for their community.
If you are interested in spearheading a schoolyard redesign with your class, check out these Quebec government resources.
Planning a Garden
This video introduces the process of planning a school garden with students, from plant selection to creating a garden map.
Making a Garden Map
This video walks you through the process of creating a school garden map with your students as an important step to facilitate planting.