There are many useful web links to help teachers formulate lesson plans about saving water or reducing waste. Please note that we are providing these external links as a service to teachers, and a listing does not constitute an endorsement by Pinellas County.

4-H
4-H offers free environmental curriculum on water conservation correlated to Sunshine State Standards, such as Earth Connections (grades K-5), Water Wise (3-5), and H20W You Can Make a Difference (6-8). Instructional materials (such as workbooks, teacher guides, videos, activity kit, and posters) may be signed out for a period of six weeks. Speakers and tours are also available.

Can Manufacturers Institute
The Can Manufacturers Institute offers environmental curriculum with activities and experiments related to aluminum can recycling: “The ABCs of Environmental Education” for grades 4-6 and “Talkin’ Trash with ABCs” for grades 6-9.

Earth 911
Teachers section includes a book list with lesson plan extensions.

EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency site for teachers includes lesson plans grouped by grade level. For waste reduction, teachers in grades K-8 can download the “Quest for Less” Solid Waste Curriculum. Teachers can also request free copies of the “Planet Protector’s Club” Elementary School Kit, “Make A Difference” Middle School Kit or “Your Life, Your World, Your Choices” High School Kit. For water information, see The Water Sourcebooks with 324 activities for grades K-12.

Hands-on Plastics™
American Plastics Council site provides educational materials for science teachers about recycling plastic.

Keep America Beautiful®
Information on recycling and litter prevention including lesson plans, videos, and classroom posters.

Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection
Curriculum sheets (10 each for K-6 and 7-12) with interesting activities such as building a mini landfill.

PaperRecycles.org
The Paper Industry Association Council (PIAC) offers educational tools for teachers on paper recycling including videos, poster, lesson plans, and fact sheets.

RBRC (Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation)
The free Call 2 Recycle Lesson Plan is recommended for ages 10 and up. The lesson teaches students the importance of recycling rechargeable batteries using experiments and exercises.

Recycle Zone
Waste Watch in the United Kingdom provides waste reduction information including newsletters with classroom activities.

Science Spot
An Illinois science teacher developed this site for middle school teachers with science trivia, teaching ideas, classroom activities, and club projects.

Splash Water Resources Education
Southwest Florida Water Management District offers Splash Water Resources activities for middle school students keyed to Sunshine State Standards such as building a model of the hydrologic cycle with 2-liter soda bottles. They also offer excellent free teacher resources that can be printed (or you can order class sets) such as posters, bookmarks, activity books, and newsletters with teacher guides (Sprinkles for K-2, WaterDrops for grades 3-5, and WaterWeb for grades 6-8, and Currents for grades 9-12).

Indicates resources are keyed to Florida Sunshine State Standards.