MEECS Climate Curriculum for Michigan
Lesson Plans
Grades3-12Science, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)
What it is
- This curriculum from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has ecology and environmental science units on different topics, depending on grade level.
- These topics are air quality (6-12), climate change (6-12), ecosystems and biodiversity (6-8), energy resources (6-12), land and environment (3), land use (4-8), and water quality (9-12).
Teaching tips
Positives
- These collections each contain a wealth of activities, worksheets, readings, presentations, and more.
- The materials give teachers the opportunity to provide their students with a well-rounded climate education throughout their schooling.
Prerequisites
- Teachers may need to request access to some of the materials and should make sure they can open everything before teaching this lesson.
- Teachers should also check each lesson or activity to understand what background knowledge is necessary.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Teachers can implement these lessons as a unit or individually, depending on student background knowledge and how the lessons fit into the curriculum.
- Students can explore the interactive maps and resources in the EnviroLearning Hub to support their learning about climate change and other environmental topics.
- Students can explore their local green space, environmental policies, energy landscape, or body of water, depending on which units or resources they are covering in class, to make more local place-based connections to the curriculum.
From the scientist review
The curriculum in this resource enables students to learn about the ecology and economy of Michigan. Students can investigate important environmental concerns, such as air pollution, quality, monitoring methods, and ways to enhance air quality, through a number of learning modules and activities. Additionally, it includes lessons and practical exercises on energy conservation, land use and how land use changes over time, water resources, groundwater quality, integrated water management, the effects of climate change, the relationships between humans, biodiversity, invasive species, endangered species, ecosystem services, extreme weather events, and managing climate information and services. Teachers should, however, be mindful of safety precautions when students are participating in activities and experiments. After examining every other link and dataset in the GoOpenMichigan database embedded in this curriculum, we concluded that they were reliable and accurate, and we suggest using this curriculum in the classroom.
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Hosted on michigan.gov
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