Some sites for learning about environmental issues

We are celebrating our environment next week and our year 8 students are one week into researching global issues in Geography. I was pleased to find and use these sites when helping prepare students for their research.

The site of the United Nations Environment Program has an interactive map that displays 100+ examples of environmental change from around the world. You can choose to use the side index to find sites under lists with headings such as country, theme, biodiversity and protected, deserts & drylands, pollution etc.

There are icons/placemarks on the map that offer close-up views of the land with a story about the environmental change at that location. It indicates the major theme and other related themes for the site.

An example using the map: By clicking on the placemark for Wyperfield National Park, Australia you went to a page that had two close-up images of the site and some brief but reasonably detailed information about the environmental changes taking place there. The major theme for Wyperfield was Ecosystems and the related themes were Biodiversity & Protected areas, Extreme Events and Grasslands. 

This would be a good place for students to start their research into an environmental issue as there is enough information to pique their interest and clues about where to go onto next.

Another good site is Global Warming Facts and Our Future from the National Academy of Sciences. It’s a very engaging and extensive site, and includes audio support for the text. This assists some of our international students as well as those who are need extra learning support as the vocabulary may be a bit challenging.

Finally from one of my favourites, National Geographic, there is the  Global Warming Effects Map.

Exploring our amazing world

Today there were no students at school. All the semester 1 exams are finished and we are now writing reports. We are looking forward to finishing this task. I have also spent few breaks sorting through files, emails, etc. Whilst doing this I found a post by Patricia Donaghy about the Explore site.

Explore.org creates short documentary films, amazing galleries of photographs and offers interviews with NGOs  that showcase some amazing non-profit efforts.  These enable you to observe a world that many of us might not otherwise ever get to see. 

The array of destinations is amazing. Places covered include those from all corners of the world, from 1st world to 3rd world. The wildlife videos are great. I have always liked zebras.

Explore’s many film and photographic resources “document how people from all over the world, from every walk of life, are taking positive steps that have local impact and global relevance“.

How amazing is the short film of Tibetan monks debating the scriptures in the following footage. If you think that their lives are just quiet contemplation, think again!

How about a visit to the amazing Arctic region, with its towering glaciers and vast, open expanses. This landscape just oozes feelings of immense cold and tremendous power but it is a fragile environment.

It is all so much more interesting than report writing.

There are many  research articles for extra information and the site also offers links to other relevant websites.