Use this interactive to explore key human impacts on the environment and how they have affected Earth's landscape, ocean, atmosphere, and biodiversity. The column on the left-hand side of the screen lists different human impacts on the...

Human beings have an enormous impact on the natural environment, and ultimately on each other. The way we chose to house, clothe, shelter, and meet the needs for vital resources such as food, energy, and water, not only affect the...

Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. These...

Assessment templates, videos, examples, lesson plans, and photos of student work that directly address standard MS-ESS3-3: human impact on the environment.

This lesson focuses on how human activities are impacting marine ecosystems. Includes handouts.

First graders develop and express claims through discussions and writing which explain how people use and impact the environment.

A study discovering and exploring the cloud forest canopy and how humans have influenced the ecosystem's biodiversity.

An overview of the impact of human activities on the environment and how those actions effect the nitrogen cycle.

This is a three-week project that has students explore and assess their personal lifestyle and how their habits impact on the environment. In the process, they learn that they too have a responsibility to minimize any negative impacts,...

This is a five-week project where students explore and assess their personal lifestyle choices and how their habits impact on the environment. They try making choices that have less of a detrimental effect on the environment, and...

This is a three-week project where students explore and assess their personal lifestyle choices and how their habits impact on the environment. They try making choices that have less of a detrimental effect on the environment, and...

This is a three-week project where students explore and assess their personal lifestyle and how their habits impact on the environment. In the process, they learn that they too have a responsibility to minimize any negative impacts, and...

This site from American Institute of Biological Sciences provides a collection of articles on current issues in environmental science and human impacts on the environment. Several articles available in Spanish.

Join Mateo on his trip to Mexico. During his trip, he will teach all about conservation, and contributing to a healthy environment.

This inquiry invites students to investigate human impacts on the environment. Specifically, students will examine the relationship between human population, light pollution, and how brightly celestial objects like stars appear in the...

Learn about eight major ways in which our negative impact on the environment also hurts people.

Middle schoolers will investigate two different habitats; one habitat is maintained in its original natural state while the other habitat is a manicured golf course. Students will identify and compare the diversity of plants and insects...

For students that have already been introduced to the water cycle, this lesson plan is intended as a logical follow-up. Students will learn about human impacts on the water cycle that create a pathway for pollutants beginning with urban...

A lesson where students explore the positive and negative impacts of human activities on the environment today and in the distant past, and examine how attitudes towards the environment might be shaped by one's experiences growing up....

A copy of an article published in the Journal of Geoscience Education. It describes how the Lifestyle Project got started, and how it is used with students to help them develop an awareness of how their daily habits and actions have an...

Marine biologist Thomas Shirley explains the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the short and long term. The total impact is hard to determine at this point of time, however. Shirley gives his best opinion of the damage that...

As an epidemiologist on the U.S. Panel for Climate Change, students are tasked with analyzing the latest data on climate-impacted human health conditions. A solid understanding of the mechanisms underlying the connections will allow for...

Students examine and record data about the impact human activity has on a local aquatic environment in this teaching unit. They then analyze the information and develop a plan for improvement. The unit depends on being able to take the...

Maps in different categories such as fishing, climate change, and pollution were pulled together into a composite map that shows the impact of humans on the world's oceans. Analysis at the time (2008) showed that 40% of the world's...