Lesson Plans

The second edition of Natural Curiosity supports a stronger basic awareness of Indigenous perspectives and their importance to environmental education. The driving motivation for a second edition was the burning need, in the wake of strong and unequivocal recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to situate Indigenous perspectives into the heart of Canadian educational settings and curricula, most notably in connection with environmental issues.

The Indigenous lens in this edition represents a cross-cultural encounter supporting what can become an ongoing dialogue and evolution of practice in environmental inquiry. Some important questions are raised that challenge us to think in very different ways about things as fundamental as the meaning of knowledge.

Le présent document est un excellent outil pour l’enseignante ou l’enseignant de même qu’un incitatif pour l’élève à découvrir le monde qui l’entoure. Dans cette deuxième édition de Curiosité naturelle, on découvre plus en détail l’apprentissage environnemental vu par les Autochtones. Avec cette découverte, on ne peut que remettre complètement en question la place que l’on occupe dans le monde. Le point de vue autochtone de cette édition donne le coup d’envoi d’un dialogue qui permet à l’enseignante ou à l’enseignant de découvrir la vision autochtone des choses et à l’élève de tisser des liens durables avec le monde naturel. Vous pouvez acheter le ressource ici.

Emerging Leaders for Solar Energy (ELSE), in collaboration with The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC²), created the Shining Light on Solar Energy resource to support educators and learners in developing energy and climate literacy using critical inquiry and a multidisciplinary approach.

With twenty-four lessons divided into Division One through Four, this resource explores the roles that solar power might play in providing sustainable energy for our vehicles, homes, schools, and communities. This resource has been designed to nurture the competencies required for scientific thinking and critical inquiry, with a focus on using critical thinking to deepen conceptual and subject-area understanding.

Each fully-developed lesson includes teaching notes, briefing sheets, image sets, activity sheets, and assessment materials to support student thinking and learning about solar energy.

The National Energy Board, together with Ingenium, have developed educational activities based on Canada’s forecasted energy demand and supply.

Targeted at high school students between the grades of 9 and 11 the activities encourage students and educators to explore Canada’s energy ecosystem using an interactive tool to help guide the way. This tool allows users explore how the future of energy in Canada over the long term.

The Calgary Region Airshed Zone has created a lesson plan ideal for grade 5 classrooms in which students conduct an air quality experiment, graph their results and look for solutions to improve air quality. 

Nature Canada has a number of downloadable resources. From a scavenger hunt to tips on how to help nature in you area, these resources offer ways to get outside and connected with nature.

EPCOR provides power and water education for Grade 5 students:

• Classes in Edmonton can visit the E.L. Smith Water Treatment Plant 
• Learning about water
• Learning about wastewater and the drainage system
• Learning about electricity

Design Our Climate- explore strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a scientifically-reviewed interactive simulation to help make informed choices about electricity, transportation, land use, buildings, and materials

Visualizing and Understanding the Science of Climate Change is a series of 9 online lessons/activities that teach students about the chemistry of climate change, impacts of climate change, climate feedback loops, effects on oceans, and responding to climate change. 

Isotopes Matter is an online interactive resource which includes a new IUPAC interactive periodic table of the isotopes and demonstrates how applications of isotopes relate to sustainability.

PEEL provides lesson plans for Gr. 4-12 focusing on climate change and energy literacy. 

Each lesson fully integrates with Alberta Education curriculum goals and 21 Century Learner Competencies.

Get informed on climate change facts here. 

See the PEEL Project Video for action project ideas. 

The Earth Rangers Clubs program is made up of elementary school-age students and educators, who have committed to taking action in helping animals and the environment. We have created a free and easy to use platform for eco clubs to track their activities or for new clubs to be started. 

To register a club and for more information click here. 

Earth Rangers provides integrative lesson plans for all grades in science, art, math, and physical education on topics ranging from wetlands, land & animal conservation, to gardening and outdoor activities. 

Energy IQ contains the "Making and Moving Canada's Energy" video, energy map, energy-use survey, education quizzes, learning centre, and energy-in-the-news. 

This project was created in collaboration between Canadian Geographic and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.