The public education system was turned on its head by the COVID pandemic. Most students spent the beginning of 2020 in the virtual learning environment and many have remained so throughout the 2021 school year. askHRgreen.org has worked to support teachers, students, and parents-turned-tutors throughout the pandemic by providing resources to enhance environmental education opportunities in virtual learning.
Supplementing existing virtual learning with outside resources is one way we’ve thrown our support into education during the pandemic. We developed nine units of environmentally-themed lesson plans focused on fundamental environmental concepts like the water cycle, biodiversity, and sustainability. The lesson plans incorporate activities from the askHRgreen Green Learning Guides too which are specifically aimed at third and sixth-grade SOLs. This makes the lesson plans the perfect way to review for upcoming science, math, and reading SOLs. The lesson plans, however, are not strictly focused on SOLs and take a more holistic look at environmental systems. Students are encouraged to learn new concepts, challenge themselves with critical thinking, and have fun with crafts and experiments. We hope the lesson plans have helped students gain a greater appreciation for our natural resources and will continue to be an asset for our local educators.
We also put our money where our mouth is when it comes to supporting environmental education! Through the askHRgreen.org Mini Grant program, teachers and any youth-centered organizations are encouraged to apply for up to $500 in grant funding to support environmental experiences for children. The newly revamped program page now includes sample applications with project ideas and pictures from the many successful projects we’ve supported over the years. Check out some of these ideas and expand the offerings for your learners. We’ve even received a few innovative projects which are engaging virtual learners in enrichment activities such as watching larvae develop into butterflies and live streaming their release.
Whether you are back in school or “zooming” to class, spring is the perfect time to add more environmental education and enrichment to the schedule. We hope area teachers and parents will consider using these fun, free resources with their young learners. Working together we can raise the next generation of environmentally-aware leaders!