Compilation of learning resources related to the 2011 Earthquake in Japan. Includes interactive timelines, visualizations, and lessons on tsunamis, earthquakes, and nuclear energy.

The concept of ethics involves standards of conduct. These standards help to distinguish between behavior that is considered right and that which is considered wrong. As we all know, it is not always easy to distinguish between right and wrong, as there is no universal code of ethics......

Although humans have had the capability to monitor earth's systems effectively only relatively recently, previous global environmental events have not gone unrecorded. Climate indicators exist in various forms (e.g., pollen in lake-bottom sediments, patterns in tree-rings, air bubbles frozen in glacial ice and growth rings in coral)......

When environmental conditions are degraded such that the range of tolerance is exceeded, there will be a significant impact on human health. Our industrialized society dumps huge amounts of pollutants and toxic wastes into the earth's biosphere without fully considering the consequences....

Environmental issues are a concern of many, if not most, Americans. However, there is considerable disagreement on how such issues should be handled. Different people can interpret even a very general issue such as conservation very differently....

Families in developing nations are often larger, but less resource intensive (e.g., they use fewer resources per person) than those in more developed nations. However, increasingly human populations wish to have a "western" standard of living.

In natural systems, there is no such thing as waste. Everything flows in a natural cycle of use and reuse. Living organisms consume materials and eventually return them to the environment, usually in a different form, for reuse. Solid waste (or trash) is a human concept.......

Add acidity to a healthy lake and see what happens to the plants and animals in this interactive activity adapted from EcoKids.

Due to the presence of dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide, rainfall is naturally acidic. This exercise will familiarize you with the phenomenon known as acid rain, requires that you take water samples from rainfall.

Students conduct a simple experiment to model and explore the harmful effects of acid rain (vinegar) on living (green leaf and eggshell) and non-living (paper clip) objects.

Background information on the environmental impact of plastic. Incorporates an individual pupil survey and a class survey on plastic usage over a one week period.

When a city is built, habitat and most organisms living in it are killed or forced to flee. Cities use a lot of energy and water and create a tremendous amount of waste and runoff. Development is the biggest source of pollution.

Large amounts of nutrients from agricultural runoff and pollution cause increased growth of algae. Algal blooms cause other organisms to die because the algae uses up all the oxygen in the water to grow. Eventually, this body of water will have no life in it.

Bycatch, the unintended capture of animals in commercial fishing gear, is one of the hottest topics in marine conservation today. About 25% of the entire global catch is by-catch This surprisingly high level of by-catch is responsible for the decline of hundreds of thousands of dolphins, whales, porpoises, seabirds and sea turtles each year. Through this curricular unit, students will analyze the significance of by-catch in the global ecosystem and propose solutions to help reduce by-catch Students will become familiar with current attempts to reduce fishing mortality of these animals, such as acoustic alarms, breakaway links, gear modification, and time-area closures. Through the associated activity, the problems that managers face today will be reinforced and students will be stimulated to brainstorm about possible engineering designs or policy changes that could reduce the magnitude of by-catch

This series of animations depicts the results of a computer simulation of the effects of deforestation on the surface temperature and precipitation in the Amazon region. Six animations are shown - a control simulation, a deforestation simulation, and the difference between the two for both surface temperature and rainfall. The period simulated is the second half of 1987.

Explores the changing roles, ethical conflicts, and public perceptions of science and scientists in American society from World War II to the present. Studies specific historical episodes focusing on debates between scientists and the contextual factors influencing their opinions and decisions. Topics include the atomic bomb project, environmental controversies, the Challenger disaster, biomedical research, genetic engineering, (mis)use of human subjects, scientific misconduct and whistleblowing.

In 1978, scientists predicted that global warming would lead to a disintegration of Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves. Space-borne data indicate that this prediction may be coming true. In these before and after images, note the dramatic change in the apparent shoreline. Scientists captured the first image using the ERS-1 satellite in 1992. As seen in the second image, collected by RADARSAT in 1997, huge changes have come to the coastline. In 1995, a 2000 square kilometer section of the ice shelf collapsed into thousands of fragments that eventually drifted out to sea. Researchers are still debating why the ice shelf broke up so dramatically, and what significance the break up has for interpreting local versus global changes to the environment. Theories include a series of warmer than usual summers which may have caused high levels of surface melting, or an overall climate warming trend.

Fertilizer is one way to provide crops with the nutrients they need. Pesticides can also be applied to crops to keep them healthy and free of insects. However, applying too much fertilizer or pesticide protection could harm the environment and organisms.

This kit is aimed at teachers and their pupils at the end of primary school education living in areas affected by or under threat from desertification.