Urban forests provide many benefits to a community and can minimize the human impact on the environment. Students will explore the impacts an urban community has on the environment. Students will discover the role trees play in an urban community and how trees can affect the ecosystem, human wellbeing, and provide economic value. Students will explore Indigenous relationships with trees. During the course of this storyline, students will measure and monitor urban forest ecosystem benefits, perform a field investigation, and design a development to minimize negative environmental impacts

Coastal wetlands bring many benefits to ecosystems including their ability to sequester carbon and mitigate fluctuations in sea levels. Students will understand the ecosystem benefits of coastal wetlands with a focus on the potential of estuaries for climate related planning.

This role-playing activity allows students to learn more about the six general ways Americans respond to climate change and engage in conversations while embodying these groups. Students will be able to describe the different ways Americans respond to climate change and develop arguments to support their claims.

 This inquiry unit leads students through the different perspectives behind a decision to have a dam removed. This unit looks at similar Washington state dam removal decisions as well as the complex issue of having the Election dam removed near Puyallup, WA. Students will be introduced to the stories and traditional ways of knowing about salmon that the Puyallup Tribe has built their culture upon. Then they will explore the science behind hydroelectricity and build models to discover how carbon neutral energy is gathered through hydro dams. This inquiry unit ends with students researching different perspectives surrounding the current (2021) decision to remove the Electron dam including: the Tribe’s Fishery department, the ecosystem, the city council, the fishermen and the hydro-electrical company who currently owns the dam. With their research, students will do a socratic seminar to mimic the court case lawsuit that is ongoing against the Electron Dam. 

Remove a problem species and make a natural soap! Lindsay Hollister, JPPM's horticulturalist, shares how to identify the invasive English Ivy vine and make a soap from the saponins it naturally produces. These molecules naturally deter predators from eating the species, but their structures also make them bond to both waters and fats. Consider using the video or conducting the activity at your location as an integrated introduction to learning about biodiversity and the structures of molecules or atoms, since saponins are valuable as a soap because they are able to bond with either water or fats/lipids.

Always be sure you can successfully identify a plant before using it and take precautions to avoid negative reactions.

This resource is part of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum’s open educational resources project to provide history, ecology, archaeology, and conservation resources related to our 560 acre public park. JPPM is a part of the Maryland Historical Trust under the Maryland Department of Planning. If you evaluate or use this resource, please respond to this short (4 question!) survey at bit.ly/3GrTjPk

Have your students crack different codes in this virtual breakout room to learn how NASA detects changes in landscapes on Earth, Mars, and beyond!

Join us as we explore the dynamic innovations of the aerospace industry and the pioneering inventors that have laid the groundwork for future exploration.