Meet the roadtrippers: Gabe, Jackie, and Tomi—three young people interested in health equity. Then, follow along as they talk to scientific experts and Indigenous leaders in the performance, education and culinary fields, who are taking inspiration from nature to help create equitable ecosystems within their own communities.
Environmental Education Resources
Spring is Here! Explore with PBS KIDS!
🌸🌼 Spring is Here ☔️🌷 40+ Videos to Watch Playlist Above
Explore the Outdoors Activities & Games
- Explore the Outdoors: Nature Books, Outdoor Activities, Games, Gardening and Simple Science Ideas
- Exploring the Outdoors Learning Activities for Classrooms and Learning At Home: Explore Bugs, Animals, Nature, Protecting Our Planet, Earth & Space Topics
- Nature Activities Collection & Environmental Collections
More Activities by Series Page
Climate and Our Planet PBS LearningMedia Collection
This collection of supplementary digital media resources offers a range of options for engaging middle and high school students with key questions in climate science:
- How do the interconnected systems of Earth drive its climate?
- What are people around the world learning about how Earth’s climate is changing?
- Who are the helpers creating a healthier future for our planet, and how can we join in designing and achieving climate change solutions?
These resources align with NGSS Earth and life science disciplinary core ideas and many offer opportunities for students to exercise STEM practices and place-based civic engagement skills.
In this collection:
PBS Climate Innovation Virtual Town Hall On-Demand
Watch the On-Demand Archive of Great Lakes Now for a PBS Climate Virtual Town Hall focused on climate solutions, resilience and innovation.
The event showcased excerpts from the documentary, “Ted Explores: A New Climate Vision,” and talk with researchers, journalists and other experts at the frontlines of addressing the challenges of a changing climate with rigor and imagination.
PBS Climate Innovation Virtual Town Hall: Presented by Great Lakes Now Featuring “TED Explores: A New Climate Vision”
The Event Was Held: Tuesday, February 13 at 7 p.m.
Featured guests include:
- David Biello, TED’s lead science curator and the author of “The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth’s Newest Age.”
- Henk Ovink, Executive Director of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute, and recent past UN Special Envoy for Water.
- Chelsea Schelly, Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social Sciences and Director of Research at the Center for Innovation in Sustainability & Resilience at Michigan Technological University.
- Curt Wolf, University of Michigan’s Director of Urban Collaboratory and co-lead on a multi-partner project called the Michigan Center for Freshwater Innovation.
- Ann Baughman, Associate Director for Freshwater Future. Ann manages the climate program–helping communities build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
- Valoree Gagnon, Director of University-Indigenous Community Partnerships at the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Technological University.
- Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, and Chair of Climate Mayors. Mayor Bibb is a strong advocate for elevating local climate leadership and priorities.
The event will be moderated by J. Carl Ganter, award-winning photojournalist, reporter, and co-founder and director of Circle of Blue.
Nature Cat: Songs, Videos & Activities
Play games and watch full episodes of Nature Cat on https://pbskids.org/naturecat
“Nature Cat,” a series for children ages 3 to 7, follows Fred, a house cat who dreams of exploring the great outdoors. Once his family leaves for the day, Fred transforms into Nature Cat: “backyard explorer extraordinaire!” He can’t wait to get outside for a day of nature adventures and bravery! There’s just one problem: he’s still a house cat with no instincts for nature! With the help of his animal friends, Nature Cat goes on action-packed adventures full of nature investigation and humor, all while inspiring children to go outside and experience nature.
WXXI Favorite Activities:
- Activity: Create Your Own DIY Pond Viewer
- Activity: Make Sun Prints
- Activity: Make Your Own Fruit Leather Snack
- Online Game: Play the game Hal’s Big Dig
- Article: Encouraging Kids To Enjoy with Nature with All Their Senses
- Activity: Create a natural toolbox
- Learning Resources: Explore the Nature Cat PBS LearningMedia Collection
See Games, Activities and Videos from the Nature Cat Series at PBS KIDS
Learn more about the series, articles, activities and games at PBS KIDS for Parents: Nature Cat Show Page
Nature Cat Videos Playlist
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Nature Activities: From Screen to Green:
Join WXXI Education to get involved in community science by observing and participating outdoors in activities. Here are some resources to get you started.
Enjoy this list of FREE nature-exploring activities and resources that families and educators can use.
Exploring nature is a great opportunity to infuse some curiosity and science learning into your day! We’ve collected some great resources from our community partners, like New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, as well as our PBS family, to share with you. Now, choose one and get outside and explore!
What to do:
Participate in the ongoing WXXI Community Nature Observation Challenge This project is ongoing! So get outside (yes, even in the winter!), explore, observe and participate as many times as you’d like!
. NYS DEC Nature Activities
Our friends at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have created a stellar list of nature-exploring printable activities! From outdoor observation journals, to seek and find hikes, to New York State bird profiles, and so much more!
Find all of their downloadable and printable nature activities here: https://dec.ny.gov/get-involved/education/kids-go/nature-activities
3. PBS Nature
This collection of science videos and media-enhanced lesson plans draws from PBS Nature. The collection can be viewed via PBS LearningMedia NY, and includes topics such as: American Spring LIVE, Earth Science, Human Impacts on Earth Systems, Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, Science and Engineering Practices, and more.
Find the full collection here: https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/nat/
4. Outdoor Family Fun with Plum app
Want to go outside with your kiddos but not exactly sure what to do out there? Check out the free app from PBS KIDS Plum Landing that is full of fun, free outdoor exploring ideas.
- 150+ unique missions to explore your neighborhood’s plants, animals, weather, and more
- Hundreds of tips to help your family talk about nature and science
- New missions and achievement badges that unlock as you use the app
- Digital tools to help your family observe and interact with nature
- Daily sets of suggested missions to try
- Progress tracker to look back on missions and achievements
Did we mention…it’s FREE? Download the Plum app here: https://pbskids.org/apps/outdoor-family-fun-with-plum.html
5. Bird Cams
Our friends at Cornell Lab Bird Cams connects viewers worldwide to the diverse and intimate world of birds. They have created a virtual opportunity to watch birds all over the world, from wherever you are!
- All bird cams: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/all-cams/
- Bird guide: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
- Sounds & Songs: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/browse/topic/sounds-songs/
SciGirls Resources
SciGirls is a show for kids ages 8-12, showcasing bright, curious, real tween girls putting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to work in their everyday lives. In each half hour episode you’ll meet a new group of girls, whose eagerness to find answers to their questions will inspire your children to explore the world around them and discover that science and technology are everywhere.
See the Season 7 Trailer:
Check out the SciGirls websites:
- PBSLearningMedia SciGirls Collection
- PBS KIDS for Parents SciGirls Page for Articles & Activities
- SciGirls on PBS KIDS for games, videos and activities
- SciGirls YouTube Channel for Video Playlists:
- SciGirls en Español:
Design Squad: Inventing Green Resources
Design Squad’s mission is to get kids excited about engineering and inventing. For years Design Squad, the award-winning PBS KIDS program and website, has created activities, videos and clubs that aim to make engineering and invention accessible and fun for kids. Now, Design Squad is tackling a new content area: inventing for a sustainable future. We want to get kids thinking about how engineering and invention impacts environmental sustainability and how new inventions can help tackle environmental problems.
Design Squad Global Inventing Green is the latest addition to the Design Squad family of resources that challenges youth to brainstorm solutions that can help people with things such as lack of food, clean water, renewable energy, affordable energy, and ocean and land
pollution. These resources use the same core tenants found in the other Design Squad materials such as:
- Every child should and can participate in engineering and invention.
- Engineering and invention are most meaningful when kids have the opportunity to solve real problems faced by real people.
- Failing is to be embraced as a step that all engineers and inventors take in the Design Process.
- Students should have the opportunity to lead their own learning process with guidance from an educator.
- Hands-on learning experiences based on an open-ended problem lead to more successful experiences with engineering and invention concepts.
In the Design Squad Global Inventing Green Club PBS LearningMedia collection, the is objective: help kids build an environmental sustainability mindset when inventing. Design Squad wants kids to work to solve environmental problems with invention as well as learn to bring sustainability practices to the process of inventing. This includes thinking about material choices, where an invention goes once it has outlived its usefulness, and how an invention is powered.
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