Environment & Food
Teaching Activity PDFs
‘Don’t Take Our Voices Away’: A Role Play on the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change
Teaching Activity PDF. By Julie Treick O’Neill and Tim Swinehart. 16 pages.
A role play on the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change that asks students to develop a list of demands to present to the rest of the world at the U.N. climate change treaty meeting.
Environment & Food, Native American, Pacific Islander, Science, World History/Global Studies
Five Years After the Levees Broke: Bearing Witness Through Poetry
Teaching Activity PDF. By Renée Watson. 7 pages.
A teacher’s reflection on the power of poetry to spark critical discussion and reflection on current issues of inequality surrounding disaster response in the United States.
African American, Art & Music, Environment & Food, Language Arts, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media, Racism & Racial Identity
Dirty Oil and Shovel-Ready Jobs: A Role Play on Tar Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Teaching Activity. By Abby Mac Phail. 12 pages.
Role play on the Keystone XL Pipeline battle.
Environment & Food, Native American, Organizing, US Foreign Policy, World History/Global Studies
Got Coal? Teaching About the Most Dangerous Rock in America
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
A lesson examining the motives, goals, and environmental consequences of the coal mining industry.
Hunger on Trial: An Activity on the Irish Potato Famine and Its Meaning for Today
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 5 pages.
Role play in the form of a trial to determine who was responsible for the death of Irish peasants during the potato famine.
Environment & Food, Immigration, Social Class, World History/Global Studies
Teaching Guides
On Coal River
Film and Teaching Guide. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This free film takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into a community surrounded by a looming toxic threat. The film follows a former coal miner and his neighbors in a struggle for the future of their valley and the planet.
Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Environment & Food, Social Class
Teaching About Climate Change
Teaching Guide. By Tim Grant and Gail Littlejohn. 2001. 80 pages.
Primer to help teachers explore issues around climate change.
Articles
Scholastic Inc. – Pushing Coal: A 4th-grade curriculum lies through omission
Article. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools, Volume 25 – Issue 4, Summer 2011.
Books: Fiction
Aani and the Tree Huggers
Book – Fiction. By Jeannine Atkins. Illustrated by Venantius J. Pinto. 2000. 32 pages.
Based on an event that took place in India in the 1970s, children and women in the village hug the trees to save them from being logged.
Books: Non-Fiction
Chew on This
Book – Non-fiction. By Eric Schlosser. 2006. 318 pages.
Geared to the young consumer, takes a bite out of fast-food industry.
Coal Mountain Elementary
Book – Non-fiction. By Mark Nowak. 2009. 190 pages.
An expose of the coal industry using a combination of poetry, images, first person testimonies, and newspaper accounts.
Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
Book – Non-fiction. By Bill McKibben. 288 pages. 2011.
A guide to living on and healing a fundamentally altered planet.
Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who are Helping to Protect our Planet
Book – Non-fiction. By Harriet Rohmer. 2009. 109 pages.
Presents the true stories of twelve people across North America who are challenging environmental devastation. Written for middle school readers.
How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming
Book – Nonfiction. By Lynne Cherry and Garry Braasch. 2008. 56 pages.
Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder
Book – Non-fiction. By Thomas Locker and Joseph Bruchac. 2004. 32 pages.
The life of environmental activist Rachel Carson for upper elementary.
Environment & Food, Individuals in US History, Women's History
Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland
Book – Non-Fiction. By Jeff Biggers. 300 pages. 2010.
The untold history of coal mining in the U.S. through the lens of race, labor, and the environment.
Troubled Water: Saints, Sinners, Truths and Lies about the Global Water Crisis
Book – Nonfiction. Brooke Shelby Biggs and Anita Roddick. 2004. 144 pages.
Compelling facts, figures, and illustrations about water in everyday life.
Films
Chief Joseph: “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.”
Chief Joseph’s “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.” (1879), read by Q’Orianka Kilcher. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Democracy & Citizenship, Environment & Food, Native American
Chief Tecumseh: “Speech to the Osages”
Chief Tecumseh’s “Speech to the Osages” (Winter 1811-1812) read by Deepa Fernandes. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Dirty Business: “Clean Coal” and the Battle for Our Energy Future
Film. Produced by Peter Bull, Justin Weinstein, Alex Gibney. 88 minutes. 2010.
A feature documentary that addresses the questions: Can coal be made clean? Can renewables and efficiency happen on a scale large enough to replace coal?
Earth and the American Dream
Film. By Bill Couturie. 1993. 90 minutes.
U.S. history from the standpoint of the earth.
Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz: “Testimony on Vieques, Puerto Rico”
Film clip. Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz “Testimony on Vieques, Puerto Rico” (1979) read by Mario Murillo.
From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
On Coal River
Film and Teaching Guide. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This free film takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into a community surrounded by a looming toxic threat. The film follows a former coal miner and his neighbors in a struggle for the future of their valley and the planet.
Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Environment & Food, Social Class
The Story of Bottled Water
Film. By Annie Leonard. 2010. 7 minutes.
A viewer-friendly, informative, animated critique of the bottled water industry.
When the Levees Broke – A Requiem in Four Acts
Film. By Spike Lee. 2006. 256 minutes.
Spike Lee’s masterful 4-part, 4-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina.
Picture Books
Aani and the Tree Huggers
Book – Fiction. By Jeannine Atkins. Illustrated by Venantius J. Pinto. 2000. 32 pages.
Based on an event that took place in India in the 1970s, children and women in the village hug the trees to save them from being logged.
Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder
Book – Non-fiction. By Thomas Locker and Joseph Bruchac. 2004. 32 pages.
The life of environmental activist Rachel Carson for upper elementary.
Environment & Food, Individuals in US History, Women's History
Profiles
Songs and Poems
Hills of Tennessee
Song. By David Rovics. 2005.
Eye-opening song that tells of the perils of mountain top removal.
Something in the Rain
Song. By Tish Hinojosa. Culture Swing CD. 1992.
A song about a boy’s little sister who was poisoned by pesticides.
When the Hunger Was Upon Us
By Nigel Gray
Poem about the causes and impact of the Irish Potato Famine.
Environment & Food, Social Class, World History/Global Studies
Websites
350.org
Website.
Building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis by pushing for policies that will put the world on track to get to 350 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Journey Up Coal River
Website.
Lesson plans for high school and college on creating a sustainable economy based on the example of the Coal River Valley in West Virginia.
The Story of Stuff Project
Website.
Series of short films on environmental and economic issues that make complicated issues easy to understand for middle school to adult viewers.
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