Middle

Bookmark these ideas for students to conduct investigations and learn about water conservation, plus tips for how to build your own rain barrel. This story highlights students in Kansas who calculated the amount of water their school uses, and the dollar savings in water bills after they installed rain barrels.

From cleaning and planting to painting and programming, towns and cities rely on community stewards to help take care of and utilize local parks. Find out how students in Santa Cruz, California and Madisonville, Louisiana worked with their local community to maintain and beautify parks in their neighborhood.

A group of high school students in Colorado are analyzing the environmental impacts of goat browsing as a form of wildfire mitigation.

Project Learning Tree schools share lessons teachers learned after starting a class garden.

Four teachers share their experiences from students’ GreenWorks! projects to help pollinators with native plant gardens, a bee keeping operation, and constructing bat houses.

With PLT GreenWorks! grants, students in Alabama, Indiana and Michigan took the lead to restore, design and build nature trails, learning about ecosystems and forest health.

A GreenWorks! grant to Coles Elementary in Virginia sparked science learning across all grades as students investigated a soil erosion problem on their school grounds.

Young students don’t need to wait until they’re older to make a difference. Here are 13 inspiring stories that show what’s possible when young environmentalists take action.

As the pandemic has disrupted countless traditional learning environments, many have begun to move classes outdoors. But as Project Learning Tree educators know all-too-well, taking lessons outdoors offers many more benefits than just germ control!

Tips for involving students in a green schools program from teachers at Two Rivers Magnet Middle School in East Hartford, CT.

Building school gardens, reconstructing running trails, creating maple sugar. Highlights from projects funded by Project Learning Tree’s GreenWorks! grants program.

My life changed when I met Pat Maloney, the PLT State Coordinator in Maine. Learn about PLT’s national network that provides support to educators for incorporating environmental education and outdoor learning into their classrooms.

The sustainable school garden project has yielded a rich harvest of home-grown vegetables, increased knowledge of potential food choices, and experiential learning opportunities.

Students in grades 4 through 8, along with community volunteers and supporters, came together to plant a native prairie and plant demonstration garden.

A forester explains what the life of a forester actually entails and how she inspires students to explore jobs that will take them outside.

Exploring Mars while recycling on Earth, composting in the classroom, creating a wildlife garden. These are some highlights from service-learning projects funded by GreenWorks! grants.

In Washington, D.C., ABC Channel 7 interviewed students about their work outside of the classroom that’s raising the environmental awareness of their community.

Be inspired and learn what can be accomplished in a small amount of time with these tips from teachers at a middle school in Oklahoma.

The Earth Team at a California middle school diverted 40% of their school’s waste from landfills as part of a school-wide project.

It’s clear why this Florida school was selected to help pilot the national PLT GreenSchools program.

Technology is an entry tool that can make learning about the natural world exciting and fun. Students used technology to create a digital interpretive guide for a local trail in Maine.

Strong support for PLT comes from the principal, teachers, and students at this Florida K-8 school.

PLT GreenSchools investigations provide a firm foundation at Walden Community School in Winter Park, Florida.

Students at Alder Avenue Middle School did not just complain about the quality of a nearby river–they did something about it.

From Landfill Larry to an “idle-free” pick-up zone, students at Dimensions of Learning Academy found innovative ways to make a difference.

The Learning Gate School community, including teachers, students, and families, lives and learns by the fact that “nature is the best teacher.”

This charter school in Navajo Nation relies on age-old and cutting-edge learning practices.

‘Ewa Makai Middle School’s vision: Empower, Explore, Excel Together! In becoming a green school, faculty and students work together to make the vision a reality.

It’s important to teach students the impact pollinators have on our lives. Here are pollinator projects created by students of all ages.

Learn how a small school in New Jersey established sustainability as an integrated concept.

A Washington outdoor learning center, housed in structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is still going strong.

An urban school teacher in Denver adapts GreenSchools to meet the needs of her Latino students, incorporates gardening and farming at a nearby Urban Farm.

Washington, D.C. might belong to the whole nation as our capital–but it also a place where kids live, learn, and go green.

Sixth grade students at Glenvar Middle School in Salem, Va., built raised beds and cooked their own food. This “Project Produce” has encouraged healthy lifestyles in the classroom and at home.

A large, diverse Title 1 public school and a small, private school in Houston both use PLT’s GreenSchools program to meet the needs of students.

Sixteen schools across the country participated in the MonarchLIVE project to build butterfly gardens. Here are the stories of three of those schools.

Create your own painted lab coats! These powerful visual tools engage students in learning about science and the environment.

Project Learning Tree activities are excellent tools to teach life skills. At a summer leadership camp in Georgia, students learned about leadership, teamwork, and volunteerism.

Students restore an area near the Little Susitna River in Alaska to help prevent the area from becoming threatened.