Resource Library

The National Register of Historic Places provides a great avenue for social studies teachers to get their students outside. The advanced search locates places using numerous fields, including geographic location, area of significance and period of significance.

This guide provides a brief introduction to the 1990 Clean Air Act. The 1990 Clean Air Act is the most recent version of a law passed in 1970 to clean up air pollution. This simplified guide is the perfect way to introduce this law to students.

Students will examine the complexity of large-scale, slave-worked agricultural enterprises, the origins of rice production and the role it played in the economy of the antebellum South, and how before "cotton was king," the plantation system had already been producing crops such as rice, indigo and tobacco. Teaching materials include maps, readings, photos and drawings.

Students examine the basic purpose and work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the involvement of African Americans in the CCC. They focus on issues such as the benefits gained and problems faced by African Americans who worked in the CCC and the attitude and approach of different New Deal officials towards the black men in the CCC.

Click on the act to be directed to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informational pages

1969 – National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

1970 – Clean Air Act

1970 – Reorganization Plan No. 3 (established the EPA)

ENTRI (Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators) is a comprehensive online tool for accessing international environmental treaty data. There is status data for environmental treaties, treaty text and tools for searching for treaties by subject or country.

The EPA Web site is extensive, comprising more than 300 homepages and between one and two million pages of HTML text and PDF files. The Browse EPA Topics feature is an efficient tool to navigate through Web site content. Search results include basic information, pertinent laws and educational resources relating to that topic.

This New York Times article explores how the surge in electricity-consuming gadgets, including cellphones, iPods and personal computers, has led to greater energy consumption. The article also discusses the role of the government, industry and trade organizations on energy usage.

"Running Dry" educational resources consist of two topic areas, the Colorado River Basin and water-related health issues. Students explore and debate the environmental and political issues of the Colorado River Basin and analyze their personal water usage, the global impacts of water issues and other water-quality topics.

This article from BBC News traces the key milestones, scientific discoveries, technical innovations and political action relating to climate change. Information is presented in a timeline.