Teacher Toolbox
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Overview
These Environmental Studies Lessons are great for STEM Learning, Climate Studies, Earth Science, Environmental Science classes, and more. Additional resources for teaching with these films are available from the Journeys in Film Resource Library.
New Resources added August 2025! To get notifications about updates to this collection and other new resources, sign up for our newsletter.
Teaching Tips
Important Dates: These resources work well for Earth Day (April 22) and Earth Month (April) as well as all year round.
Elementary & Middle School Educators: If you’re looking for environmental studies lessons for Grades 3-7, check out our Celebration of Nature Lessons.
Social Studies Educators: If you’re looking for creative ways to bring environmental lessons into your social studies classroom, we recommend: Teaching Climate Change in Social Studies.
Lessons
Chasing Coral
Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
In this activity, students pick an environmental studies topic that they are curious about. Then they craft a research question inspired by their chosen topic. Finally, they consider their own relationship to consumption and sustainability.
For grades 6-12.
Chasing Ice
In Chasing Ice, James Balog and a band of young adventurers go on assignment for National Geographic to the polar reaches of the world. They end up with something more compelling than photos when they captured the largest calving event that had ever been caught on film.
The Chasing Ice Discussion Guide is available in three different versions, appropriate for use in for middle school, high school, and higher education.
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The Chasing Time Discussion Guide is available in a single version suitable for classroom use and public screening events.
Get The Discussion GuideClimate Emergency: Feedback Loops
The five short films of Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops use stunning video, interviews with leading climate scientists, and thoughtful narration by Richard Gere to educate viewers on key feedback loops greatly accelerating climate change.
Five Environmental Science Lessons about feedback loops, forests, permafrost, atmosphere, the albedo effect, and regreening the earth. The regreening lesson includes handouts focused on youth environmental activists and creating a regreening project in your community.
Lessons 1-4: High level science, Grades 11-12 or AP Environmental Studies.
Lesson 5: Grades 7-12.
From the Ashes
As the debate rages about the environmental and economic impact of coal, From the Ashes, a National Geographic documentary, presents the voices of the people most concerned with the coal industry: environmentalists, climate scientists, politicians, economists, and especially the coal miners and other residents of decaying coal towns. The viewer learns about the multiple impacts of coal mining on our health, our economy, and our climate.
From the Ashes Discussion Guide – About the history of coal and its impact the environment and community health. It also explores clean energy and features service learning components.
For grades 5-12.
Greener Pastures
Greener Pastures provides an intimate window into the lives of four multigenerational farming families as they navigate the stressors that have contributed to farming having one of the highest rates of suicide of any U.S. occupation. This award-winning documentary tells an underdog story of perseverance and determination that tackles nothing less than the future of farming in America.
Greener Pastures Discussion Guide – This guide explores the impact of climate change on food production, family farming, and the lives of individual farmers. For Grades 9-12 and higher education. This guide is available in English and Spanish
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Landfill Harmonic
Landfill Harmonic follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical group that plays instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight and must navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-out concerts. When a natural disaster strikes their community, they must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide hope for their town. The film testifies to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.
The Environmental Crisis is a lesson about waste, recycling, water, and community action. Includes 5 handouts. Students will gain an understanding of interdependency of ecosystems and the challenge of waste reduction in a growing world.
For grades 6-10.
One Strange Rock
Documentary series One Strange Rock tells the story of Earth’s history from a planetary perspective. Within our solar system, planet Earth is utterly unique among the planets, moons, and dwarf planets found there. Only Earth has a breathable atmosphere, the ability to “heal” itself following planetary bombardment in its early history and more recent “extinction events,” and large amounts of liquid water on its surface.
The Air We Breathe is a lesson about anthropogenic climate change and possible solutions. Topics include photosynthesis, the Keeling curve, ice core data, sediment cores, evidence to support climate change, human behavior and lifestyle, and how to raise awareness to promote change.
For grades 11-12 or AP Environmental Studies.
River of Gold
River of Gold chronicles the clandestine journey of two war journalists and their guide into Peru’s Amazon rainforest to uncover the savage destruction of pristine jungle in pursuit of illegally mined gold. The documentary makes clear the consequences of this devastation on a global scale. Magnificent photography of plants, animals, and people inspires audiences to engage in solutions to protect the Amazon.
Our comprehensive curriculum guide emphasizes Environmental Science Lessons. Includes lessons the Hydrological Cycle, the Amazon Region, Rainforest Ecology, Biodiversity of the Amazon Region, Industry and the Environment, and much more. Available in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
For grades 10-12.
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Searching for Amani
Set in a Kenyan conservancy facing extreme drought, Searching for Amani follows a 13-year-old’s pursuit of truth as he uncovers the invisible forces of climate change threatening his home and future. What begins as a young aspiring journalist’s search for answers to his father’s death becomes a powerful coming-of-age story.
This Climate Lesson explores Biodiversity, Climate, Colonialism, Economic Justice, Human Rights, and Indigenous People. It examines how the historical context of settler colonialism contributes to the challenges faced by Indigenous communities in maintaining traditional ways of life amidst climate change, and how the international community respond to climate change in an equitable way. For grades 7-12.
The Searching for Amani Learning Guide explores Communities and Climate Change. For grades 7-12 and higher education.
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, young William Kamkwamba must leave school and abandon his formal education because his family can no longer pay the tuition. As the drought and resulting famine in Malawi continue, his family, like others, comes close to starvation. This true story shows how Williams’s resourcefulness provided a solution for his family and eventually for his village: a wind turbine to bring water to the fields.
The Environmental Crisis lesson is about climate, desertification, geography, health, equity, and sustainability. Includes 5 handouts. For grades 11-12 or AP Environmental Studies.
Wind Power: History and Engineering lesson is about wind energy. Aligns with Next Gen Science Standards. Includes handouts, standards, and hands-on engineering activities. For grades 9-12.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Discussion Guide introduces desertification and includes a service learning component. For grades 5-12.
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The Crisis Scientists
The Crisis Scientists follows seven extraordinary people working to galvanize policy makers and the public to save the planet. This compelling short film explores their preoccupations and emotions at this crucial time for life on Earth. They are inspiring examples of how we all can take action within our spheres of influence.
The Crisis Scientists Mini Discussion Guide contains questions, activities and resources for exploring the themes of this short film about seven extraordinary people working to galvanize policy makers and the public to act to save the environment.
For grades 9-12 plus higher education.
Youth v Gov
YOUTH v GOV is the story of America’s youth taking on the world’s most powerful government. Armed with a wealth of evidence, twenty-one courageous leaders file a ground-breaking lawsuit against the U.S. government, asserting it has willfully acted over six decades to create the climate crisis, thus endangering their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property. If these young people are successful, they will not only make history, they will change the future.
This film offers valuable opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning. For grades 7-12. The Curriculum Guide includes:
Lesson 1: Court Procedures (U.S. Government)
Lesson 2: Fossil Fuels and the Environment (English Language Arts, Environmental Science)
Lesson 3: The U.S. Government and the Fossil Fuel Industry (U.S. Government, Economics)
Lesson 4: Climate Close to Home (Environmental Science, English Language Arts, Government)
The Youth v Gov Discussion Guide explores Climate Anxiety and Climate Justice, as well as Community Action and Engagement. For grades 7-12.
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The Wild
The Wild tells the story of a race against time to save wild salmon. Fisherman/filmmaker Mark Titus returns to the wilds of Alaska where the people of Bristol Bay and its storied wild salmon runs face devastation if a massive copper mine is constructed. At stake is the survival of a keystone species that feeds 137 different creatures — including us — in a wild place that is the last of its kind on Earth.
Join the real-life struggle to save the last fully intact wild salmon system left on Earth with these lessons for documentary film The Wild. The film introduces students to stunning visuals of the pristine wilderness that is the Bristol Bay watershed and to those who survive and thrive on the bounty of this salmon run. They also learn of the real and immediate threat to this unique place, exploring the issues and perspectives of a variety of stakeholders. By taking action, students can play a vital role in preserving this rare and valuable resource, as well as the lives of those who depend on the return of this healthy salmon run.
These lessons work across the curriculum for teaching Civics, Community Service, Current Events, Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Geography, Human Development, Media Literacy, Political Science, Science, Service Learning, Social Emotional Learning, Social Studies, and US History.
For grades 6-12.
Group Discussion Facilitation Guidelines
These tips can help you create safe space for classroom engagement on the themes and subjects of these films.
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Whale Rider
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