17+ Online Resources for Learning About the Environment from Home for Kids of All Ages

As the physical and social distancing measures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic seem likely to stay in force for the near future, we asked our members and colleagues for their suggestions of online environmental learning resources to help kids of all ages learn about the environment during this time of limited activities. Here are their suggestions, and some of our own.

Teach & Learn at Home

• CPAWS Southern Alberta has produced their Bring Nature Home educational toolkit. "This toolkit includes some of CPAWS-SAB’s very own tried and tested games and activities for K-12 students, as well as other online resources to support learning. Topics include water, species at risk, ecosystems, climate change and many more."
• The Wild Child Edmonton program of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation have provided an online platform to support distance learning. The platform includes weekly videos, and online resources such as a blog and printable materials.
• Subscribe to the Canadian Wildlife Federation's Weekly Wild Updates and you'll receive a weekly dose of DIY activities, online lesson plans, webinars and videos.
• The Alberta Council for Environmental Education is also distributing a weekly newsletter for parents with activities and resources to support at home learning. Check out ACEE's resource page for parents, as well as their extensive hub of environmental education resources for teachers.
• The Oldman Watershed Council posted a great list of online tools and resources for learning at home.

Go Back to School

• The Environmental Law Centre has launched Alberta Environmental Laws 101, a self-guided online course for "Albertans interested in learning more about environmental law in our province." The website also includes lesson plans and connections to the Alberta high school curriculum. 
• Ducks Unlimited is offering their online Wetlands 101: An Introduction to Boreal Wetlands course for free until June 30, 2020.
• Aquality Environmental is also offering a free Alberta Wetlands 101 course.
• The University of Alberta is offering a number of free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in partnership with Coursera.
• Check out the full catalogues of MOOC providers like Coursera, edX, and OpenLearn for a vast selection of free environmental courses to take.

Hit the Festival Circuit

• The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival has curated a program of free Fesitval films that are available online for you to watch at home.
• Planet in Focus, one of Canada's largest environmental film festivals, has curated a list of Official Selections from past festivals that are now available to view online.
• The 2020 International Wildlife Film Festival is on now with a wide selection of free streaming films available until April 25. Buy a pass to  gain access to daily featured events, behind the scenes extras, live Q&A's and an additional streaming library
• The One Earth Film Fest (Chicago) is presenting an Earth Week Virtual Mini Film Festival. Register to watch a film online, then discuss with experts via live chat on Zoom.

Enter the Simulation: Design the Future

Check out these interactive simulation tools to see the impact of the choices, decisions, and policies we make on our landscape and climate.

• Alberta Tomorrow | The Alberta Tomorrow Foundation
  "The Alberta Tomorrow simulator is an educational tool that helps you to understand the process of sustainable planning to balance land-uses such as agriculture, oil and gas and forestry with ecological integrity. By looking at past and present landscape imagery, you will be able to see changes that have taken place in the past. You can also collect, geotag and save water sampling data, images, video and other observations. Now set some goals and design a future for Alberta that you want to see!"
• Design Our Climate | The King's Centre for Visualization in Science
  "The Design Our Climate simulation (DOCs) engages you in an interactive exploration of how much of a difference we can make through informed choices about electricity, transportation, land use, buildings, and materials. Find out what combination of achievable steps we can collectively take to meet the Paris Conference target of keeping the increase in global average surface temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution."
• Energy Policy Simulator | Energy Innovation | Pembina Institute
  "Designing energy policy correctly is tough work. Well-designed energy policies reduce pollution, cut consumer costs, and minimize dependence on foreign energy supplies. Done wrong, they can do the reverse, and increase pollution, lock in carbon-intensive technologies, or waste money. Which energy policies can lower greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and what will it cost? Discover the effects of various energy policies, build your favorite policy package, and share it with friends using the Energy Policy Simulator."