photo credit Aaron Burden and Unsplash
Students, we have curated the resources below to provide you with connections, challenges, games, activities and online learning tools to support you and your peers. If you know of a great resource you would like to share or are interested in support or guidance for your own sustainability project or campaign email dept_sustainability@dpsk12.net.
Youth Sustainability Board (YSB), is a student run organization that offers teens from public and private schools throughout Colorado a platform to pioneer sustainability initiatives in their schools and greater communities. YSB provides volunteer opportunities, hosts learning sessions about climate science and other aspects of sustainability, offers a framework for individual school’s environmental club meetings, and offers interscholastic competitions among other things.
We create ways to not produce waste and limit consumption in the classroom, in our backyards, and everyday life. We find ways to utilize waste as a resource. We spread understanding about the social and environmental effects of what we buy, what we eat, and how we choose to live. We reclaim unused school gardens, we food-scape school campuses, and we relearn with youth how to grow food. We become the change. We teach about food justice, food literacy, and how healthy soil leads to healthy food which grows a healthy body. Most importantly, We mobilize youth, educators, and communities through consumption literacy education, action, and spreading what we know, so others can participate in the movement too.
Through Cooking Matters programming, participants learn to shop smarter, use nutrition information to make healthier choices, and cook delicious, affordable meals. We envision a future in which all Colorado children have the nutritious foods they need to grow, learn, and thrive, and all parents and caregivers have the knowledge and skills to prepare delicious, balanced meals.
Denver Botanic Gardens strives to entertain and delight while spreading the collective wisdom of the Gardens through outreach, collaboration and education. Our conservation programs play a major role in saving species and protecting natural habitats for future generations.
E-Smart Kids
Xcel Energy’s E-Smart Kids invites you to become an e-SMARTkid. Becoming e-SMART means learning about electricity safety and energy science. Check out our games, videos, and activities, and you’ll be on your way to being e-SMART safe!
Our Climate Our Future is a project of the Alliance for Climate Education. ACE’s mission is to educate young people on the science of climate change and empower them to take action. Since 2009, ACE has educated two million students and trained over 4,000 student leaders.
The mission of Groundwork Denver is to bring about the sustained improvement of the physical environment and promote health and well-being through community-based partnerships and action.
Since 2017, the YES Coalition has engaged more than a dozen partners in supporting and providing new opportunities for youth in Colorado to develop a love for the outdoors through stewardship based opportunities.
Earth Force engages young people as active citizens who improve the environment and their communities now and in the future.
Earth Force believes that a civic experience is an essential element of education about the environment. To ensure that young people have this experience Earth Force helps teachers develop young people with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to solve tough environmental problems:
STEM Knowledge: Earth Force students improve their STEM knowledge by generating and applying data to address issues in their community.
We believe that the well-being of children and the wild places we love are inextricably linked. And while research tells us that regular time outdoors is essential for children’s healthy development, today’s kids are less connected to nature than ever before.
Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges in a sustainable, regenerative way. The Biomimicry Institute empowers people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. Our goal today is for biomimicry to become a natural part of the design process, to create a new generation of innovators who support all life on this planet.
The RISE Challenge is part classroom learning, part competition, and part summit, focused on natural hazards and student-led learning. The RISE Challenge engages students in the exploration of their communities to determine where they are vulnerable to natural disasters and tasks them with developing their own ideas for making their community more resilient. Through this initiative, we are developing engaged citizens by building their resilience toolbox when they are still young.
The Purple Plow engages students in creating solutions for real-world, complex issues related to agriculture.
On average, Denverites recycle only 63% of the recyclable waste generated by their household each year. Making small recycling changes can make a huge difference!
Here are some activities that you can do while at the Gardens, in your backyard or in the safety of your home.
Our animal care staff provides vital care for our nearly 3,000 animal residents. We’re here to keep you informed, entertained and engaged with videos, wildlife-themed activity ideas and much more!
Audubon Society has developed wonderful activities to get outside and learn about our amazing birds!
Biomimicry Institute is hosting a reconnect with nature 30-Day Challenge. Experience, observe and learn from the natural world all around us.
Free Forest School has tips to make the most of staying at home and spending some of Everyday Outside.
If you have space in your yard or garden, consider Planting a Row for the Hungry. Take all the produce from the designated rows to your local food bank.
The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is “to advance the awareness, understanding and practice of servant leadership by individuals and organizations.” We strive to achieve this mission through a variety of programs you will find described here on our website.
Green Education Foundation (GEF) is a non-profit organization committed to creating a sustainable future through education. Sustainability education provides educators with the real-world applied learning models that connect science, technology, and math education with the broader human concerns of environmental, economic, and social systems. GEF provides curriculum and resources to K-12 students and teachers worldwide with the goal of challenging them to think holistically and critically about global environmental concerns and solutions.
We educate young people on the science of climate change and empower them to take action.
Our Climate Our Future is a project of the Alliance for Climate Education. ACE’s mission is to educate young people on the science of climate change and empower them to take action. Since 2009, ACE has educated two million students and trained over 4,000 student leaders.
The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone’s right to a healthy world.
This is a challenging time for all of us, but we can’t let that stop kids from growing stronger, smarter, and healthier! That’s why we’re launching Big Green at Home, an online hub that makes sure students, families, and teachers have exactly what they need to keep their minds and bodies engaged and active this school year.
Each week, Big Green will share distance-ready activity bundles, lessons, videos, resources and more to make teaching and engaging with kids at home easy and fun.
At The Edible Schoolyard Project, we believe that students’ experiences outside of school are just as meaningful as their experiences at school. We seek to bring students’ lived experiences into the classroom to connect their lives to their learning. Now, widespread distance learning has created a moment in which learning primarily occurs outside of formal learning environments. The Edible Schoolyard Project aims to support students, teachers, and families through a suite of lessons and activities designed for the home classroom.