Related Sites

Drylands Education

The links below are organized by general grade level group, and include a section specifically for education of educators. Each annotated link also includes one or more of the following codes:

Elementary (primary) school

• Children's View of the Earth's Drylands [A, L, R]
  Part of the Bright Edges of the World Website. Students are given a tour and activities for learning about arid and semiarid lands of the world through simple text and beautiful photography.

Middle school

• Abwenzi African Studies [A, R]
  Abwenzi means friend in the Central African nation of Malawi; this site presents the friendships that grow between pen pals living in Malawi and in Aspen, Colorado (USA), in text and photographs. Information on becoming a pen pal may be obtained from the organization.

High school

• Soil: Teaching and Tutorial Websites [L, P]
  Normally, we avoid linking to "lists of links"; however, this directory from the Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, includes many resources pertinent to arid lands soils. Aimed at the college level, but some sites are appropriate for high school level and many are useful as educator resources.
• Major Biomes of the World {L, R, T](18 August 1998)
  From the Virtual Geography Department Project, basic content on the distribution and nature of the world's major biomes, including tropical savanna, desertscrub, temperate grasslands, and Mediterranean scrub. Aimed at the college level, but potentially useful for high school as well.

Multi-grade levels

• Cooking with the Sun (2 sites) [A, L]
  Solar cooking makes sense in drylands, and these lesson plans let students experiment with simple solar cookers. (Materials called for may not be available in all countries.)
  • Alternative Energy Sources: simple activities for cooking marshmallows & for heating water using simple parabolic solar collectors; aimed at primary school children.
  • A Solar Hot Dog Cooker is easily constructed by older students or young students under adult supervision, and may cook a variety of foods.
• Geographic Information Systems [A, L, T]
  This USGS site includes basic to sophisticated information on Geographic Information Systems. Suitable for upper level middle school and high school.
• The Globe Program [A, R]
  In this program, K-12 students around the world collect local environmental data and share their findings with other students and scientists via the Internet. Drylands countries with participating schools currently include Namibia, Mali, Egypt, Australia, Peru, and Argentina.
• Peace Corps: World Wide Schools [A, L, R, T]
  Two specific modules from this site are highlighted above. Aimed at U.S. schools, the site includes many lesson plans concerning arid or semiarid countries of the world.
• U.S. Bureau of Land Management Environmental Education [A, L, T]
  Aimed at elementary and middle school children in the USA. Many of the educational resources provided are pertinent to drylands, including lessons on various North American deserts, riparian areas, invasive weeds in the western USA, and the role of fire in ecological systems.
• USGS Learning Web: Global Change [A, P, T]
  Aimed primarily at middle school students, with some activities suitable for primary school and high school students.
• World Resources Institute Environmental Education Project [A, R, T]
  Extensive teaching resources on various environmental topics, many relevant to drylands. Aimed at high school; also potentially useful for middle school and college levels.

For educators

• Education for Sustainability
  From the US Global Change Research Information Office (GCRIO);explains the importance of teaching students about sustainable development and provides substantive background information to increase teachers' understanding of this complex subject.