Educators can schedule a classroom lesson with BRING (available in Lane County only) to help students explore a natural recycling process known as vermicomposting. Using the book “Diary of a Worm” as their guide, learners discover the essential role played by worms in decomposing organic materials and transforming them into valuable nutrients that nurture new life.

This activity focuses on getting students to think about bacteria, water quality, and water treatment processes. Students develop and test their hypotheses about the “cleanliness” of three water samples prepared by the teacher.

Student teams design and create small-size models of working filter systems to simulate multi-stage wastewater treatment plants.

Students learn about the world’s limited freshwater resources via an overview of hydrologic cycle components and the important roles they play in the design of engineered systems.

Students learn how wetlands are productive and biologically diverse systems that enhance water quality, control erosion, maintain stream flows, sequester carbon, and provide a home to at least one-third of all threatened and endangered species.

Students learn how algal blooms can pollute water. They grow algae with different concentrations of fertilizer or nutrients and analyze their results as environmental engineers working to protect a local water resource.

Students learn the fundamentals of treating wastewater with microbes, discovering the primary constituents of wastewater and how it is generated. Hands-on activities help students explore and understand microbial metabolism, enzymes, bioreactors, and the primary processes occurring within organisms.

Students learn how rooftop gardens help the environment and people, especially in urban areas, and understand how plants reduce the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, provide agriculture space, reduce energy consumption, and increase the aesthetic quality of cities.

Students are introduced to the concept of energy cycles via the carbon cycle. They learn how carbon atoms travel through the geological (ancient) carbon cycle and the biological/physical carbon cycle.

This lesson is a fun and tasty way to introduce students to dichotomous keys and how to create their own keys using snack packs of nuts, dried fruit, or chips. Non-food items like pens/pencils work well, and avoid allergens.