Lesson Plans & Activities
A Changing Climate: Understanding Drought in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to drought in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of drought in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw activity.
The Vocabulary of Hazards
We suggest teaching this lesson to introduce the unit as it will benefit students in their understanding of natural hazards throughout the entire HEART Force Unit.
This lesson uses a matching game to build students' understanding and familiarity with different terms used in the world of resiliency planning.
Envisioning a Resilient Future
We suggest teaching this lesson to introduce the HEART Force Unit.
In this lesson, students create a vision for the future of their community and identify what resources are most important to them as a starting point for resilience planning.
A Changing Climate: Understanding Floods in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to floods in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of flooding in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.
A Changing Climate: Understanding Wildfire in Colorado
This lesson is best used as part of the HEART Force curricular unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to wildfire in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of wildfire in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.
Flood Resilience in Colorado StoryMap
This is a lesson that can be used to get ideas and prepare for the Community Resilience Expo.
Students interact with a flood StoryMap to explore the Colorado Resiliency Framework.
Wildfire Resilience in Colorado StoryMap
This is a lesson that can be used to get ideas and prepare for the Community Resilience Expo.
Students interact with a wildfire StoryMap to explore the Colorado Resiliency Framework.
Exploring Local Hazard Mitigation Plans
This lesson is part of the Community Resilience Expo, a culminating event for the HEART Force curriculum unit, where students will share what they’ve learned during the hazard lesson and the role-playing game.
In this lesson, students will explore their county Hazard Mitigation Plan to gain understanding about the hazard in their area (flooding, wildfire, or drought), including historic hazards, probability of future occurrences of the hazard, and vulnerability of the area to the hazard.
Design a Resilient Future
This is a lesson that can be used to get ideas and prepare for the Community Resilience Expo.
In this lesson, students will work in small groups to develop an idea to increase community resilience, utilizing Design Thinking.
Filmmaking: Pre-Production
This is the first part of a 3-part unit on the filmmaking process for both formal and informal education settings.
This lesson has students explore science content, decide on the topic for their film, and do all the preparatory work before filming begins.
Filmmaking: Production
This is the second part of a 3-part unit on the filmmaking process for both formal and informal education settings.
In this lesson, students film interviews with content experts as well as additional B-roll footage, and film mentors help students find existing footage and media to supplement their films.
Filmmaking: Post-production
This is the third part of a 3-part unit on the filmmaking process for both formal and informal education settings.
This lesson teaches students about editing films and respecting licensed materials, while also ensuring they receive the support they need to ensure completion of their films.
How Can We Decrease Our Impact on the Earth’s Climate at our School?
This is the first lesson in the Climate Resiliency Education Design Challenge Unit which was designed to follow the middle or high school Climate Resiliency Education units.
In this design challenge lesson students explore the Denver Public School District’s solid waste plan and discuss how their school can save or decrease emissions by reducing solid waste at our school.
How Does Our School Food System Create Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
This is the second lesson in the Climate Resiliency Education Design Challenge Unit which is meant to follow the middle or high school Climate Resiliency Education units.
In this design challenge lesson, students examine their school food system and develop an investigation about food waste in order to know what should change.
How Can We Understand Waste and Emissions in Our School's Food System?
This is the third lesson in the Climate Resiliency Education Design Challenge Unit which is meant to follow the middle or high school Climate Resiliency Education units.
This lesson outlines for students how to design and carry out an investigation to audit their school’s food waste system.
How Can We Reduce Emissions Associated with Food Waste in Our School?
This is the fourth lesson in the Climate Resiliency Education Design Challenge Unit which is meant to follow the middle or high school Climate Resiliency Education units.
In this activity students utilize the data that is collected and propose solutions to mitigate food waste in their school.
How Can We Present Solutions for Food Waste and Emissions at School?
This is the fifth lesson in the Climate Resiliency Education Design Challenge Unit which is meant to follow the middle or high school Climate Resiliency Education units.
This lesson provides guidance for students to create and practice a presentation about their design challenge results that they developed in the previous lessons and how to present it to the school administration.
Adapting to Extremes: Exploring the Science of Floods in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to floods in Colorado.
The way we choose to design our communities has impacted community risk and vulnerability to flooding; in this lesson, students will explore this concept by analyzing environmental data to classify patterns and practice communicating their findings.
Adapting to Extremes: Exploring the Science of Wildfire in Colorado
This lesson is best used as part of the HEART Force curricular unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to wildfire in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of wildfire in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.
Wildfire Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on wildfire.
Flood Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on flood.
Drought Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on drought.
Communicate Existing Plans
This is a guide that can be used for a pathway for the Community Resilience Expo.
In this sub-unit, students will learn more about their community’s resilience plans, choose a specific topic to focus on, and develop a product to communicate the plan to their peers and/or their community.
Adapting to Extremes: Exploring the Science of Drought in Colorado
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to drought in Colorado.
Humans have been affected by severe drought throughout history; in this lesson students explore this concept by analyzing environmental data to classify patterns and practice communicating their findings.
ReVisioning Hazards
This is the first lesson in the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit, but can be used for any introduction to natural hazards curriculum.
In the first lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards Unit, students read a poem written by a local fire survivor, and utilize a visualization practice to build personal resilience.
Cascading Hazards
This is the second of four lessons in the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit.
In the second lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit, students dig into local stories and datasets, and learn about the connections between natural hazards.
Take Action
Actions that will help families prepare for the next disaster can take a few minutes, and make a big difference when the time comes. Students will create a social media post or a short video to share what they are doing to prepare and encourage their friends to be prepared too.
In the last lesson of the Lake County unit, students develop ideas to increase resilience to hazards in their community.
Social Vulnerability to Natural Hazards
This is the third of four lessons in the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit. This lesson can also be used in the HEART Force Curriculum.
In the third lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit, students learn about social factors that might make one group more vulnerable to a hazard than another.
Data Puzzle: Windstorms on the Front Range
Although strong windstorms are a common weather event at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, a record-breaking windy spring soon after the Marshall Fire disaster had the public feeling on-edge. In this Data Puzzle, students analyze data on the number of windstorms and the number of red flag warnings to investigate the question, “Is it getting windier on the Front Range as the climate warms?”
Conversation Guide: Our Relationship with Water
This structured conversation guide is a great way to begin a dialogue about shared experiences with water in your community!
In this conversation, participants will explore their shared watershed and local ecosystems, and connect with neighbors through their common and unique experiences with water in the region. We hope individuals, families, and communities will share their memories and stories about water and come together to imagine a future they want for their communities.
Guía de Conversación: Nuestra Relación con el Agua | Conversation Guide: Our Relationship with Water
This structured conversation guide is a great way to begin a dialogue about shared experiences with water in your community!
En esta conversación, los participantes van a discutir su cuenca compartida y conectar a través de sus experiencias únicas y compartidas sobre el agua en la región. Esperamos que los participantes compartan sus recuerdos e historias sobre el agua y que se junten para imaginar el futuro que quieren para sus comunidades.
Stop Motion Animation Workshop
Learn how to create a short (<1 minute) stop-motion animation of a story!
This workshop is designed to be completed in two days or two sessions. Each portion is about 1.5 – 2 hours long. You may want to leave time between sessions for students to make their pieces. Depending on how intricate their story is, they may need more time for cutting out shapes, making “characters,” etc.
Letters to the Arctic
Letters to the Arctic is one of four activities in the The Drifting North Polar Planetarium Experience that invites students to explore what it was like to participate in the MOSAiC expedition to the North Pole.
In this activity, students put themselves in the shoes of a scientist who works in a fragile and changing environment. Learning will be guided with the driving question: How do scientists feel about the places they study?
Voices of Resilience: Collecting Stories of Survivors
This lesson is best used as part of the HEART Force curricular unit, but it can also be used as part of a unit on natural hazards.
Students collect stories from community members about their experiences with hazards.
