Environment & Sustainability
Do you want to make the earth a better place to live? It is all about the environment in this project, whether it’s plants, animals, habitats, environmental issues, saving energy, renewable resources, or recycling! You pick the topic and then learn and make a difference. Become active in your community, school, club, and home.
- Develop an understanding of environmental sciences and sustainable practices and technologies.
- Learn about science and how science relates to the real world, people’s lives, and the environment we all depend on.
- Gain experience in problem solving, reasoning and decision-making using the scientific process.
- Develop knowledge and skills for better environmental stewardship.
Ideas for Project Area Learning!
- Observe life cycles of insects or other animals or plants that interest you
- Learn about energy cycles
- Create a collection (leaves, seeds, insects, plants) and learn the proper way to mount and identify what you found
- Learn about different tree species and critters on your vacation. Record location, name of species, and type of climate
- Volunteer at an eco-fair for your community
- Compare the costs and benefits of renewable energy sources
- Learn how to set up an apiary
- Conduct a forestry quiz bowl for your community
- Organize a community service learning project to weatherize homes
- Monitor water quality in your community with the IOWATER program
- Job shadow and Interview a forester, entomologist or botanist
- Enter a research project in a science or technology fair
Project Area Events
Iowa 4-H Contact
Maya Hayslett
Share What You Learn With Others!
Communication
- Do a presentation on the benefits of wind energy.
- Demonstrate how to collect and mount insects, leaves, plants, etc.
- Create a blog about an environmental issue.
Civic Engagement
- Create a video on how to weatherize your home.
- Write a letter to the editor about a conservation or environment issue that concerns you.
- Create a Sustainability Team to reduce non-recyclable products.
Leadership
- Clean up a local pond or lake to help the local fish environment.
- Plan and conduct an “energy fair” teaching younger kids about wind, solar, biomass, and coal energy.
- Organize an environmental club in your community.
Exhibit Ideas
- Reuse your family's food scraps by building a composing bin.
- Create a survey on what other youth think and feel about today’s environmental issues. Tweet your friends and keep a tally. Report the results.
- Develop a workshop on planting pollinator or monarch habitat.
- Create an original piece of artwork using natural objects. Explain how the objects are connected.
- Develop a presentation or working exhibit that shows how to make a solar oven.
- Do a presentation on how to do a home energy audit.
- Create a video on pros and cons of sun, wind, nuclear, coal power.
- Build your own wind turbine.
- Can you identify local trees? Make a poster to help others learn.
- Develop a display or notebook on forest diseases and their impact.
- Create a timeline with visuals of significant events and how Iowa’s wildlife has changed through the years.