Michigan Environmental Education
Curriculum Support (MEECS)

Ecosystems, Land Use,Water Quality, Energy Resources, Air Quality

What is the Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) Project?
The Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) is a set of environmental education curriculum lessons and support materials, carefully designed to help teachers integrate environmental materials into their classrooms – materials that are Michigan-specific, balanced, science-based, and critically aligned to the Michigan curriculum framework standards and benchmarks. The materials were carefully developed with broad-based review, and teachertested in Michigan classrooms.

The MEECS curriculum consists of five foundation environmental education units for grades 4-9 which support Michigan’s science and social studies curriculum framework and benchmarks: Ecosystems & Biodiversity, Land-Use, Water Quality, Energy Resources, and Air Quality.
The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Department of Education have worked hand in hand to develop sound science-based supplementary environmental education curriculum materials for use by Michigan educators. The curriculum units were carefully created by a team of experts, carefully reviewed by a variety of organizations, teachers, university faculty, environmental groups, business and industry trade associations, and government agencies. Then each curriculum unit was field-tested by 20 to 30 classroom teachers and thoroughly revised based on their feedback.

The curriculum units are distributed through teacher training workshops, conducted by trained facilitators, to help educators more easily understand and integrate the materials into their classrooms.

Description of Units
	Ecosystems & Biodiversity (Gr. 4-6; eight lessons) Explores how organisms interact with their environment, ecosystem services, Michigan’s environmental timeline, and concepts related to biodiversity including “Michigan’s Web of Life” and “Biodiversity Study.”
	Water Quality (Gr. 6-8; nine lessons) Students discover the essential role that water plays in Michigan’s economy and our lives; calculate how much water they use, investigate how land uses can impact water quality, explore Michigan watersheds and characteristics of healthy streams, analyze Michigan stream data, and investigate challenges to the Great Lakes. Students consider “How can we protect Michigan’s water quality and quantity?” and “Are the Great Lakes really great?”
	Air Quality (Gr. 7-9; eight lessons) Explores the sources, types and health effects of air pollutants in Michigan and examines current Michigan issues through lessons on: “Why Should We Be Concerned About Air Quality?” and “How Can We Tell What the Quality of Air is Today?” Also includes a series of lessons on global climate change and its potential effects on the Great Lakes.
	Land Use (Gr. 4-5; eight lessons) Teaches students how to analyze and understand issues regarding land use and the impacts people have on it with lessons from “Classifying Land Use” to “Solving Land Use Conflicts.”
	Energy Resources (Gr. 7-9; eight lessons) Addresses Michigan energy use and sources, how electricity is generated, renewable and non-renewable energy resources, energy conservation and efficiency, and environmental sustainability. Students keep an Energy Use Diary, compare Michigan and U.S. per capita energy consumption to energy use in other countries, and calculate their energy footprint. What is Michigan’s energy future?

FREE Classroom and Teacher
Materials for Workhop Participants!
Every curriculum unit includes:

Notebook of Lesson Plans

Background Information for Teachers

CD with extension lessons, PowerPoints,
and more.

Hands-on Activities

Pre- & Post-Tests and other assessments

Student materials & colorful posters

Teacher Training

• Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Workshop Series ~ June 21-22, 2007

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm       Steven E. Chester, Director