Brief Description Objectives Materials and Resources Activity Description Internet Resources

• Grade level: Upper elementary and middle school.

• Subject Area: Science and social studies.

Brief Description

    Students use the Internet to identify and review pending environmental legislation that might impact their local community. The rich variety of Internet resources allows students to search for current or pending legislation of interest to them based on their own interests in environmental issues.
Objectives

    Students will:

• Learn Internet research skills by finding pending legislation on environmental issues.
• Synthesize their understandings of the concepts of how laws are created.

Materials and Resources

    In developing our lessons and activities, we made some assumptions about the hardware and software that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the LETSNet Website. We assume that teachers using our Internet-based lessons or activities have a computer (PC or Macintosh) with the necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) as well as software (operating system, TCP/IP software, networking or dial-up software, e-mail and a World Wide Web client program, preferably Netscape, but perhaps Mosaic or Lynx). In the section below, we specify any "special" hardware or software requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those described above) and the level of Internet access required to do the activity.

1. Special hardware requirements: none.
2. Special software requirements: none.
3. Internet access: medium-speed (28,800 BPS via phone) or High-speed (greater than 1 MBPS via network).

Activity Description

    

• Students visit the Internet sites listed below to find environmental bills under consideration in the U.S. Congress and check on current legislation that affects endangered species.

• Students search the Congressional Record [http://thomas.loc.gov/i104/i104index1.html] to find environmental Bills under consideration. An example of what students might find using this approach if they searched the congressional record using the keyword "Peregrine" would be the text of a speech by Rep. David Skapps (CO) where he proposed legislation to protect the St. Vrain River watershed, an important habitat for the Peregrine falcon.

• Encourage students to continue following the voting record of their local and state legislators on environmental issues, and other issues of interest to them.

Internet Resources

• EcoNet Action for Endangered Species
  [http://www.econet.apc.org/endangered/].
  A Website dedicated to environmental action on endangered species.

• Thomas Web Website
  [http://thomas.loc.gov/].
  The U.S. Congress Website.

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