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Classroom Presentation Topics

IDEM offers free hands-on classroom presentations to Indiana schools year-round. Our goal is to present fun, engaging, and informative presentations that provide students with examples of environmental careers while teaching them about our environment. If you are interested in requesting a presentation, please contact the Environmental Education Outreach Coordinator.

Presentation Descriptions

Air Quality

Indiana’s Environment and You Puzzle
3rd - 6th Grades (Can Be Done With Younger Students)

Summary: Students will learn that air is an invisible but tangible substance that enters their bodies every day, and that wind carries air pollution around the world.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Learn to recognize air as an actual substance rather than “blank space” by using their sense of smell.
  2. Realize how invisible substances are part of their world.
  3. Learn how wind moves air pollution around the world.

Recycling

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Your Trash
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

Summary: Students will look at how they can reduce the amount of trash thrown away by reusing, recycling, or composting items they would otherwise throw away.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Sort trash into categories.
  2. Recognize that everyone contributes to and is responsible for the amount of trash created each day.
  3. Discuss simple ways they can divert the amount of trash sent to landfills.
Recycling Relay
3rd - 12th Grades

Summary: Students gain an understanding of natural resources used to make recyclable items, where the items go if not recycled, and how to complete the recycling loop.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Learn what natural resources are used to make products.
  2. Understand the recycling process.
  3. Explore simple ways they can recycle.
The Wonderful World of Worms
Kindergarten - 12th Grades

Summary: Students will explore how red worms can compost their food waste.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Learn about worm biology.
  2. Understand how worms turn food waste into compost.
  3. Discuss how composting with worms can divert the amount of trash sent to landfills.

Land Quality

Edible Landfill*
3rd - 12th Grades (Can Be Done With Younger Students)

* Please note that teachers are responsible for purchasing the supplies (spoons, pudding, M&M’s, etc.) for this presentation.

Summary: Students will learn their trash does not just go away.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Learn trash is commonly referred to as solid waste.
  2. Discover how landfills manage solid waste.
  3. Explore how landfills are not holes in the ground, but complicated engineered structures that require years of permitting and construction work.
  4. Construct a landfill out of piecrust, pudding, M&M's, etc. This program is a lot of fun and can be done with young students as long as there is plenty of adult help.
How Long Does Your Trash Last?
3rd - 12th Grades

Summary: Students will learn that commonplace items that are "thrown away" do not go away. The most prevalent disposal method is landfilling. Students will discuss the effects of landfill design on how long trash lasts.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Learn about landfills and how they are constructed.
  2. Discover how long different items take to degrade.
  3. Discuss simple things they can do to help divert the amount of trash sent to landfills.

Water Quality

Incredible Journey
Kindergarten - 6th Grade

Summary: With a roll of the die, students simulate the movement of water within the water cycle.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Describe the movement of water within the water cycle.
  2. Identify the states of water as it moves through the water cycle.
  3. Identify the processes (i.e. evaporation, condensation, precipitation) at work that move water through the water cycle.
  4. Discuss the importance of water protection and conservation.
Sum of The Parts

Summary: Students will learn about watersheds, how water pollution moves through a watershed, and work being done to protect hellbenders, an endangered salamander.

Objectives: Students will

  1. Distinguish between point and non-point source pollution (NPS).
  2. Recognize that everyone contributes to and is responsible for a river’s water quality.
  3. Explore hellbender habitat and the work being done around the state to protect the species.

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