Protecting Open Lands Helps Address Climate Change
Provided by: Illinois Environmental Council|Published on: May 6, 2025
Grades: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Type: Videos
Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: Illinois Environmental Council
Region: Chicagoland IL
Languages: English
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This video from the Illinois Environmental Council describes the conservation efforts of Openlands, a group working in Northeastern Illinois.
- Details are explained about a former U.S. Navy base site on Lake Michigan that provides areas of protection for the unique ravine ecosystem, trees, and migratory species.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- Students will learn about conservation efforts and how they benefit local species, biodiversity, and migratory species.
- This video is short and provides a broad overview of the importance of conservation efforts as well as some brief examples.
Prerequisites
- Students should know where Lake Michigan is on a map and in relation to their location.
- Knowledge of greenhouse gases is essential to understand the conservation effort ideas presented in this resource.
- Students should understand what a carbon sink is.
- Background knowledge of the variety of ecosystems that exist prior to watching this video will be helpful for students.
- Closed captioning is available.
Differentiation & Implementation
- There are four points throughout this video that students may benefit from pausing the video where text appears due to the short amount of time it is onscreen (0:27, 0:34, 1:09, and 1:39).
- This video can be used to teach or refresh students' knowledge of greenhouse gases prior to using this resource.
- Students could do research on the rare ravine ecosystem that is mentioned in the video and draw a picture of the ecosystem pointing out all of the abiotic and biotic factors.
- If students are local to this area, a free field trip could be planned to the location as a culminating activity.
- This lesson, which includes a virtual field trip, can be used to elaborate on how important trees are to ecosystems and a healthy climate.
This resource highlights the contribution of Openlands in supporting biodiversity conservation in Illinois. Tree planting has proven to be one of the most cost-effective solutions in addressing climate change and environmental degradation. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
