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What is Affordable Housing? Who Needs It?

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The impact of housing affordability on communities

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From the abundance of economic benefits to a greater sense of community pride, increasing home affordability is foundational to the health of communities across the country.

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Wants vs. Needs vs. Must-Haves: A Checklist for Homebuyers

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Learn how to figure out your wants, needs, and must-haves in a new home, and create a handy checklist to help you quickly find properties that fit your needs.

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Dollar Street - photos as data to kill country stereotypes

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Imagine the world as a street. Everyone lives on Dollar Street. The poorest to the left and the richest on the right. Every else live somewhere in between. Where would you live? Visit Dollar Street and see homes from hundreds of homes from all over the World.

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Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

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Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

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7 Neighborhood Factors that Impact Home Cost

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7 Neighborhood Factors that Impact Home Cost

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7 Neighborhood Factors That Impact Home Values

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Discover how a neighborhood can impact home values. Learn how to choose a neighborhood that appreciates and maintain your home’s value.

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What Is A Budget? | Cash Course | PragerU Kids

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Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

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Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

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#LearningWithUCLG - Learning about Localizing the SDG 11

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change.

SCHOOL

Discover the World's Largest Lesson and wide-ranging activities and materials. All designed to motivate young people and inspire them to become informed and active citizens.

BUSINESS

Whether you're a business or employee, at the start of your sustainability journey or developing your next set of commitments, we've got useful resources to support your contribution to the Global Goals.

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How to achieve Sustainable Development Goals - The Global Goals

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change.

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Fun Facts: Responsible Consumption & Production

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Fun Facts: Responsible Consumption & Production

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Explore HMH Module 5: Project Earth & Discovery Ed for more information

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Fun Facts: Sustainable Cities & Communities

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Fun Facts: Sustainable Cities & Communities

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Sustainable Cities and Communities 🏙️ SDG 11 🌿 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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How to achieve Sustainable Development Goals - The Global Goals

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change.

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Explore Discovery Ed to learn more about different type of energy

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Learn more about Clean Water and how you can get involved in making a difference through Project World Impact.

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Clean Water and Sanitation 💧 SDG 6 🛁 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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The Sustainable Development Goals Explained: Clean Water and Sanitation

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Are we running out of clean water? - Balsher Singh Sidhu

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change.

SCHOOL

Discover the World's Largest Lesson and wide-ranging activities and materials. All designed to motivate young people and inspire them to become informed and active citizens.

BUSINESS

Whether you're a business or employee, at the start of your sustainability journey or developing your next set of commitments, we've got useful resources to support your contribution to the Global Goals.

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change. Discover the World's Largest Lesson and wide-ranging activities and materials. All designed to motivate young people and inspire them to become informed and active citizens.

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Life on Land 🌳 SDG 15 🐻 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Nature Reserves 101: Everything You Need to Know - EcoWatch

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Nature reserves are large areas of land set aside to protect habitats and ecosystems for common, rare and endangered animals and plants.

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Social Distancing: At Home Learning with Roots & Shoots

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Roots & Shoots is here for you, and you’re not alone. This is difficult time, but it offers a chance to build community, restore ourselves and each other.

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Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission

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Help Imperiled Species

You can get involved by becoming a volunteer or a citizen scientist.

Florida's Imperiled Species

Florida's imperiled species are fish and wildlife species that meet criteria to be listed as federally endangered, federally threatened or State-designated Threatened. The current listing status of all of Florida's federal and state listed species is found in Florida's Endangered and Threatened Species List. While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has primary responsibility for Florida species that are federally endangered or threatened, like thesand skinkor theFlorida scrub-jay, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) works in partnership with USFWS to help conserve these species.

FWC developed the Imperiled Species Management Plan to address the needs of state listed species that did not already have a management plan or specific program in place. These species also have Commission approved Species Conservation Measures and Permitting Guidelines that have been developed to clarify what is needed for conservation and permitting of these species. The guidelines also have accompanying Species Action Plans, which outline species-specific actions which minimize impacts from known threats, improve habitat, and strengthen conservation and recovery efforts.

Find out more about wildlife species in Florida by visiting their species profiles.

Support Species Conservation

Show your love for Florida's wildlife everywhere you go with a specialty license plate, available at your local Tax Collector's office. When you buy a plate, the proceeds go directly to conservation projects throughout the state.

More Information on Imperiled Species

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change.

SCHOOL

Discover the World's Largest Lesson and wide-ranging activities and materials. All designed to motivate young people and inspire them to become informed and active citizens.

BUSINESS

Whether you're a business or employee, at the start of your sustainability journey or developing your next set of commitments, we've got useful resources to support your contribution to the Global Goals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change. Discover the World's Largest Lesson and wide-ranging activities and materials. All designed to motivate young people and inspire them to become informed and active citizens.

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Explore HMH Module 5: Project Earth and Discovery Ed for more information

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Zero Hunger 🍴🥗 SDG 2 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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From volunteering to local food banks to initiating awareness events, learn ways you can help fight hunger in your neighborhood and community

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BUSINESS

Whether you’re a business or employee, at the start of your sustainability journey or developing your next set of commitments, we’ve got useful resources to support your contribution to the Global Goals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This dense stand of nonnative melaleuca trees was cleared to create suitable conditions for reestablishment of indigenous plants.
NPS photo

Invasive exotic (nonnative) species are seriously threatening the integrity of south Florida's native communities. With exotic fishes devouring native fish species and melaleuca trees shading out indigenous plants, the Florida Everglades is suffering from a barrage of pressures brought on by nonnative species. Far from their native homelands, these invaders have a competitive advantage over native species, often taking advantage of disturbed lands. Because nonnative species typically lack natural predators, they can outcompete native species. They can multiply unchecked, using up valuable resources such as sunlight, water, and nutrients. Native species suffer from this intense competition.

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Nonnative Species - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

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Nonnative Species, nonnative, exotic, invasive

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The Everglades Dirty Dozen are 12 invasive species that are important for the public to be aware of. These animals and plants are established and spreading in South Florida, are easy to identify, and are causing or likely to cause environmental harm.

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Water and the Everglades - Why is it Important?

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We refer to the quantity, quality, timing and distribution of water as important targets for Everglades restoration. Why are they important?

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11 Ways Wildlife Refuges Make Life Better

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11 Ways Wildlife Refuges Make Life Better

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Our lives are brighter because of national wildlife refuges. Even people who've never set foot on a refuge arguably benefit from these lands and waters conserved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

How could that be?

Come along for a look.

Here are some key ways national wildlife refuges improve Americans' everyday lives.

1. Health

We are hard-wired to crave contact with nature. A large body of research shows that getting outdoors - on national wildlife refuges, for example - can improve peace of mind and physical well-being.

Many refuges reinforce that health-and-nature connection by hosting family walks, runs, bike tours, even outdoor yoga classes, to get people moving outdoors.

"Just being out in nature helps a lot with mental health," says Juan Lopez, who worked with Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge to improve health and access to green space for his neighborhood near Albuquerque.

In California, biochemist Tim Keung took outdoor yoga classes every spring and summer at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge before classes were halted by the pandemic. "For me, just to be out there, it's just heaven," says Keung. "It's like icing on a cake to be able to do yoga outside ..."

African American sorority Zeta Phi Beta has been encouraging its members to visit refuges to promote their health and well-being; since 2016 they've explored more than 30 refuges. St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida helped train more than 100 doctors to write "nature prescriptions" for patients.

2. World-Class Recreation

Millions of people enjoy outdoor recreation each year on national wildlife refuges - where they are excited to spot wildlife while they refresh their minds and bodies. Some visitors take part in heritage sports such as hunting and ﬁshing. Others enjoy birding, hiking, paddling, wildlife viewing or nature photography. All these activities offer people a chance to unplug from the stresses of modern life and reconnect with their natural surroundings. Find a national wildlife refuge near you.

3. Storm Resilience

National wildlife refuges help lessen the impact of natural disasters on local communities.

More than 150 coastal refuges buffer cities and towns from storm surges. For example, during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, wetlands at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge blunted the saltwater surge toward North America's largest petrochemical refinery complex near Houston.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also partners with other public and private landowners to make their coastal lands more storm-resilient. This is important because while coastal counties make up only 10 percent of land in the lower 48 states, they are home to more than 50 percent of the population.

River refuges also ease flooding. Refuges along major rivers, such as the Mississippi and the Missouri, and smaller rivers, such as the Pee Dee in the Carolinas, often absorb huge amounts of excess water during floods, reducing property damage to nearby towns and farms. For example, in three days after Hurricane Florence in 2018, Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge took on almost 100 billion gallons of water from the Pee Dee River, sparing some South Carolina communities.

4. Access to Green Space

With four-fifths of Americans living in cities or suburbs, access to green space isn't a given. Luckily, there is a wildlife refuge within an hour's drive of most major cities. That's 101 urban refuges. Many partner with community groups to bring nature to schools and streets, opening new worlds to local residents.

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum has helped residents convert empty lots to pollinator gardens. Many refuges, including Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas and Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, have helped neighboring schools create these gardens. Scores of refuges host regular events most years to introduce kids and adults to fishing and birding.

Refuges in Texas, Colorado, Washington and California have built bridges and trails connecting nearby cities with green space. Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, encourages residents of an industrial neighborhood to help turn the former dairy farm into a lush green space that serves them. Video: "Not Your Typical Refuge"

5. Student Enrichment

National wildlife refuges enrich learning for tens of thousands of students across the country.

In Philadelphia, staff from John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum teach wildlife biology to fourth-graders at two schools, complemented by refuge field trips. One encouraging result: higher science test scores.

Other refuges that lead outdoor classrooms include: Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

In Fergus Falls, Minnesota, the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center - a partnership of the city of Fergus Falls, the state of Minnesota and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - is a national model. In fiscal year 2018, the center taught 16,133 students on-site and 1,012 off-site.

The center's Prairie Science Class involves some 200 fourth- and fifth-graders a year in daily outdoor lessons that integrate academic disciplines. Fourth-grader Ellia Soydara wrote about the class: "I roamed [the prairie], I smelled it, felt it, heard it, I saw it, and every now and then I tasted it! ... I always see something new. That's my never-ending classroom. The classroom that changes almost every second."

The award-winning class inspired the Compass to Nature approach to using the outdoors as a classroom.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides a host of other educational resources to teachers. Resources available free for downloading include lesson plans, student activity guides and curricula that meet state and national standards.

6. Reduced Fire Risk to Communities

Refuges help reduce risks from catastrophic wildfires.

Refuge fire managers routinely burn, cut or chemically treat overgrown brush, trees and logging debris that can fuel wildfires.

"We implement projects hand in hand with communities to protect them from wildfire," says Chris Wilcox, chief of the Refuge System Branch of Fire Management. Controlled burns improve wildlife habitat and reduce the cost of suppressing major wildfires.

When wildfires pose a threat, refuges send staff and equipment to fight them. Refuge firefighters work alongside federal and state partners coordinated by the Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

In recent years U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff have responded to wildfires throughout the country. This response accounted for 251,000 personnel hours in the 2020 western fire season alone.

7. Wildlife Conservation

National wildlife refuges are dedicated to conserving America's rich fish and wildlife heritage.

Just five decades ago, bald eagles, alligators, grizzly bears, California condors, Louisiana black bears and whooping cranes all were at risk of extinction. Refuges have helped-and continue to help-the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service save iconic American species (and many lesser-known ones) by providing healthy habitat on which they depend.

For example, clockwise from top in the photo above:

8. Biodiversity

Don't let the word scare you. Biodiversity is not such a hard concept to grasp.
Think of nature as a web, with each part depending on another. Take one part away, and other parts suffer.

Biodiversity is "the variety of living things in a given place-whether a small stream, an extensive desert, all the forests in the world, the oceans, or the entire planet." That's from Britannica Kids, which also says: "Ecological communities with a high biodiversity are generally more stable and healthy than others. Biological variety buffers communities from environmental stresses and allows them to recover more quickly after disturbances."

In nature, many organisms and microorganisms have not-always-obvious value. Without tiny plankton to eat, great whales would suffer. Without insects to feed on, birds, fish and bats would go hungry. Without a host of bats, bees and birds to pollinate plants, people would have less to eat. And so on.

Refuges encourage biodiversity. Among the most biodiverse refuges are Santa Ana, Lower Rio Grande Valley and Laguna Atascosa. Their south Texas counties contain 1,200 plant species, 300 butterflies and 700 vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish).

For the variety of species they support, coral reefs and island refuges-such as Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific and Desecheo in the Caribbean-are especially important. While islands make up less than 5 percent of Earth's land, they support 40 percent of the animals at risk of extinction.

9. Clean Air and Water

A former U.S. senator once called the wetlands and forest of Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland "the lungs of the Baltimore-Washington corridor." By absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere, the plants, trees and shrubs at Patuxent and other national wildlife refuges purify the air we breathe.

Refuge wetlands and waterways also improve local water quality across the nation. Marsh plants that are plentiful on refuges filter pollutants and excess nutrients from water before it flows into streams, rivers and lakes that often supply our drinking water. Freshwater mussels, river dwellers that many refuges work to conserve, are efficient water purifiers. One freshwater mussel can filter 10 to 20 gallons of water per day by removing small particles and contaminants. Explore the Mighty Mussel website to learn more.

10. Cultural Heritage

Refuges hold important links to the history that shaped us. Refuges conserve, restore, display and interpret thousands of cultural artifacts, deepening our understanding of the nation's past.

Among artifacts that refuges conserve are:

Many historic properties are important to Native Americans. Refuges consult with tribes on their care.

For example, petroglyphs at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada are sacred to the Nuwuvi people. The Nuwuvi work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners to showcase and respect the rock writings.

11. Economic Benefits

National wildlife refuges add to the nation's economic well-being.

For every $1 Congress appropriates to run the Refuge System, wildlife refuges generate nearly $5 in local economies, through visits for recreation. That was the finding of a 2013 report titled Banking On Nature.

Annually, recreational spending by 67 million visitors to national wildlife refuges helps generate about $3 billion in economic activity and supports more than 40,000 jobs.

Refuges also produce economic benefits by:

Aiding more than 60,000 landowners with conservation on private lands since 1987

Harnessing $24.5 million a year's worth of volunteer conservation efforts

Increasing values of homes near refuges in some parts of the country

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11 Ways Wildlife Refuges Make Life Better | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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Our lives are brighter because of national wildlife refuges. Even people who've never set foot on a refuge arguably benefit from these lands and waters conserved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. How could that be? Come along for a look. Here are some key ways national wildlife refuges improve Americans' everyday lives.

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change.

SCHOOL

Discover the World's Largest Lesson and wide-ranging activities and materials. All designed to motivate young people and inspire them to become informed and active citizens.

BUSINESS

Whether you're a business or employee, at the start of your sustainability journey or developing your next set of commitments, we've got useful resources to support your contribution to the Global Goals.

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What action will you take today? For each of the 17 Goals there are many positive actions you can take to make a real change. Discover the World's Largest Lesson and wide-ranging activities and materials. All designed to motivate young people and inspire them to become informed and active citizens.

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GREEN CITY HOW ONE COMMUNITY SURVIVED A TORNADO MyView Literacy Third Grade Unit 4 Week 4 Read Aloud

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Goal 12 - Responsible consumption and production

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SDG 12: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

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Understand Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production (Secondary)

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SDG7 Affordable and clean energy (Sustainable Development Goals)

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UN Sustainable Development Goals | Affordable and Clean Energy (7)

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Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 🏭 SDG 9 🏗️ Sustainable Development Goals for Kids

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Sustainable Development Goal 9 - Industry, Innovation And Infrastructure - Sarah Grundy

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SDG 9:  INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

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Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

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SDG 9: Animated video for young learners on the Sustainable Development Goals

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Resort in Orlando near Disney World | Orlando World Center Marriott

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Take a photo tour of Orlando World Center Marriott, a family-friendly resort in Kissimmee, FL near Disney World with outdoor pools, a hotel spa, golf club and tempting dining.

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The internet is an informal term for the world-wide communication network of computers.

The internet is used to send information quickly between computers around the world. It has millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks and websites, which together carry many different kinds of information (facts and details) and services. So in other words, the Internet is a network of networks.

The internet was developed in the United States by the " United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency" ( DARPA). It was first connected in October, 1969, and was called ARPANET. The World Wide Web was created at CERN in Switzerland in 1990 by a British ( UK) man named Tim Berners-Lee.

Today, people can pay money to access the internet from internet service providers. Some services on the Internet cost nothing to use. Sometimes the people who offer these free services use advertising to make money from them. The alternative (other) name, "net" came from "inter(net)".

Services on the internet

The internet is used for many things, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web.

The most used service on the internet is the World Wide Web (which is also called the "Web"). The Web contains websites, blogs, and also wikis like Wikipedia. Webpages on the internet can be seen and read by anyone (unless the page needs a password, or it is blocked).

The second biggest use of the internet is to send and receive e-mail. E-mail is private and goes from one user to another. Instant messaging (such as AIM or ICQ) is similar to email, but allows two or more people to chat to each other much faster.

Some governments think the Internet is a bad thing, and block all or part of it. For example, the Chinese government thinks that Wikipedia is bad. Many times no one in China can read it or add to it. Some parents block parts of the internet they think are bad for children to see. Well-known examples of the whole internet being blocked are in North Korea and Myanmar.

Related pages

Images for kids

Internet users per 100 population members and GDP per capita for selected countries.

The Internet Messenger by Buky Schwartz, located in Holon, Israel

2007 map showing submarine fiberoptic telecommunication cables around the world.

Banner in Bangkok during the 2014 Thai coup d'état, informing the Thai public that 'like' or 'share' activities on social media could result in imprisonment (observed June 30, 2014).

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The internet is an informal term for the world-wide communication network of computers. The internet is used to send information quickly between computers around the world. It has millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks and websites, which together carry many different kinds of information (facts and details) and services.

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How The Internet Works? | What Is Internet? | Dr Binocs Show | Kids Learning Video | Peekaboo Kidz

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What is the internet? | Wonder Kids | Scitech WA

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The world’s population mapped by who is online

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The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

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BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERNET - How has the internet changed our lives