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Depicts the yearly mineral depletion by country

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Worldmapper: The world as you've never seen it before

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Territories with the highest mineral depletion are Australia, Brazil, Chile and China. Australia is the largest producer of bauxite, Brazil of industrial diamonds, China of tungsten, and South Africa of platinum and gold.

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Depicts the percentage of fuel consumption per year by country

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Worldmapper: The world as you've never seen it before

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Each year the fuel equivalent of 11 567 000 000 000 kilograms of oil is used around the world. Fuel includes gas, coal, oil, nuclear, wood, and other materials. As one kilogram of these materials produces a different amount of energy, more useful comparisons can be drawn by comparing power.

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Explains the economic theory behind why problems such as pollution exists

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Market Failures, Taxes, and Subsidies: Crash Course Economics #21

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This week on Crash Course Econ, Jacob and Adriene are talking about failure. Specifically, we're talking about market failures. When markets don't provide a good or service efficiently, that's a market failure. When markets fail, often governments step in to provide those services. Stuff like public education or military protection are good examples of market failures.

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Explains the effectiveness of policies regarding pollution and sustainability

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Environmental Econ: Crash Course Economics #22

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Easy to understand videos that explain economic theory through examples

1. Relevance to curriculum: High
2. Relationship to other subjects: Low
3. Interactive: Low
4. 4Cs: Low
5. Accessibility: Low

Videos are based on economic theory
Although it is not interactive it is easy to understand and students can revisit videos if they need to clarify certain topics
Accessed through Youtube

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In 35 episodes, Adriene Hill and Jacob Clifford teach you economics! This course is based on introductory college level curriculum and the 2015 AP Economics…

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A news report on how biofuel is being used in buses

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Education resources for schools teachers and students - ABC Education

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ABC Education has 5000+ educational games, videos and teaching resources for schools and students. Free Primary and Secondary resources covering history, science, English, maths and more

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A news report on the consequences of severe pollution

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Education resources for schools teachers and students - ABC Education

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ABC Education has 5000+ educational games, videos and teaching resources for schools and students. Free Primary and Secondary resources covering history, science, English, maths and more

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A collection of education resources such as videos and games
1. Relevance to curriculum: High
2. Relationship to other subjects: High
3. Interactive: Medium
4. 4Cs: Medium
5. Accessibility: High

A resource highly suitable to young students although there are few videos specifically for economics there are highly relevant videos categorised under maths, geography and science.
There a various resources with varying degrees of  interactivity.
Easily accessed online without registration.

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Education resources for schools teachers and students - ABC Education

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ABC Education has 5000+ educational games, videos and teaching resources for schools and students. Free Primary and Secondary resources covering history, science, English, maths and more

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Visual representation of data through world maps
1. Relevance to curriculum: High
2. Relationship to other subjects: High
3. Interactive: Low
4. 4Cs: Medium
5. Accessibility: High

Analysis of economic indicators is highly relevant to curriculum and links to other social sciences such as geography and history.
Although it is not highly interactive it enables students to visualise for various indicators on a global scale.
Easily accessed online without registration

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Sample resources for the topic of sustainability
Posts are connected to the original source

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An animation on where plastic bottles go

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What really happens to the plastic you throw away - Emma Bryce

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Sign in now to see your channels and recommendations!

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Short video that explains various topics

1. Relevance to curriculum: Medium
2. Relationship to other subjects: Medium
3. Interactive: Low
4. 4Cs: Low
5. Accessibility: High

Videos are not specific to economics however it can be used as supporting material, relevant playlists include "How things work" and visualising data
Although it is not interactive there are interesting topics that are covered and can clarify and offer new perspectives
Accessed through Youtube

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ted ted-ed teded "ted education" animation "animated videos" history math science myths riddles literature poetry psychology education "mental health" health space biology physics brain animals music philosophy

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TED-Ed's commitment to creating lessons worth sharing is an extension of TED's mission of spreading great ideas. Within TED-Ed's growing library of TED-Ed an...

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Discusses the issues surrounding policies regarding climate change and way to improve

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Why humans are so bad at thinking about climate change

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Videos that examines and explains real world economics problems
1. Relevance to curriculum: Medium
2. Relationship to other subjects: Medium
3. Interactive: Low
4. 4Cs: Medium
5. Accessibility: High

Although not always directly linked to curriculum content it can be used as supporting material for older students in identifying real economic issues
It is not interactive however it is useful in providing a different perspective and a useful resource for discussions
Accessed through Youtube

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Hamburg, Germany Government bans coffee capsules

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Hamburg, Germany Government bans coffee capsules

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News article on how government regulation can be used for protect the environment

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People have a love-hate relationship with coffee pods. Love the convenience, hate the waste.

"Coffee pods" or "capsules" are little plastic or aluminum, coffee containers that are used to brew a single cup of coffee.

They are used in coffee makers made by companies like Keurig, Nespresso and Tassimo.

People like them because each person can make one single cup of coffee, just the way they like it.

The problem is, those little cups are difficult-if not impossible-to recycle. That's because they're made of a mixture of very different types of material: a plastic or aluminum cup, a paper filter and a tin lid, along with the grounds themselves, which are organic. They're also not "biodegradable," (they don't break down naturally over time) which means that they'll exist in the landfill for a long time.

It's not a small problem. According to The Atlantic, Keurig has sold nine billion of the little cups. And they're just one of many companies that sell them.

In fact, Hamburg, in Germany, recently banned the purchase of the "portion packaged" coffee and hot drinks in government buildings. Currently, one in eight coffees in Germany is now made with a "Kaffeekapselmaschine," according to the BBC.

Even the inventor of the Keurig K-Cup doesn't like them. John Sylvan told a reporter for The Atlantic last year that he doesn't have one, and that they tend to be quite expensive to use. He also said that sometimes he feels bad that he ever invented them, because of the ecological problems they cause.

Related links
Two excellent articles about the pods, inThe Atlantic and by the BBC.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly

Writing/Discussion Prompt
Coffee pods are such small items, yet when tens of thousands are used by people every day, the impact on the environment can be very large.

Another item we use every day that had a large environmental impact is plastic shopping bags. People use them every day, throw them out, and the plastic just sits in a landfill for an extremely long time.

Can you think of another item that is used and thrown out daily that is harmful to the environment? Is there any way to reduce the use of this item and find an alternative that is more environmentally friendly?

Reading Prompt: Reading Unfamiliar Words
The author doesn't explain what the German word Kaffeekapselmaschine. However, even if you don't speak German, you may be able to figure out what the word means. What do you think it means? How did you figure that out?

Junior and Intermediate Predict the meaning of and rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including: semantic (meaning), syntactic (language structure), and graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (OME, Reading: 3.2).

Language Feature: Em-dash
There are many different types of dashes in writing and one of them is called the em-dash. The em-dash is the longest (it is approximately the length of the letter m) and it shouldn't have a space before of after it.

The following sentence in the article uses the em-dash: "The problem is, those little cups are difficult-if not impossible-to recycle."

In this example, how does the em-dash work? Why do you think it is used?

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Hamburg, Germany Government Bans "Coffee Pods"

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People have a love-hate relationship with coffee pods. Love the convenience, hate the waste. "Coffee pods" or "capsules" are little plastic or aluminum, coffee containers that are used to brew a single cup of coffee. They are used in coffee makers made by companies like Keurig, Nespresso and Tassimo.

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Current news stories simplified for kids and includes lesson plans and points of discussion

1. Relevance to curriculum: Medium
2. Relationship to other subjects: Medium
3. Interactive: Medium
4. 4Cs: Medium
5. Accessibility: High

Informative articles on current issues which are simplified and useful for younger students and includes  media literacy activities
Not highly interactive however it can easily be incorporated into lessons and makes topics more relevant to the real world
Easily accessed online without registration.

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Coco, Latte and Leo are hanging out at a cafe in Toronto. But they're not humans-they're cats. Meow Cat Cafe is one of four locations in the Canadian city where cat lovers can indulge in two of their favourite things: drinking coffee and playing with cats.

"Petting the cats is very healing. It calms people," said Erica Yun, the owner of the cafe.

While Yun and her daughter, Helen, serve up coffee, customers get their feline fix.

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Teaching Kids News - Readable, teachable news.

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Coco, Latte and Leo are hanging out at a cafe in Toronto. But they're not humans-they're cats. Meow Cat Cafe is one of four locations in the Canadian city where cat lovers can indulge in two of their favourite things: drinking coffee and playing with cats. "Petting the cats is very healing.

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When coal replaces a cleaner energy source, health is on the line

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When coal replaces a cleaner energy source, health is on the line

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News article on the consequences of using coal as a energy source

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Where I grew up in Tennessee, a coal-fired power plant perches by the river, just down from the bridge that my wild brothers and their friends would jump off in the summer. Despite the proximity, I never thought too much about the power plant and the energy it was churning out.

But then I read an April 3 Nature Energy paper on coal-fired energy production that used my town - and others in the Tennessee Valley Authority area - as a natural experiment. The story the data tell is simultaneously fascinating and frustrating, and arrives at a politically prescient time. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has signaled a shift in energy policy back toward the fossil fuel.

The roots of this story were planted in the 1930s, when the TVA was created as a New Deal project to help haul America out of the Great Depression. The organization soon got into the power business, relying on a mix of energy sources: hydropower, coal and nuclear. After the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island - a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania - stricter regulations driven by public fear prompted TVA to shut down its two nuclear reactors. Those temporary closures in 1985 left a gaping hole in the region's energy production, a need immediately filled by coal.

Economist Edson Severnini realized that this dramatic shift from nuclear to coal offered a chance to study the effects of coal-fired power on health. He analyzed power production, particle pollution and medical records of babies born near coal plants. One in particular picked up the most slack: Paradise Fossil Plant in Paradise, Ky. (Incidentally, that town is the same coal-ravaged one John Prine sings about in arguably the best song ever written.) The plant's power production increased by about 27 percent, replacing about a quarter of the missing nuclear energy.

Not surprisingly, air pollution near the Paradise plant rose, Severnini found. The levels of an air pollution indicator called total suspended particulate fell below the Environmental Protection Agency's limit at the time (but wouldn't have passed today's tougher standards, Severnini says). Still, babies born near the plant in the 18 months after the nuclear shutdowns in 1985 were about 5 percent smaller than babies born in the 18 months before. No difference in birth weight showed up in babies born near other power plants that didn't change their output (including my town's).
Story continues below map
Shifting power

That 5 percent difference was "really, really surprising," says Severnini, of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Studies have linked low birth weight to trouble later in life, including a lower IQ, lower earnings and health problems, particularly heart disease.

UCLA environmental epidemiologist Beate Ritz puts that 5 percent drop in context. "These coal-fired power plants coming online can be compared with a pregnant woman smoking one pack of cigarettes a day," she says. "That's pretty bad."

Ritz, who studies the hazards of air pollution in Los Angeles, points out that it's not just the lowest birth weight babies affected. The whole curve of birth weights shifted, so that in all likelihood, most babies born there were impacted in some way. "There's only a small percent in the upper end of the curve that is unaffected," she says. "Everybody else has probably some kind of subtle effect that you can't measure on their brain development, on their lung development, on their immune system."

The study compares nuclear energy to coal. But the issue is far more complex than that, Severnini says. He hopes the example he found will serve as a reminder of how all energy decisions come with complex trade-offs. "Any energy production choice we make has costs and benefits, and we need to weigh them fully."

The TVA case study fits with many other examples of how coal pollution can harm health, says Bernard Goldstein, a physician and environmental public health expert at University of Pittsburgh. "We should get rid of particulates, and coal contributes to that," he says.

U.S. dependence on coal is ebbing, in part because natural gas is cheap right now. But coal isn't dead yet. "My administration is putting an end to the war on coal," President Donald Trump said March 28, before he signed an executive order that lifted the ban on coal leases on federal land. He also aims to lift other restrictions that affect the coal industry. It's not yet clear how - or whether -those policies will be enacted, or whether they'll be enough to revive the coal industry. (Tellingly, the Paradise plant plans to shut down two of its three coal-burning units as it shifts to natural gas.)

"If the president gets his way, this would slow [coal's descent] down," says Goldstein, who coauthored a March 23 New England Journal of Medicine opinion piece on why the Trump administration should pay attention to environmental science. Goldstein likens the situation to government efforts to discourage teenage smoking, a trend that's also decreasing. Just because the numbers are already falling doesn't mean we shouldn't hasten that drop, he says.

And unlike exposure to other pollutants like cigarette smoke, air isn't optional. "You don't have a choice," Ritz notes. We are all breathing the air that's around us, whether we are in Paradise or not.

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When coal replaces a cleaner energy source, health is on the line

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Where I grew up in Tennessee, a coal-fired power plant perches by the river, just down from the bridge that my wild brothers and their friends would jump off in the summer. Despite the proximity, I never thought too much about the power plant and the energy it was churning out.

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Science news written for students with topics such as environment, innovation and cool jobs

1. Relevance to curriculum: Medium
2. Relationship to other subjects: High
3. Interactive: Medium
4. 4Cs: Medium
5. Accessibility: High

Informative articles on current issues in science highly relevant to topics such as entrepreneurship
Although it is not highly interactive it is a highly credible resource which it relevant to students
Many articles are free of charge however a $50 (USD)/year subscription gains access to archives, subscription to magazines and apps.

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Science News Explores publishes news from all fields of science for students from middle school and up, with resources for parents and educators.

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Useful environmental data such as CO2 emission, energy sources and forest area

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Animated global statistics that everyone can understand

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A database that visually represents data through various methods
1. Relevance to curriculum: High
2. Relationship to other subjects: High
3. Interactive: High
4. 4Cs: High
5. Accessibility: High

Highly relevant to analysis of economic indicators and to subjects such social sciences, math and science.
Highly interactive and allows students to discover trends and relationships between various economic indicators.
Easy access to a variety of resources such as videos, programs, posters slides and etc.

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Examines the difficulties in designing effective government regulations

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Econoclass: The problem with regulations

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Games, activities, and resources for high school economics classes.

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Economics teaching resources consisting of games and activities
1. Relevance to curriculum: High
2. Relationship to other subjects: Low
3. Interactive: High
4. 4Cs: Medium
5. Accessibility: High

Content is highly relevant to economic theories and principles but suitable for high school students
Most activities are highly interactive and designed for discussion and group work with an emphasis on problem solving
Easily accessed online without registration

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Econoclass: Resources for Economics Teachers

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Games, activities, and resources for high school economics classes.

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Examines the consequences of drinking bottled water

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Financial literacy teaching resources for year 7 - 10
1. Relevance to curriculum: High
2. Relationship to other subjects: High
3. Interactive: Medium
4. 4Cs: Medium
5. Accessibility: High

Designed against Australian curriculum including subjects such as Math, English and Science.
Available materials are worksheet based although they can be personalised to be interactive and creative.
Easily accessed online without registration.

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Teaching resources for Secondary schools | ASIC's MoneySmart

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Secondary school teaching resources from ASIC's MoneySmart teaching program.

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Explanation of resource

1. Relevance to curriculum
2. Relationship to other subjects
3. Interactive
4. 4Cs
5. Accessibility

Explanation of rating and tips

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Click below for more economics teaching resources