Brownfield Restoration / Ecosystem Rehabilitation

Sustainability Education Resources

Nonpoint Source Pollution Awareness: What’s Wrong with This Picture? (U.S. E.P.A.)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/ecological restoration

Content Type: Game

Topics Covered: This simple game is designed to raise pollution awareness. Students are shown a picture of people taking care of their home and car, but they are doing many things that are harmful to the environment. Students must click on parts of the picture where they think someone is doing something wrong. If they are right, a more environmentally responsible alternative behavior is revealed.

Target Audience: Grades K-5

What is a Brownfield? (Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center/Carnegie Mellon University)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Ecological Restoration

Content Type: Classroom Activities

Topics Covered: These classroom exercises are designed to help elementary school students learn about brownfields, pollution, and cleanup strategies. These activities inspire students to become interested in the environment and part of the solution to our pollution problems.

Target Audience: Grades K-5

HAZ-ED: Classroom Activities for Understanding Hazardous Waste (U.S. E.P.A.)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/ Hazardous Waste

Content Type: Curriculum

Topics Covered: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed this curriculum to aid teachers in educating students about hazardous waste issues. HAZ-ED is a compilation of activities that focus on the scientific, technical, and policy issues related to hazardous waste sites. This resource can be used as part of a larger curriculum or as stand-alone activities.

Target Audience: Grades 6-8, 9-12

Recovering Brownfields (OnQ)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Ecological Restoration

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: This educational video explains how industrial brownfields can be transformed into useful properties that help revitalize communities. It focuses on several case studies in the Pittsburgh area and includes expert interviews that help explain the brownfield redevelopment process.

Target Audience: Grades 6-8, 9-12

A Citizen’s Guide to Phytoremediation (U.S. E.P.A.)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Ecological Restoration

Content Type: Issue Summary

Topics Covered: Phytoremediation is a process used to clean up polluted soils. In this process, plants metabolize pollutants. This resource gives a brief overview of how the process works and factors affecting its success.

Target Audience: Grades 9-12

Brownfields Reuse (California Department of Toxic Substances Control)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Ecological Restoration

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: This video shows how brownfields, or contaminated industrial land, can be redeveloped into productive land. This helps to revitalize urban communities and create opportunities for economic development.   

Target Audience: Grades 9-12

Crozet, Virginia Phytoremediation Project (Environmental Response Television/ U.S. E.P.A.)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Phytoremediation

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: Outside the small town of Crozet, Virginia, the E.P.A. is using phytoremediation to remove arsenic contamination from a residential property. Phytoremediation uses specially selected plants to remove contaminants from soil and make them suitable for redevelopment. 

Target Audience: Grades 9-12

Lesson: Hazardous Chemicals in Your Neighborhood (PBS)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Ecological Restoration

Content Type: Curriculum

Topics Covered: These lessons engage students in the problems of industrial pollution and land contamination through lecture, guided discussion, and activities. The exercises take a closer look at four landmark cases of industrial land contamination to help students better understand the issues.

Target Audience: Grades 9-12

Phytoremediation (U.S. Army Environmental Command)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Phytoremediation

Content Type: Video

Topics Covered: This video shows how the U.S. Army base at Fort Jackson, S.C. is using plants to help clean up an old fuel depot with soils contaminated by petroleum. Plants, such as willows and poplars, help metabolize the toxins from the heavily polluted site.

Target Audience: Grades 9-12

Sampling of Plant Species Studied for Phytoremediation (LID Technical Guidance Manual for Puget Sound)

Topic/Subtopic: Brownfield Rehabilitation/Phytoremediation

Content Type: List

Topics Covered: Phytoremediation is a process for rehabilitating brownfield sites using plants to remove pollutants. This resource includes a list of effective plants and the toxins they help remove.

Target Audience: Grades 9-12