After every storm, dirty water rushes off a shopping center's parking lot and into a nearby creek. The town plants a rain garden of deep-rooted plants beside the lot. What problem does this choice address?

A city starts collecting used aluminum cans and glass bottles from homes. The city's stated goal is to use fewer new natural resources. How does the program meet that goal?

A community floods a drained field again and replants marsh grasses to restore a wetland. Their stated goal is less flooding in the town downstream. How does the restored wetland meet that goal?

A dry summer leaves a town's reservoir far below its normal level. Town leaders ask families to stop watering their lawns until the rains return. What resource is this rule protecting?

A school stops bagging food scraps and dead leaves for the landfill and piles them in a compost bin instead. Months later, gardeners spread the finished compost on the school garden. What does the compost do for the garden?

Fresh water is a limited resource, so a community can run low on it during a dry summer.

A town's storm drains empty straight into the river without any cleaning. To keep the river clean, what should drivers do with the used motor oil they drain from their cars?

Each spring, heavy rain washes soil off a bare hillside above a farming town. The town plants trees and grasses across the slope. What observation would best show that the planting is protecting the soil?

Fishing crews in a coastal town report that one kind of fish has become hard to find. Town leaders set a limit on how many of that fish each boat may catch in a season. What is the goal of the limit?

A school wants to send less plastic waste to the landfill. It installs bottle-filling fountains and gives every student a refillable bottle. What problem does this choice address?

Water that goes down a storm drain is cleaned at a treatment plant before it reaches the river.

A town wants to burn less coal to make its electricity. What should the town do to meet that goal?

A community drinks groundwater pumped up from a well. What should people do near the well to keep that water clean?

A city adds new bus routes and marks bike lanes on its busiest streets so that fewer people drive alone. What environmental problem is the city working on?

Volunteers hold a beach cleanup on the same stretch of shore every month for a year. What observation would best show that the cleanups are reducing the trash on that beach?

A neighborhood's stated goal is to send less trash to the landfill each week. What plan best meets that goal?

A team is designing a barrier to catch floating trash in a canal. The barrier must catch plastic, must let fish swim past, and must cost less than the town's budget allows. What design fails one of those requirements?

A farmer leaves a wide strip of thick grass growing between a plowed field and the stream at its edge. The stated goal is to keep soil and fertilizer out of the stream. How does the grass strip meet that goal?

Oil spills from a damaged ship in a harbor. Cleanup crews float long floating barriers around the spill and skim the surface. Why does this method work on spilled oil?

A town in a dry region asks gardeners to lose less of their watering to evaporation. When should they water their gardens?