TORRANCE, CA: Lexus has begun an educational program and contest aimed at getting middle- and high-school students actively involved in improving the planet.

Developed in partnership with Scholastic and assisted by Ferris Communications, the Lexus Environmental Challenge provides teachers with environmentally themed lesson plans, integrated into class curriculums, said Nancy Hubbell, prestige communications manager at Lexus.

Teachers are urged to "take lesson plans to the next step," she said, and to help students participate in the "challenge" element.

Student teams are tasked with ...