Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22nd as a way to honor the Earth and promote environmental responsibility. Earth Day, founded by US Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970 as an environmental teach-in, is celebrated in 192 countries and events are coordinated globally
by Earth Day Network.
This is an excellent time for students of all ages to understand how their actions and inactions can impact our environment. There are many activities and
ways you can bring Earth Day into your classroom or school and make sustainability a year-round activity.
Great Resources for Earth Day 2015 Ideas
-
Scholastic
features Teacher Recommended activities, as well as different
classroom and community projects, lesson plans on Reduce, Reuse & Recycle, ways to prevent pollution such as using The Lorax as well as other books you can use
to teach about Earth Day and many other ideas!
-
Earth Day 2015
has lots of information and ways to find local events going on in your community, ways to communicate with your elected officials and a Green Schools Campaign toolkit for different activities and contests.
-
The Nature Conservancy
has resources on how to incorporate nature in your classroom or class gardens.
-
Envision’s Earth Day Lesson Plan
– Students think about reusing materials and then create a product from recycled materials and how they would market their product to sell.
- Pinterest features thousands of ideas for crafts, snacks and recycling ideas. Visit our Earth Day Board for ideas.
Great Earth Day Lesson Ideas:
- Discussing a selection from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
- Writing a letter to local government about local environmental concerns.
- Brainstorming ways to reduce water and electricity usage and reduce garbage. Once ideas are created, design a school-wide campaign for action.
There are many different resources and ideas for ways to celebrate Earth Day. Find the best way to make sustainability something students can think about
year round.
background-image: a building with the American flag in front of it