As the weather warms up, students want to spend every minute outside. However, no one can blame them after being stuck inside during the cold winter. Before heading out, remind students to shut off all lights to help reduce energy waste. Once out, remind students that running around is great, but there are also valuable lessons to being outside. For instance, have everyone take a few minutes to observe how much trash is around. While shutting off lights and cleaning up trash may seem simple, these acts will help students understand that environmental awareness occurs inside and out. Honestly, students will love learning the history of celebrating Earth Day while understanding the importance of protecting our planet!
Earth Day occurs annually on April 22nd. The hope is to promote environmental awareness and remind people of the need to protect the planet. Therefore, now is the perfect time to add a few special activities to lesson plans. Since students are the world’s future leaders, they need to learn the day’s importance.
Honestly, Earth Day lessons must be fun and engaging to draw students in. This means they cannot just sit at their desk listening to the history of celebrating Earth Day. Instead, they need to enjoy the lesson to understand the importance of protecting the Earth. Luckily, this resource includes multiple unique activities! Students will work on introduction video notes to understand the day. Then, they will work on a timeline activity of the history and creation of this meaningful day. Next, they will take the lead on their learning by researching current environmental issues. This activity is a great way to show students what is currently happening globally.
Ultimately, students will understand how precious the planet is and how it is not being cared for. Lastly, students will apply their knowledge to a reduce/reuse/recycle writing summary. This is an excellent way for students to see something simple yet powerful to help our planet. Students will have a blast going through the above activities as they explore it’s history. Best of all, they will see how they can change habits to better our Earth!
Since Earth Day has been around since 1970, there are tons of available resources. Best of all, many of the resources even have ideas for bringing the event alive in the classroom! Therefore, students will be excited to protect the Earth!
In addition to information on Earth Day, teachers can register for a global cleanup! Students will love knowing they are part of a large group making a difference.
This site shows students how they are not alone in protecting Earth. Honestly, it takes the entire world. Therefore, they will receive inspiration from those celebrating near and far.
One of the best parts of NASA involves the high-quality information they have. Hence, this source includes information, lesson ideas, and videos about Earth Day.
This website provides an excellent overview of when and why Earth Day started!
There is no right or wrong way to plan for the history of celebrating Earth Day. Most importantly, the focus is on showing students how everyone needs to work together to protect our planet.
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