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Earth Day Lessons

Introduction:

Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It is held annually during both spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year. The United Nations celebrates an Earth Day each year on the March equinox, a tradition which was founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969. - Wikipedia

Lesson Plans:

• Here is an idea for an Earth Day Song
  
• An Earth Day history timeline is created here
  
• Here's a lesson on Earth's various biomes and the climate associated with each
  
• Although part of a unit on Mars, this lesson's discussion of the greenhouse effect, trees, and leaves may be helpful on its own for Earth Day
  
  
• These are Rain Forest lessons:
  • Here is a large thematic unit on the Rain Forest
    
  • This is a Rain Forest language arts lesson
    
  • This lesson idea is called "Create a Rain Forest" and uses the book "The Great Kapok Tree"
    
  • Here is another Language Arts lesson on Rain Forests
    
  • This is a Rain Forest reading lesson
    
  • This Rain Forest Unit targets kindergartners
    
  • Forest ecology and human interactions with forests are the topics of this lesson
    
  • This lesson looks at the reasons behind the Rain Forest destruction and why we should try to save them
    
  • This Rain Forest lesson involves people, animals, and life in the Rain Forest
    
  • If you need a math component for a Rain Forest unit, try this fruit loop graphing idea
  
  
• This fun, well-developed, and very thorough unit on garbage and recycling
  
• Here's an idea for using a computer to graph the litter in school
  

• This is an idea for creating a simulated landfill to prevent erosion
  
• Here's another large, well-developed unit; this one is on erosion
  
  
• Below is a short unit on National Parks:
  
  • The first lesson involves creating a National Park brochure
    
  • Students will map a trip to a National Park in this lesson
    
  • This one focuses on saving a National Park
  
  
• This is an Earth Day poem or song appropriate for religious or Sunday schools
  
• Here is a lesson on the effects of urban sprawl on our environmental footprint
  
• In this hydraulic water cycle and water quality lesson, students prepare posters, test water samples, compile results, and create a display board as a class
  
  
• Here are two great Earth Day ideas from Planetpals.com:
  
  • 10 Earth Day Classroom Activities
    
  • Recycle? Precycle? Which Cycle Is Best for You?
    
  
  
• This multimedia research unit reports the facts about Environmental Injustices:
  • Lesson 1 - Research the Facts
    
  • Lesson 2 - View the PowerPoint
    
  • Lesson 3 - Go on the WebQuest
    
  • Lesson 4 - Create the Television Newscast
    
  • Lesson 5 - Make the Presentation
    
  
  
• The student categorizes nonrenewable vs. renewable resources in this lesson and learns the effects of overusing our resources
  

Additional Resources:

• Visit HotChalk's Earth Day Resource Guide:
  HotChalk kicks off Earth Day studies with a resource guide featuring National Geographic videos and links to hot conservation topics, games, puzzles and valuable Earth Day sites for elementary grades
  
  
• Excite your middle and high school students with HotChalk's Severe Weather Resource Guide activities including The History Channel's Mega Disaster Video Series and links to resources on Earth's most awesome weather extremes.
  
  
• Check out PlanetPal.com - where Earth Day is every day. With over 300 pages of earth-friendly activities, facts, and fun ... they are sure to meet all your Earth Day needs.
  
  
• For Earth Day worksheets, edHelper.com is the place to go.