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Home › Classroom Resources › Calendar Activities
April 22
Celebrate Earth Day!
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| Grades | 3 – 12 |
| Calendar Activity Type | Holiday & School Celebration |
Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970. In the same year, Denis Hayes coordinated the first Earth Day in the United States. As a result of Earth Day, many environmental laws were passed and the Environmental Protection Agency was created.
In celebration of Earth Day, have your students research some environmentalists who have made major contributions to our planet. A good starting point would be to view the people listed on the Ecology Hall of Fame. Have each student choose one person.
After researching the person's achievements, students can then write letters to the environmentalists asking for their opinions on a current environmental issue or to share ideas on how to protect the earth. Students can write a friendly or business letter using the Letter Generator. After printing the letters, have students turn their letters into letter poems using the Letter Poem Creator, which will help them change their letters into poetic form.
Once the poems are finished, host an Earth Day poetry reading-outdoors if possible.
- Earth Day Facts - National Geographic Kids
Find tips for green living.
- Environmental Education for Kids!
The EEK! website is filled with environment-related information and activities for students in grades 4–8. Teachers can find lesson plans and related links.
- Earth Foundation
The Earth Foundation offers this collection of resources. Of interest is the Teacher/Student resources section, which has sample lesson plans, links to information on the history of Earth Day and the rainforest, and letter-writing campaigns for students.
- EPA Environmental Kids Club
This site, from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, provides information about a variety of environmental topics-from air and water to garbage and recycling.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Persuasive Essay: Environmental Issues
How can we convince others to agree with us on important issues? In this lesson, students explore relevant environmental issues and gather information to write persuasive essays.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Unit
Let It Grow: An Inquiry-Based Organic Gardening Research Project
Students learn about organic gardening by developing their own research questions, conducting research, gardening at their school, creating signs about their plants, and presenting their research to the class.
Grades 7 – 9 | Lesson Plan | Unit
Finding Solutions to Food Waste: Persuasion in a Digital World
Using various reading strategies and resources, students explore the issue of food waste. They also create persuasive arguments and blog posts examining this topic.
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Digging Up Details on Worms: Using the Language of Science in an Inquiry Study
This lesson, in which students research worms in order to create a classroom habitat, incorporates reading and writing across content areas as well as math and science activities.
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
How Does My Garden Grow? Writing in Science Field Journals
Students plant a garden and study its growth using the inquiry process of questioning and exploring. As they research and study, students record their observations in a field journal.
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Protecting Our Precious Planet: Sharing the Message of Earth Day
Students discover that they can make a world of difference when they participate in the online Earth Day bag program.
