Earth Day encourages everyone to take action to appreciate and protect the planet through activities like recycling, reducing waste, and conserving resources. But Earth Day activities for students should go further than making a quick art project with recycled goods. There’s more to Earth Day than just recycling. It’s about developing a way of life that raises awareness of the environment.
What is Earth Day?
As early as the 1960s, Americans were concerned with environmental issues. There was increasing awareness about pollution, conservation, and preserving natural resources for future generations. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson was among the first elected officials to bring the cause to the government. Did you know the first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970? The celebration went global in 1990. And it’s just as important today!
In the United States, Earth Day is April 22 each year. The rest of the world also celebrates on April 22 or the spring equinox. The goal is to raise awareness and honor achievements, focusing on changing attitudes into habits that invest in our planet.
Why does it matter?
We are the caretakers of the planet. Every living thing benefits from the steps we take to protect Earth. The goal is to correct and even prevent more damage to it. But for all the positive steps in the right direction, there are still many left to take. Teaching your kids the importance of environmental protection and conservation is vital for the future of our planet. Start the conversation with age-appropriate facts about the environment and climate to build overall awareness and respect that will carry them into adulthood.
Earth Day is perfect for teaching your students essential concepts like going green. It’s also an excellent way to build skills and confidence while developing their sense of personal responsibility. So shine a spotlight on how individual actions affect the planet and simultaneously build respect.
Celebrating Earth Day is a great way to develop an interest in science. Earth Day activities students enjoy are also real-world applications of science. When lessons are authentic and relevant to daily life, students can make connections to other STEM topics, leading to a better understanding of science overall.
15 Earth Day activities to inspire your students
Key themes for Earth Day classroom ideas center around environmental awareness, appreciation of nature, action, and responsibility. Students can learn practical skills to protect the natural world. Take a look at these Earth Day activities for your classroom.
- Take a nature walk- One of the simplest ways to connect with nature is to get outside! It’s fun, too! Consider activities, such as scavenger hunts, nature journaling, or art projects using found materials.
- Rethink basic supplies- Use the backs of papers. Save scraps for art projects. Make sure things like markers and pens are truly out of ink before opening new packs. Tear unused paper from spiral notebooks to save for future projects.
- Reduce, reuse, and recycle at lunch- Discuss the convenience of items that many students bring to lunch. Ask them to brainstorm the benefits of using reusable lunch containers, utensils, and water bottles.
- Forget the cup and spoon- Treat your class to ice cream from a cone. With this yummy treat, there will be no waste from the cup or plastic spoon!
- Add plants to the classroom- Plants are nature’s air purifiers! Besides freshening the air, studies have shown that plants can also increase focus, help with stress management, and offer opportunities to encourage responsibility.
- Adopt an animal- Conservation also involves animals! Students can’t have red pandas or Axolotls as pets, but they can learn all about them through online adoption programs. Think of it as a new twist on the classroom pet!
- Be energy aware- When natural light shines through the windows, the lights stay off! Power down technology when not in use. Assign an Energy Ambassador to your classroom jobs who will turn off the lights when your class is out of the room.
- Watch the water usage- Remind students to limit the amount of running water when washing hands in the bathroom. Discuss with students ways to save water at home, like limiting time in the shower or while brushing teeth. Brainstorm other ways to conserve water.
- Think before you trash- Before throwing things away, consider ways to repurpose or recycle them. If they are truly trash, dispose of them properly.
- Post it- Choose Earth Day topics to research and design a poster that summarizes the information for display all month (or school year) long! These ideas are also great for daily writing prompts.
- Take a deep dive into Earth- Students should understand the history and features of the planet through research and activities, such as those from Science4Us and Gizmos. The interactive lessons allow students to observe Earth and discover the world beyond the classroom.
- Go virtual- You may not be able to take your students to the Amazon Rainforest or into space, but virtual field trips or career days are a great way to bring the outside world into your classroom.
- Visit National Parks- National Parks are perfect for illustrating beautiful, diverse landscapes and examples of concepts like weathering. With virtual tours, no road trips are necessary! Simply log on for live webcams.
- Get creative- Making art projects from recyclable materials is a staple for Earth Day. There are so many Earth Day activities for elementary students and even for the older grades! Create collages using pressed flowers, leaves, and other natural materials. Organize a tree-planting event at school. Clean up the playground (remember to use protective gloves!) to remove litter and debris.
- Read and write- Bring ELA into the discussion. Read books and write stories or poetry about Earth Day. Challenge students to make word searches or crossword puzzles with environmental themes. Build time into the schedule for students to share their writings and favorite stories.
5 Ways your classroom can protect the earth every day
Don’t stop with one day! Continue to promote environmental protection and Earth conservation in your classroom every day! Keep the themes of Earth Day front and center by making them habits. When students start to pay attention to reusing paper or turning off lights, good routines become second nature.
Teaching Earth Day with virtual simulations
Earth is the fifth largest planet in our solar system, with a diameter of almost 8,000 miles. How can teachers show students the complexity of Earth? Virtual simulations provide Earth Day lessons that allow students to observe the unobservable. Take a look at just a few ways that Gizmos deliver complicated topics in easy-to-understand ways. The Earth Science Collection brings together concepts like the ecosystem of a pond, the cycle of a carbon atom, climate comparisons, and Pangaea for students to explore.
Support science exploration with Gizmos
New science standards focus on learning experiences that allow students to actively integrate the practices of doing science with the core ideas of science while exploring and solving real-world problems. With Gizmos, learning is driven by students’ questioning, exploration, and critical thinking. This kind of scientific sensemaking and inquiry-based learning is effective in deepening students’ understanding and helping them build connections across science disciplines.
Gizmos simulations and virtual labs are ready to help students dig deeper and really understand challenging concepts for Earth Day and every other day! Explore the Gizmos difference with a free trial.
