Earth Day Ideas for the Classroom

Earth Day is coming up on Tuesday, and we always devote our whole day to it in the classroom.  Yes, we do believe that every day is Earth Day, and we're big on recyling and conserving energy in the classroom, but on April 22nd, we tend to go a bit bigger with our thoughts and actions.

Here are some ideas I've done in the classroom with my kiddos:

Integrating Art and Language into Earth Day

-  Earth Day Report Card - click on the link to try this freebie out.  Students complete a "green" report card for either their home, classroom, or school (all three versions are included).

- Recyled Earth Art Project - These are projects were a big hit!  I gave each student a piece of paper with the outline of the Earth on it.  They then used recycled magazines to fill in all the white space with the appropriate colours (green for the land, blue for the water, and a darker black, grey, or black for the outside area.  So simple, and so effective.

We put both of these ideas together on our Earth Day bulletin board.

I've recently updated this Recycled Art Idea to integrate Poetry Month, as well.  This "I am the Earth" activity has your students creating a collage of the Earth with recycled magazines or colored paper, and writing an "I Am" poem, from the point of view of the Earth.  My students' poems always contain the most beautiful phrases after we've spent some time discussing our impact on the Earth and the actions we can take.

Integrate Math into Earth Day

- Take the current math concept you are studying in class, and turn it into a problem-solving activity with an Earth Day Twist.  For this problem, we were studying perimeter and area.  Students completed their activity on half sheets of recycled chart paper, complete with diagrams.

Integrate Math and Phys Ed into Earth Day

- We usually get out for a yard clean-up on Earth Day (however, I doubt this one will be happening this year with all the snow we STILL have).  Last year we did a Yard Clean-Up Relay Race.  So much fun!  I divided the class into teams.  Each team had a garbage bag and a whiteboard.  As each person came in with their garbage to tag the next team member, the team also had to keep track of every piece they collected with tally marks on a white board.  The team that collected the most garbage won, but really, the whole school won with a clean yard.  We then used the data we collected on our white boards to complete a graphing activity.  We were amazed by the amount of garbage we were able to collect ... and requested a few more garbage cans be placed in the yard in hopes of reducing the amount of garbage.

Integrate Drama into Earth Day

- Have a little fun on Earth Day with this brand new Earth Day Drama Circle.  Students will love sharing ideas and information about Earth Day with this activity.

Integrate Technology into Earth Day
- We've been making infographics for Earth Day this year.  We're using a great site - www.easel.ly to create our infographics, and the students are LOVING it!  What a great way to integrate technology, research skills, and media all into one.  Another site you can use to make a graphic collage is www.mural.ly
I took some screenshots of some of the infographics my students are currently working on.

Integrate Language, Oral Speaking, and Leadership Skills into Earth Day

- This year my students have also written Earth Day announcements they plan to read over the P.A. system during morning announcements for the next two weeks.  Some of their announcements were research based about Earth Day, and some were activity based for the events we would be taking on in the school (I let the students choose their own topics for their announcements).  Because the students have an authentic audience, they took extra care with their writing, and their announcements turned out great!  We discussed using hooks to start our writing, and satisfying conclusion to end our announcements.

Integrate Language, Art, and FUN into Earth Day
- For our last Earth Day project this year, we plan to complete an Earth Day Craftivity I made.  This will be the final piece to our bulletin board display - alongside our announcements and infographics.  I can't wait to pull it all together!!!

You can see this Earth Day craftivity by clicking HERE.

I hope you enjoyed all these Earth Day ideas for your classroom!!!  How do you recognize the day in your classroom?