Earth Day is only a few weeks away and while I was researching my new product, "Why We Need Earth Day" I read some very disturbing facts about how we are harming our earth. Did you know that the average person throws away 4 pounds of garbage a day? Although the United states has only 5% of the world's population it contributes 40% of the waste. I decided to try to turn the negative statistics into some positive action. Although Earth Day is only 1 day a year, there are lots of things we can all do each and every day. They say that politics is local but I believe that helping our earth is local, too.
What We Know:
We know that we need to recycle, reduce, and reuse. That's easier said than done. The recycling rate of the United States is only 28%. We need to do a much better job. We know that recycling, reducing, and reusing saves energy, water, and land as well as decreases the amount of pollution in our air, water, and land. Here are some activities that your students can do with their families and hopefully get your whole community involved.
Take the Shower Challenge
We all like to take long, hot showers. Did you know that the average person uses 12,000 gallons of water a year. We can save water and energy that it takes to heat the water by taking shorter showers.
- Have students time how long it takes them in the shower from turning on the water to shutting it off. They can get another family member to time them. Have them write down the minutes and seconds and share it in class. As a math activity you can have students find who took the longest and shortest shower.
- Then have them try to reduce their shower time each day. Record the time and chart their progress.
- This would be a fun activity for the whole family!
- This will not only save water and energy but can lower a family's utility bill!
Be an Earth-Friendly Detective:
Have you ever gone around your home or yard to find things that are not earth-friendly? Challenge students to go home and look in each room and outside and make a list of what they see. Were there lights left on in rooms, water dripping from a faucet, or things thrown away that could have been recycled? This is one of the activities in my "Why We Need Earth Day" Packet.
Keep an Earth Log:
Have students keep an Earth Log of what they do each day to recycle, reduce, and reuse. They would probably do a lot more if they had to keep a daily log. Here's my Earth Blog from my packet.
Saving Food Scraps for Composting
Find out if there are places that make compost near you. Apple cores, banana peels, and other food waste can be recycled into compost. Compost makes a rich fertilizer. Special bins can be set up in your school cafeteria to collect these wastes and then can be transported to one of the composting sites. A great science activity would be to learn how to make compost. Click HERE to get a free power point on how to compost with kids.
I found many Earth Day projects on Pinterest. Click HERE to see them.
I also found some great lessons, projects, and activities at Education World which you can access by clicking on the picture below.
You can also check out my new product, "Why We Need Earth Day" for Grades 2-3 by clicking on the picture below. There are a variety of reading and writing activities to teach students about the history of Earth Day and what we can do to help our earth. You can download the preview to see sample pages of all the activities in the packet. All the activities are differentiated at the 2nd and 3rd grade levels.
If you are looking for free resources, craft ideas, and free activities for K-1 just click on the picture below.
Finally for all of my followers and viewers I have put my "Be an Earth Detective" and "Earth Log" in a freebie that you can download by clicking on the picture below. Hope your students enjoy it.
Don't forget to check out all my updated Pinterest Boards by clicking HERE. Hope you will find some new ones to follow.
Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. I hope we can begin to do more to take care of our earth each and every day.
