"A new age demands a new paradigm!"
-Walter McKenzie

Earth Day
Volume 7, Issue 9 - March 2005

presented by
Walter McKenzie
The One and Only Surfaquarium
http://surfaquarium.com
walter@surfaquarium.com

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Student Summer Reading 2005

Our April 2005 edition of the Innovative Teaching Newsletter will be a compiled list of recommended reading you can send home with students this summer! I am looking for recommendations from each of you in order to make this list a quality, comprehensive listing of what's new, what's hot and what's best for students at the elementary, middle and high school levels. To submit your recommendations, simply fill out the form at http://surfaquarium.com/summer_reading.htm. Please participate! The more recommendations i receive the more useful the list will be for everyone!

Please have your recommendations submitted by Friday, April 1, 2005. Thanks!

Earth Day

Earth Day has become the set date of April 22nd every calendar year. Since its inception back in 1970, it is celebrated to call the world's attention to our care of the Earth. As the day has evolved, teachers have found it a rich source of tie-ins for Science, Social Studies and Health curricula at varied grade levels, as well as Math and the Language Arts.

So many altruistic causes have gone by the wayside in the last thirty years, on what moral imperatives do we still stand? What will kids make a stand for in the next century? Who can say what societal issues may provoke their passions as technology and communications continue to redefine the global community. But this much is certain: we will continue to share the same Earth and these same issues will need to be continually addressed by our children and our children's children. Here is an offering of what's out there to help your kids make the connections between their studies and one of the true remnants of unabashed activism still thriving today - the environmental movement.

Enjoy!

Celebrate Earth Day Everyday - http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/earthday/index.html

Kid's Domain offers this plethora of downloads, print outs and online features that can supplement your Earth Day efforts in your environmentally conscious classroom; this is a good place to start, especially for elementary teachers.

Clean Up Club - http://www.ri.net/schools/Central_Falls/ro/annex/Clean_Up_Club.html

A classic environmental project! Take a walk with your students in the neighborhood around the school.  Pick up trash as you go along. Check out the trash that the students collect when you are back at school. Identify how many bags were collected, the total weight of the garbage, the average weight of each bag of garbage and how much of the garbage could have been recycled.

Earth Day Canada - http://www.earthday.ca/

Here you'll find a nice cache of resources covering links, projects, events, a newsletter and the opportunity to peruse and purchase merchandise to deck yourself out Canadian style; easily adaptable no matter where you're located.

Earth Day Crafts and Projects - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/earthday/

Enchanted Learning offers these twenty activities, ten printable booklets and related pages all around the Earth Day theme. Not only are these all free, but since they're from Enchanted Learning you know they're top quality, too!

Earth Day Groceries - http://www.earthdaybags.org/

This unique campaign gets students to decorate brown paper bags from their local supermarkets so that they can be returned to the stores for bagging on Earth Day to promote environmental awareness in home towns across the country. What could be easier?

Earth Day in Your Neighborhood - http://www.allspecies.org/neigh/blocka.htm

Subtitled "a guide for kids from 2 to 122", a nice look at how to organize a grass roots Earth Day celebration on your block or neighborhood; see additional materials and information at http://www.allspecies.org/ including coverage of Earth Day in other localities and a study guide offer.

Earth Day Network - http://www.earthday.org/

This comprehensive site Earth Day events and activities and environmental resources on the Internet. There's an especially nice set of educator links to agencies and organizations promoting environmental education. Check out the "how to" link for practical ideas on getting started.

Earth Day 2005 - http://earthday.envirolink.org/

Envirolink touts itself as a clearinghouse for environmental materials since the early nineties. Its site "compiles a comprehensive list of Earth Day events occurring in 2005, regardless of size, geographic location or organizational affiliation."

Earth's Birthday Project - http://www.earthsbirthday.org/

Earth's Birthday Project's provides teachers with simple activities to capture children's imaginations by engaging them in hands-on Earth Day-related activities. All are developed to be fun, simple, inexpensive and effective learning experiences.

EEK! - http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/

EEK (Environmental Education for Kids) is presented by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It covers the Earth, the outdoors, living things, activities and resources, and has a nice teacher section too.

Think this newsletter is great? You should see what you're missing every week in the Digital Dozen!

Energy Fast - http://www.earthdayenergyfast.org/

Not ready to become an activist on Earth Day? here's a great way to work with older students in preparation for Earth Day by learning how to conserve energy resources and actually practice the concept on April 22nd: spend a day functioning without using any man-made energy sources and reflect on our energy dependence in the process.

EPA Earth Day - http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

The Environmental Protection Agency delivers straightforward conservation ideas and information without the rhetoric found on some other Earth Day sites. The "In Your Classroom" link is the doorway to lots of resources. See also http://www.epa.gov/kids/garbage.htm.

Great Pennsylvania Cleanup - http://www.depesf.state.pa.us/greatpacleanup/site/default.asp

This state of Pennsylvania site emphasizes good stewardship of the land in its 2005 Earth Day campaign, including a calendar, links, materials and a dozen html documents for educators on various aspects of the land theme. Easily adapted for your community.

Green Squad - http://www.nrdc.org/greensquad/intro/intro_1.asp

The Natural Resources Defense Council presents this kid-centered site focused on good stewardship of our resources. The challenge presented is to assess the school environment and create a plan for making it as healthy as possible.

Happy Earth Day Coloring and Activities Book - http://www.epa.gov/region5/publications/happy.pdf

One of the Environmental Protection Agency's most popular publications for young children, this is an 11-page coloring book full of tips for making the Earth a better place. Download a printable copy (about 1mb), and feel free to make as many copies as you'd like.

Helpful Hints for Planet Earth - http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/earthday/earthday.htm

Mrs. Rollman's Second Graders at Pocantico Hills School in Sleepy Hollow, New York have developed this excellent Earth Day resource over the last few years, including their own original online book, a quiz, activity ideas and recycling lessons.

International Earth Day 2005 - http://www.earthsite.org/

Wish Only Well andAvantrex.com host this site that celebrates Earth Day on the vernal equinox (March 20th - also Palm Sunday). Here you can become an Earth Trustee, read the Earth Magna Charta and find ideas for celebrating Earth Day. Suitable for older students.

Lorax Save the Tress Game - http://www.seussville.com/games/lorax/

Dr. Seuss's lovable character invites you to play the Save the Trees game and participate in reforestation by becoming a Lorax helper - great for elementary students familiar with the original story. Some images are gone but the game lives on!

Make a Rain Stick for Earth Day - http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/lesson44.html

Marilyn Brackney has touted this creative arts activity for four years now on her Imagination Factory web site. It's a great way to acknowledge Earth Day by celebrating the beautiful sounds of nature in the rainforest as the drops gently fall through the canopy and sustain all that lives there.

Planet Pals - http://www.planetpals.com/earthday.html

Here's a great primary level resource for incorporating Earth Day in your classroom with everything from background information to the concept of "precycling." Looking for more primary-level resources? Check out Squigly's Playhouse found online at http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/Holidays/EarthDay.html and Primary Games located at http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/earth_day/earthday.htm.

US Government Earth Day Portal - http://www.earthday.gov/

T he collective resources of the United States government all around the Earth Day theme. Classroom materials provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Earth Day brought to you by The Wilderness Society - http://earthday.wilderness.org/teachers/

The Wilderness Society targets the Arctic Wildlife Refuge for Earth Day, inviting teachers and students to become more aware of the delicate ecological balance that thrives there. There's materials to download and classroom activities for K-12, along with additional links for more Earth Day surfing. Nicely formatted.

 

Next Month's ITN Topic: "Student Summer Reading 2005"
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©2004 Walter McKenzie

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