Wonder · Activity

Earth Day - Tips to Go Green

5th & 6th Grade

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Activity: Students take turns sharing about what they find wonderful about the natural world in which we live and ideas they have about preserving our awesome planet. They learn about Earth Day from a video that explains many activities that help the earth:  Earth Day - Tips to Go Green (youtube.com). Students take notes during the video and share what they learned after viewing. They create a checklist of things to observe at home based on the tips in the video and their own ideas. Homework is assigned in which students assess sustainable practices in the home, fill out their checklists, and share about their findings at school. Each student creates a written take-home plan to  improve sustainable practices in the home. They report their successes and challenges after one or two weeks.  

Materials needed: video; paper for notetaking and creating a checklist or the teacher can create a checklist for their homework assignment

Model Checklist: 



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  • Plastics: What bags do we use for shopping, plastic or otherwise? Do we have reusable water bottles? 


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  • Saving water: Do we take short showers so as not to waste water? Do we turn off the faucet when brushing teeth? 


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  • Saving electricity: Do we save on electricity by turning down the thermostat and dressing warmly in the home? Do we turn off lights when we don’t need them? Do we unplug the computer at night? Unplug our cell phone chargers? Recycle old cell phones? 


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  • Using as few fossil fuels as possible: do we walk or ride a bike as much as possible? 


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  • Recycle everything that your local waste management allows 




Directions: Introduce the topic with a discussion question: what are some of the things in our natural world that make you feel a sense of wonder and appreciation? Explain that today we will learn about Earth Day, which is celebrated in more than 193 countries by more than a million people. Present the video and tell students to take notes. After viewing, lead a discussion on the key points in the video, record what they say on a whiteboard, and guide students to make a take-home checklist. Include everything on the model checklist. Assign this as homework and review the results in class after one or two weeks. 

Wrap it up: Explain that students are now Earth Day Ambassadors! They will take the checklist home, use it to promote changes with their family members, and record any results they get. In one or two weeks they will report their results in a class meeting.
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