There’s no better time for teachers to “green” their curriculum than Earth Day. (Ok, do we do Earth Day activities before or after the Land Run on the playground. Earth Day in Oklahoma is sooooo different). Earth Day Network’s Educators’ Network helps teachers accomplish this by providing more than 300 standards-based lesson plans in several subjects and all grade levels, along with interactive activities, such as Environmental Jeopardy. “Things to Do to Green Your School” flyers suggest strategies such as avoiding the use of screen savers on computers; having students perform an energy audit (instructions provided); and as a class project, measuring how much junk mail the school receives, then asking those companies to remove the school from their mailing lists and measuring the effect of that request. New video curriculum highlighting green makeovers and the animated adventures of Gorilla in the Greenhouse also appears on Earth Day TV.
For more lesson plans, activities, and information, check Education World’s Earth Day Archives page; the U.S. Government’s Take Action in Your Classroom site; and theWilderness Society’s Teachers Lounge. The American Chemical Society’s Chemists Celebrate Earth Day site showcases chemistry’s contributions to sustaining a healthy planet and environment. This year’s topic is the atmosphere, and the theme is “Air—The Sky’s the Limit.” Celebration ideas and details about K–12 and college contests can be found at chemistry.org/earthday. (from NSTA Express. Are you a member of NSTA? You should be… www.nsta.org)