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Innovation Lab School - Dr. Jenn Williams

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Innovation Lab School - Dr. Jenn Williams

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42 Ways To Make Your School and Classroom More Green

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Put sustainability first with these top tips.

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Teaching the Curriculum Through Food - Farm to Cafeteria Canada

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Farm to Cafeteria Canada and Growing Chefs! Ontario are proud to share our new Teaching the Curriculum Through Food video series. These short (5-20 min) videos have been developed, in a partnership between our two organizations, to support and inform teachers and volunteers across Canada who are loo…

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How Farm to School Supports Climate Action - Farm to Cafeteria Canada

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Photo: Skeetchestn Community School garden, Kamloops, BC At Farm to Cafeteria Canada, we’ve been thinking a lot about the role that school food programs can play in climate action. After all, the way that food is handled all along the food supply chain impacts our energy, water and land use, greenho…

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Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities | The World's Largest Lesson

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Goal 4 - Quality Education | The World's Largest Lesson

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Show your support for the Global Goals by joining the World's Largest Lesson. We'll share latest news and updates and you'll be able to download high quality resources for free.

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Goal 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation | The World's Largest Lesson

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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

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Ministry of Education programs and links

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Ministry of Education programs and links

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Sustainable development in the school network

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Smart person involved in many international SDG projects

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Smart person involved in many international SDG projects

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Saw Dr. Jenn Williams at LCEEQ in Feb 2022. Check out the resources and inspirations.

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Ecobricks can build furniture, gardens, play parks, structures and more

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Ecobricks can build furniture, gardens, play parks, structures and more

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Ecobricks can build furniture, gardens, play parks, structures and more. The only limit is our imaginations and the collaboration of your community.

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Ecobricks can build furniture, gardens, play parks, structures and more. The only limit is our imaginations and the strength of our communities.

However, it is crucial to build mindfully with ecobricks- plastic let loose in the environment can can be toxic and our building methods must ensure that it is fully secured. The Global Ecobrick Alliance (GEA) has thus developed applications, methods and best-practices that fully embody regenerative design principles. Our methods apply cradle-to-cradle techniques of combining ecobricks. In this way, we leverage plastic's long lasting properties to make ecobricks indefinitely reusable over the short and long term. This means, not only can you build cool stuff with ecobricks, but you can do so in a way that ensures that your net impact is positive and greening!

GEA Approved Applications

Ecobricks can be used for short or long term applications which balance the benefits of utility and the securing of plastic.
Short-term Applications

Silicone or inner-tube-bands can be used as short-term, non-permanent attachment methods to create ecobrick applications that last for months and up to several years. As short-term applications are not usually covered up, they are typically for indoor use, in order to prevent the UV photodegradation of the bottles. As short term methods have less barriers to replicability, they assist the spread of the ecobrick social movement by empowering the makers. The benefit of short-term applications are practicality, utility, replicability, social empowerment and the dissemination of ecobricking.

Long-term Applications

Earth and Ecobrick building techniques are used to create structures that can last years or decades (it is not uncommon for traditional constructions to last centuries!). Earth mixes (i.e Cob (material), Wattle and daub, adobe) are used to lay ecobricks horizontally and completely cover them for full protection against all forms of degradation. The main benefit of long-term applications is plastic sequestration- fully securing plastic from all forms of degradation for the long-haul.

Ecobrick Storage

Before you build with ecobricks, it is essential to store them properly. Ideally, ecobricks are stored off of the ground (on a floor or raised on wood) and fully protected from the sun and the elements. Ecobricks are best stacked horizontally with their bottom pointed outwards. This enables you to organize your ecobricks by colour and brand- which later facilitates project planning and making.

1. Milstein Modules (Horizontal Lego)

The easiest, fastest, and perhaps the most fun ecobrick application, are Milstein Modules (MMs). These are hexagon and triangle shaped configurations of ecobricks that are used for sitting, but can be combined together to form one or two level horizontal surfaces. Applications include tables, beds, stages, etc. All you need is 12 ecobricks to start! Generic silicone sealant or motorcycle inner tubes can be used to make MMs . Ecobrick Milstein Modules can then slide into deployment for classes, concerts, meetings and more to make horizontal surfaces. They can be stacked one on top of the other to add one level of vertical height. They can be stacked and stored vertically to save space.

Usage: Ecobricks modules can be used in indoors for seating, tables, beds, stages and more.

Maintenance: Modules should be cleaned once a year. Broken modules can be repaired with silicone.

Next Life: Well used ecobrick Milstein Modules wil last 2-3 years. After this time, the silicone joints began to weaken and to fail. Ecobricks also begin to loose their lustre as the colors of the contained plastic begin to fade. This is a good opportunity to transition them to long term building applications where they are fully protected with earth.

Caution: For indoor use only. The UV rays in sunlight will degrade and fade your ecobricks and weaken the bottle's plastic.
How to Make Milstein Modules

2. Dieleman Modules (Vertical Lego)

So this is pretty cool- ecobricks can make LEGO-like blocks! Dieleman Modules, or DMs for short, are a way to turn bottles into modular bricks that can be stacked vertically. Sixteen ecobricks are siliconed together to make one DM module. DMs interconnect just like Legos. They stack one upon the other and enable you to make walls, towers and columns, quickly and easily without any glue or mortar. The DMs can then be disassembled just as easily.

Usage: Awesome for indoor playgrounds and building structures for concerts or fairs in minutes. Can be taken apart and stored just as fast!

Maintenance: Modules should be cleaned once a year. Broken modules can be repaired with silicone.

Next Life: Well used ecobrick Milstein Modules wil last 2-3 years. After this time, the silicone joints began to weaken and to fail. Ecobricks also begin to loose their lustre as the colors of the contained plastic begin to fade. This is a good opportunity to transition them to long term building applications where they are fully protected with earth.

Caution: For indoor use only. Ecobricks are exposed and thus the furniture cannot be used outside- UV rays will degrade and fade your ecobricks. Untested for outdoor long-term building projects.
Ecobrick Dieleman Modules

3. Ecobrick Open Spaces

Ecobrick Open Spaces are for community that have completed thousands of high quality ecobricks with consistent bottle sizes and brands. These ecobricks can then be combined into an assortment of Milstein and Dieleman modules to create a diverse set of several hundred modules. These modules can then be deployed for confernces, exhibtions, fairs and other special events to create customized interactive spaces. These spaces can either be setup in advance or invite participants to interact, play and create their own space. Ecobrick communities that have amassed Open Space sets often rent out to events and venues to show case ecobrick modular technology and regenerative principles.

Ecobrick Open Spaces

4. Earth & Ecobrick Building

The most enduring and greenest way to build with ecobricks is using Earth Building techniques. Earth building was used by our ancestors to build homes and structures that have endured for centuries. This general method is known by different names in different languages and continents- cob, adobe, wattle-and-daub, etc. By using local earth, straw and sand to make the mortar for the ecobricks we can build in ways that are resilient, strong, beautiful, and thermal-retentive.

Earth building is in full resonance with our principles- it is simple and replicable, non- capital, non-petroleum, collaboration powered, cradle-to-cradle and potently regenerative. Earth building techniques are gender and age transcendent: involving men and women, young and old, and everyone in between in the building process.

Earth and Ecobrick Building is ideal for constructing simple garden spaces - playgrounds and what we call ' food forest play parks '. The Ecobrick and Earth Building techniques can then be extrapolated for wall and structure construction.

The Earth Building technique can completely cover ecobricks, effectively securing them indefinitely in the construction. This keeps them safe from UV light and other forms of degradation. After 10, 20 or 100 years, when your structure comes to its end (as everything eventually does) the ecobricks can be extricated undamaged and fully repurposed.

Benefits: Our number one choice for structural building! This method is strong, earthquake resilient, allows curved walls and designs, allows ecobricks to be recycled at the end of the construction, and relies only on 100% organic, locally-sourced materials that cost next to nothing.

Disadvantages: It's outside of the corporate construction paradigm: your bank won't give you a mortgage, insurance companies won't cover it, and your hands and feet will get dirty.

Next Life: Earth and ecobrick constructions disassemble into crumbled cob mortar which can be returned to the earth without problem (or reused in another earth construction!). The ecobricks can be removed from the crumbled cob to be reused in any way.

More: Earth & Ecobrick Building

And more ideas!

People around the world are building all sorts of great and unique things with their ecobrick! Did you know that Ecobricks float really well? We can't wait to see the first Ecobrick boats and islands. Have you seen or developed useful applications? Please share with us, or help our team develop this page further. Share your photos on the web with the hash tag #ecobricks. Post your ideas and photos in the comments section below. From baseball bats to boats, the sky is the limit on what you can use Ecobricks for! Ecobricks can be used for getting fit, for games and more.

Maintenance

It is important not to forget our responsibility when building with plastic. Ecobricks represent large amounts of secured plastic, and if our constructions lack planning and maintenance, there is the risk of the plastic escaping loose into the biosphere. Planning for the maintence and the end of the construction is key.

Short Term Applications

Ecobrick furniture and modules need regular cleaning and repair. Our GEA Trainer Team who have several hundred ecobrick modules that they regularily rent out to cities and exhibitions, spend one day a year cleaning their modules with a high powered hose and soap. They also dismantle weak modules and repair them with silicone.

Part of ensuring the longevity of ecobrick modules is to train those who use the modules how to handle them. Modules should always be moved with two hands. This is especially important with ecobrick Dieleman lego which new users are often tempted to grab with one hand.

Long Term Applications

Earth and Ecobrick builds often represent large amounts of secured plastic. When building on government or community land, it is key to establish a long term maintenance agreement with the custodians of the property. This agreement must include yearly checkups and repairs and also a plan for the destruction of the construction to ensure the indefinite integrity of the ecobricks.

View a sample GEA Ecobrick Construction Long term Custodian agreement:

An Important Note on Concrete

We advise against using ecobricks with concrete as the connecting mortar. Cementing ecobricks makes them impossible to extricate when the construction comes to its end. Be it 10, 20 or a hundred years in the future, the stiff, shard concrete rubble will tear and rupture the ecobricks. It is important to think of the next life of ecobricks and the end or our structures. See Cradle to Cradle ecobrick design.

For a comprehensive introduction to the the theory and techniques of bottle building, download our free, open source construction guide.
Get the Guide

Circular Design

Ecobricks are a deep solution to plastic as they apply regenerative, circular principles. All GEA ecobrick applications are 100% cradle-to-cradle.
Go Circular

Ecobrick modules are one of the easiest, fastest and most practical applications of ecobricks
Learn More

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However, it is crucial to build mindfully with ecobricks- plastic let loose in the environment can can be toxic and our building methods must ensure that it is fully secured. The Global Ecobrick Alliance (GEA) has thus developed applications, methods and best-practices that fully embody regenerative design principles.

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Ecobricks can build furniture, gardens, play parks, structures and more. The only limit is our imaginations and the collaboration of your community.

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Ecobricks can be made by the young, the old and everyone in between - no machines, special skills or experts required! However, there are important guidelines to follow to ensure the quality and usability of your ecobricks.

Be sure to start ecobricking right- this is a long-term life habit that you, your household and community are beginning. Likewise, your ecobricks will set the example for everyone around you. Sub-standard ecobricks will compromise the quality of furniture modules, constructions and the social spread of ecobricks while, well-done ecobricks can be put to good, safe use and will secure plastic for centuries. We've put this 10 step guide together to help you on your journey of making great ecobricks.

1. Save, Segregate, Clean & Dry Plastics

Ecobricks are made with clean and dry plastic. Start by segregating your plastic from all other materials. Some ecobrickers bring a bottle with them everywhere they go. Others save up their ecobrickable plastic in a bin til they have time to get to it.

If there is any food, oil or dirt on your plastic, be sure to wash it off. Dirty plastic inside an ecobrick will lead to microbiological growth and methane forming inside your ecobrick (for a solution for dirty plastic see the Ocean Ecobrick). Since ecobricks are often used to make home furniture you also want to avoid unsightly ecobricks, bloated bottles and in rare cases, caps popping off.

Its likewise important that the plastic is dry! Wet and moist plastic will also encourage mircobial growth. Ecobrikers around the world use different methods for drying their washed plastic- from laundry machines to cloths lines.

Advanced

Many ecobrickers track their household's plastic consumption on a monthly basis in order to determine their Plastic Transition Ratio (PTR). Over the course of the calendar month they save, clean and dry their consumed plastic and put it into a dedicated bin. At the end of the month, they weigh this plastic and record the amount (our GoBrik app can help you do this! They then transfer this plastic into their "To Ecobrick" bin, which anyone in the home can use to directly ecobrick. Month by month ecobrickers track their plastic, and compare it to their month ecobrick. This enables them to determine their PTR and their progress reaching zero waste and going beyond!

2. Choose your bottle

Before you start ecobricking, choose one specific bottle and stick with it. When it comes time to building, having perfectly identical ecobrick sizes is important for making solid and steady modules. It also helps having at least the same general size of bottle when it comes to building with earth and ecobricks. Talk with ecobrickers in your community and make the choice together of what bottle to use.

When selecting the bottle that you will use, consider three factors: the bottle's availability, the volume, and the project you will use the ecobrick for.

1. Availability
The last thing you want to have to do is buy drinks to have a bottle for your ecobricking! Soon many people will be ecobricking in your community and it is ideal to have everyone using the same brand and bottle. Be sure to choose a bottle that everyone can easily come by.

2. Volume
Choose the bottle volume you want to go with. GEA Trainers teach ecobricking with bottles under 600ml. Large 1500ml bottles will take a lot of plastic, but also take a long time to make! Small volume bottles allow first-time ecobrickers to finish their first ecobrick and quickly learn from their mistakes. Large bottles are best for advanced ecobrickers.

3. Your Project
For building modules with Ecobricks, you need bottles that are exactly the same size and shape. For outdoor building projects, exact sameness is not so important, so long as the volume is consistent (i.e. all 600ml bottles). Depending on the size of construction, you will need different size bottles. For example, small bottles make good walls, and large bottles make good benches. See our Construction Guide for more information on the different ways ecobricks are applied.

Advanced

If you're thinking of making Dieleman Lego Modules with your ecobricks, you must also consider the top tapper of your bottle. Dieleman modules work best when the distance between the top of the bottle and the start of the tapper is small. This allows more surface area for the inverted peg of the Dieleman module to be attached.

3. Get your stick ready

Ecobrickers like to call their packing stick, their magic wand. It makes the plastic disappear! Having the right stick will make a big difference to your ecobricking. Bamboo and wood make the best sticks. The size of the stick depends on the type of bottle you go with. You want a stick with a diameter roughly one third the width of a standard bottle opening- so about 6mm. You want your stick to be about twice the height of your bottle, with a slightly rounded tip. Avoid sharp cornered sticks as they can rupture your bottle- and yes, this means you have to start your ecobrick all over again!

Once you've got a stick with a good size and shape, you're set! You can then give it to others to copy and replicate. That's how our GEA Trainers do their workshops- more magic! One stick turns in to many!

Advanced

The GEA has developed the optimal ecobricking tool- we call it the EarthWand. Earthwands can usually be purchased from GEA Trainers after a workshop, or you can order them from the GoBrik Shop. EarthWands are a regenerative product who's sale goes to support the local and global ecobrick movement. Learn more.

4. No glass, metal or biodegradables

What you don't put in your ecobrick is just as important as what you do! The reason we are putting plastic inside a bottle is to secure it- otherwise it would get loose into the environment and degrade into microplastics and toxins. Stuff like cotton cloth, metal, paper, cardboard, glass and organic material will not degrade into toxins so there is no need to secure them. Be especially careful not to pack sharp metal or glass into an ecobrick- they can rupture the sides and pose a danger for handling. There are other solutions for these materials:

Paper and cardboard can be safely industrially recycled, composted or burnt.

Biodegradables can be composted or left to biodegrade.

Metals and glass can be industrially recycled.

Advanced

What about combinations of plastic and paper? Putting a little paper (i.e. a plastic sticker attached to an envelope) into your ecobrick isn't the end of the world, and as long as it is dry, the contained environment will keep it from degrading. The main reason for not putting dry paper or cotton into an ecobrick is instead to maximize the space for containing plastic. There are many lively discussions in our social media communities about what should and should not go into an ecobrick. Feel free to join a group near you and ask a question.

5. Start by adding a bottom color

It is important to start your ecobrick by adding a bottom color. This is part of the circular design principle of ecobricking: we're thinking about the next use of the ecobrick. When your ecobrick is put to use in a module or an earth construction the bottom color will help make patterns and designs.

To create your ecobrick's bottom color, choose a soft plastic with a solid color, then push it down to the bottom of your ecobrick. You'll want to fill the bottle loosely about half way with soft plastic of your chosen color. Then, pack it in with your stick. If your bottle has "legs" or dimples at the bottom be sure to pack these solid and full. Once all your soft plastic is compressed you want it to fill the first 1-2cms of the bottle.

Often schools or companies will ask their ecobrickers to make ecobricks with their community colors. By giving your ecobrick bottom a color, you open up colorful design possibilities for making modules or earth and ecobrick walls.

6. Pack the bottle tight, mixing plastics as you go

Now it's time to pack away! Cut or rip up large plastics into smaller pieces. The smaller the pieces, the denser you'll get! Fill the bottle up half way with loose plastic, then use your stick to push down around the sides of the bottle. Keep pushing down as you move around the circumference of the bottle. Once compressed, add more loose plastics. To maximize the density, it's good to mix soft, then hard plastic. If it's your first ecobrick, weigh occasionally to make sure you are on track for your target minimum weight.

Did you push too hard? In rare cases, when using a sharp stick, a thin bottle or too much lateral force, an ecobrick will rupture. If so, start again. Ruptured bottles will not last and can leak plastics. Cut the bottle open, remove the plastic and start again. Cut or damaged PET plastic is readily recycled.

Advanced

Once you get to the middle of your ecobrick, pack 2-3cms of lighter colored plastic. By forming a center white ring of plastic you will later have a clear location to label your Ecobrick with a permanent black marker.

7. Weigh your Ecobrick to ensure quality

The weight vs volume of your ecobrick is a good indicator of the quality of your ecobrick. Ecobricks that are solid and strong are densely packed. The full volume is used for plastics and there is no air or spaces inside. The GEA has determined that an ecobrick's density must be higher than 0.33 g/ml. This means that a 600ml bottle must be above 200 grams and a 1500ml bottle must be above a weight of 500 grams. Experienced ecobrickers tend to regard 0.37 g/ml and above as the range of a good ecobricks.

We've discovered that obligating minimum density in your communities ecobricking is essential to ensure quality ecobricks. Quality ecobricks ensure solid and safe constructions and make the maximize the bottle's volume for securing plastic out of the environment.

Ecobricks that are below 0.33 g/ml are too squishy to be used for modules and are not ideal for earth building. Soft ecobricks can compromise structural constructions and will dent easily, which reduces their lifespan. Low density ecobricks are also fire hazards because of the air pockets remaining inside them,

That said, a good solid ecobrick that meets all GEA guidelines is something you can be proud and which will inspire others! An ecobrick's heft and quality set an inspiring example for others and energize the social spread of ecobricks. When others see and hold your ecobrick, they will understand immediately that something important has happened: "waste" has been transformed into something fundamentally useful.

Advanced: Max Density

Some advanced ecobrickers are so industrious at chopping up their plastic and packing their bottles, that their ecobricks are too dense! When these ecobricks are used to make modules, the weight of the ecobricks can be too much for the silicone bonds to hold. Also, such modules are too heavy to be safely moved by children or older people. For these reasons, the GEA recommends keeping your density below 0.7 g/ml.

8. Cap and Log

So your ecobrick is packed as solid as possible- now its time to cap it! First, be sure your ecobrick is not packed to overflowing. There should be about 1-2cm between the cap and the plastic inside. The cap (HDPE) is made of a different type of plastic than the bottle (PET) and is the weakest part of the ecobrick. If plastic is even slightly pressing up against the lid, the pressure will inevitably crack it over the years. Also, be sure to avoid flip-tops or sports caps when sealing your ecobrick as they are fragile and will break easily over time.

Once capped, it is time to record your ecobrick! Recording your ecobrick's key data an important part of ecobricking wether your doing it on your own or as part of a community. This is in particular important for community leaders. You can use a log sheet, a spread sheet or the GoBrik app to record data such as...

The ecobricker's name

The final weigh

Date and year

The intended Project

Serial Number (generated by the GoBrik App)

Recording ecobricks is key to calculating your overall impact, monitoring quality and preparing for building projects.

By recording the weight, you can tally up all your ecobricks and calculate the total plastic you have kept out of the environment. By recording name and weight you enable quality accountability. By maintaining a record of how many ecobricks you have completed, you'll know when your ready to move to the building stage of your project. By recording the date you to let people tomorrow know that we cared today about their world.

We've worked hard to craft a universal web app for you to use to log and connect your ecobricks with those in your community. Simply visit www.GoBrik.com with the web browser on your phone, sign in with Facebook or email, create an account, then begin to log your ecobricks. GoBrik will do the rest- compiling stats for you and your community.

We've also made a point-chart and sample form in our Vision Ecobrick Guide that can be photocopied for logging ecobricks in schools.

9. Inscribe

As you log and record your ecobrick, be sure to record the key data on the ecobrick itself too. Inscribing the weight, data, serial, etc. onto the ecobrick will indicate that the ecobrick has been logged and registered. Be sure to use a permanent means of recording your ecobrick. Your ecobrick will endure for decades and centuries. The more information we can leave future generations, the richer our gift. After much experimentation, we have found that enamel/oil paint and nail polish work best.

Avoid using paper labels, tape, or stickers to record the data. These methods will last for several years at best then fall off.

Avoid using permanent markers. Not only does their writing not last long on PET, they are made of non-recyclableable and non-ecobrickable materials.

Enamel paint usually comes in a metal can or glass jar. These containers are effectively recyclable.

Use a paint brush to carefully and clearly inscribe the ecobrick's data. The paint bonds to the plastic and is almost impossible to remove.

Use contrasting colors like white and black to make your inscription stand out.

Nail polish is a form of oil paint and also permanently inscribes the ecobrick. However, often the nail polish brush makes it hard to write legibly. Also the smell of the polish drying is strong.

Some ecobrickers are innovating with other methods- such as etching onto the ecobrick or inserting a written plastic tag into the bottle itself.

Extra: Add a vision

Many ecobrickers write a prayer or a vision on the bottle in a permanent marker. Your ecobrick will last a long time. Why not let your grandkids know that you were thinking of them? For example: "I envision a world where plastic is used seldom and wisely and where we live in harmony with the cycles of nature"

10. Store your ecobrick

Once complete, you will need to store your ecobricks until you have enough for you project. Store ecobricks indoors, out of the sun. If possible protect with a cloth or tarp from accumulating dust and dirt (PET attracts dust and chemicals and is hard to remove). Stack horizontally, with the ends pointed outward. This enables you to organize your ecobricks by colour and brand- which later facilitates project planning and making. It's good to have the ecobricks raised slightly above the floor - rats have been known to chew away at bottles! Ideally, ecobricks are stored off of the ground (on a floor or raised on wood) and fully protected from the sun and the elements. Ecobricks are best stacked horizontally with their bottom pointed outwards.

And... Build!

Once you have enough Ecobricks you're ready to build. There are five main techniques for building with bottles and ecobricks. The easiest, fastest, and perhaps the most fun Ecobrick application, is to make Milstein modules for horizontal building and Dieleman Lego modules for vertical building. With modules you can create benches, table, chairs, structures and more. Perhaps the best use for Ecobricks is building community green spaces. Using local earth and ecobricks you and your community can build beautiful spaces that enrich the local environment.

Ecobricks keep plastic & C02 out of the biosphere. Ecobricks raise ecological consciousness. And more!
Why we Pack

Plastic Can Become Poison

Through sun and water exposure, plastic breaks down into environmental toxins and microplastics. Packing it into an ecobrick secures it from poisoning the biosphere.
Learn More

Our trainer network extends through the UK, Philippines, Indonesia, the USA and more. Book an Ecobrick Starter Workshop!
Search Map

Ecobricking is a what we call a regenerative technology. Rather than "sustaining" the status quo, we're careful that everything we do re-greens rather than greys.
Our Principles

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10 Step Guide to Making an Ecobrick - Ecobricks.org

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Ecobrick making is simple, but there are important guidelines. Our ilustrated 10 Steps How To Ecobrick Guide, will get you started right.

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Imagine a world in which youngsters across 6 continents connect virtually and solve one of the world's most pressing challenges: Climate Change.
The Climate Action Project is a free 6-week project allowing teachers and students ages 3-21 to collaborate on environmental topics. Over the course of the project, classrooms will explore causes and effects of climate change and will have the opportunity to develop solutions and take action.

Our project unites teachers and students across 149 countries. The Climate Action Project aims to offer opportunities to both teachers and students, allowing them to learn in authentic ways.
This project is supported by HH Dalai Lama, Queen Elizabeth II, Dr. Jane Goodall, world leaders and Ministries of Education across 16 countries. During the past years the project was featured by media across 45 countries including National Geographic, BBC and CNN.

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During 6 weeks students will explore, brainstorm, discuss, create, have fun, connect, present and share their findings via weekly videos.

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The Climate Action project involves 3,400,000 teachers and students across 135 countries focussing on Climate Change, sharing findings virtually, and taking action globally.

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Ready to take climate action across the curriculum?
Our Climate Action Booster grab- and-get-going activities are ready for K-12 classrooms!

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Our Climate Action Booster Partners

Our Climate Action Boosters join us on our mission to provide climate education to all. Our Booster partners represent world-renowned experts, non-profit organizations, innovative edtech companies, and leaders from industry--joining forces to support youth to take action. Climate Action Booster Packs will be presented to Climate Action Project participants in November 2021 and offered as year round, grab-and-get-going action packs!

Is your organization interested in becoming a Climate Action Booster?

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Ready to take climate action across the curriculum?Our Climate Action Booster grab- and-get-going activities are ready for K-12 classrooms! Grab one or all! Our Climate Action Booster Partners Our Climate Action Boosters join us on our mission to provide climate education to all.

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Empowering 1 billion students to take action for a cleaner environment by 2030

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The Climate Action Certified Educator program welcomes teachers from all over the world. Participating teachers engage in online learning experiences that include leveled courses, opportunities to engage with world leaders and industry experts, and exclusive webinars and professional development sessions. Certified Educators receive certification as recognized with digital badges, certificates, and professional development credits. The Climate Action Certified Educator program is free and available to educators worldwide.

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The Climate Action Certified Educator program welcomes teachers from all over the world. Participating teachers engage in online learning experiences that include leveled courses, opportunities to engage with world leaders and industry experts, and exclusive webinars and professional development sessions. Certified Educators receive certification as recognized with digital badges, certificates, and professional development credits.

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To help reach our goal of actively supporting and enhancing the work of the United Nations' efforts within K-12 classrooms, our TeachSDGs organization contributes to the 2030 Agenda in the following...

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Fun activities for ages 4-8

This starter pack introduces the Explorers for the Global Goals characters. Kids can look at the colourful characters while parents / educators explain their personalities.

Each character represents one of the 5 key characteristics: empathy, curiosity, problem solving, creativity and effective communication.

Next you can read through the full activity pack, or pick one the individual activities below. Enjoy!

Clubs and camps, Lesson plans, Parents

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Introducing Explorers for the Global Goals! | The World's Largest Lesson

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Meet the Explorers! Fun activities for ages 4-8

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youth-funded nature reserves around the globe

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youth-funded nature reserves around the globe

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RESERVA EMPOWERS YOUNG PEOPLE TO MAKE A MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE FOR THREATENED SPECIES AND HABITATS THROUGH CONSERVATION, EDUCATION, AND STORYTELLING.

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RESERVA EMPOWERS YOUNG PEOPLE TO MAKE A MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE FOR THREATENED SPECIES AND HABITATS THROUGH CONSERVATION, EDUCATION, AND STORYTELLING.

Our flagship project is an ambitious effort to create the world's first entirely youth-funded nature reserve-a breathtaking site in the Chocó Rainforest of Ecuador. Our partner Rainforest Trust will match your donation dollar-for-dollar, so your funds will have 2X the impact.

Want to do more? Write a letter for our 1 Million Letters campaign! We will match every letter we receive with $3 toward our current reserve project. That's enough to protect a classroom-sized area of rainforest!

"It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale and complexity of the threats that currently face life on our planet, but I firmly believe that with enough passion, dedication, and cooperation, we really can make a difference."

- Lucy Houliston, 21, UK | Youth Council Member

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RESERVA EMPOWERS YOUNG PEOPLE TO MAKE A MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE FOR THREATENED SPECIES AND HABITATS THROUGH CONSERVATION, EDUCATION, AND STORYTELLING. Our flagship project is an ambitious effort to create the world's first entirely youth-funded nature reserve-a breathtaking site in the Chocó Rainforest of Ecuador.

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Great Outdoor Learning resource for taking students on trails in your community/region.

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Discover the BioKits available across Canada.

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Program for kids 9 to 12 years old. Rural and Urban, Winter and Summer programs. Participants receive a fishing rod and license valid until 18 years old. Details on the Fondation de la faune website.

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Pêche en herbe s'adresse aux jeunes de 9 à 12 ans, à l'exception des activités tenues lors de la Fête de la pêche (4, 5 et 6 juin 2021) où les jeunes de 6 à 17 ans peuvent participer (au choix des organisations qui offrent les activités).
Utilisez l'outil de recherche pour trouver une activité de pêche en herbe.
Pour inscrire vos jeunes à une activité d'initiation, il suffit de repérer les activités indiquées " ouvertes au public " dans la liste et de contacter l'organisateur aux coordonnées indiquées. À noter, une activité peut se tenir sur plusieurs journées. La date inscrite au tableau correspond à la première journée, s'il y a lieu.

Il n'est pas possible de remplacer un permis Pêche en herbe, celui-ci ayant été obtenu gratuitement dans le cadre du programme. En cas de perte ou de vol d'un permis, le jeune doit participer à nouveau à une activité de formation Pêche en herbe.

Clientèles admissibles
Tous les organismes, les associations, les écoles, les municipalités et les camps de vacances du Québec sont admissibles.

Date limite
Le 15 janvier (pêche estivale et hivernale).
Comment présenter une demande
Informations importantes pour utiliser le formulaire
Pour une utilisation efficace du formulaire de demande d'aide Pêche en herbe, nous vous suggérons fortement de le télécharger sur votre ordinateur en exécutant la séquence suivante :

Faire un clic droit sur le lien du formulaire de demande d'aide et, selon le fureteur Internet que vous utilisez (Explorer, Firefox, Chrome ou Safari), choisir l'option :

(Explorer) : " Enregistrer la cible sous... "
(Firefox) : " Enregistrer la cible du lien sous... " (Chrome) : " Enregistrer le lien sous... "
(Safari) : " Télécharger le fichier lié sous... " et choisir le " Bureau " comme destination du téléchargement.
Ensuite, afin que vous puissiez bénéficier de toutes les caractéristiques d'interactivité du formulaire de demande d'aide, veuillez ne l'ouvrir qu'avec l'application Adobe Reader. Le formulaire requiert au minimum la version 8 d'Adobe Reader.

Si vous ne disposez pas de cette application ou que la version actuellement installée sur votre ordinateur n'est pas la plus récente, nous vous suggérons de télécharger gratuitement l'application Adobe Reader.

Le programme Pêche en herbe est une présentation de la Fondation de la faune du Québec, avec le soutien de son principal partenaire, Canadian Tire, et en collaboration avec le ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs par le biais d'une contribution spéciale provenant de la vente des permis de pêche sportive.

Autre partenaire

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Programme d'initiation à la pêche sportive pour les jeunes - Fondation de la faune

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Pêche en herbe s'adresse aux jeunes de 9 à 12 ans, à l'exception des activités tenues lors de la Fête de la pêche (4, 5 et 6 juin 2021) où les jeunes de 6 à 17 ans peuvent participer (au choix des organisations qui offrent les activités).

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Program for grade 6. Comes with a teacher’s guide, recommended activities, and an in-person visit from a forestry agent (Agent de protection de la faune). Details on the Qc government website.

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Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs

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Univers des animaux - Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs

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À la suite de la nomination du nouveau conseil des ministres, les Secteurs de la faune et des parcs relèvent du ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs. Les contenus sont présentement en cours de transfert vers Québec.ca.

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What our learners say about us

The school has everything that I need for successful study: textbooks, daily assignments, planner, notebooks, music sheets, a staff who are very skilled, experienced, and always there to help.

I am most grateful that my son's art teacher not only makes learning fun and shares his knowledge, but his passion for art as well. I could not have found a better place for him to learn about art.

GreenLearning creates free education programs about energy, climate change and green economy that engage and empower students to create positive change.

© 2021 GreenLearning. All rights reserved.

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Free Environmental Science Resources for Teachers - GreenLearning

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The school has everything that I need for successful study: textbooks, daily assignments, planner, notebooks, music sheets, a staff who are very skilled, experienced, and always there to help. I am most grateful that my son's art teacher not only makes learning fun and shares his knowledge, but his passion for art as well.

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Reshaping our world: Collaborating with children for community-based climate change action

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Reshaping our world: Collaborating with children for community-based climate change action

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Sensibilisés depuis leur tout jeune âge aux conséquences des changements climatiques, les jeunes sont aujourd'hui de plus à plus nombreux à appréhender avec angoisse l'avenir de la planète et à éprouver de l'" écoanxiété ". Mais de quoi s'agit-il exactement ? Notre collaboratrice Marie-Pascale Deegan s'est penchée sur ce phénomène encore méconnu.

Au fil de leur développement, les enfants et les adolescents rêvent de partir à la rencontre des lions et des gazelles de la savane africaine, des neiges éternelles du Kilimandjaro, des aras bleus de la forêt amazonienne et de planter leur drapeau en Terre de Feu. Mais que se passe-t-il lorsque le cours normal de cette belle épopée est perturbé par des nouvelles accablantes : dérèglement climatique, fonte de la calotte glacière, multiplication des catastrophes naturelles, effondrement de la biodiversité... La santé de la Terre est en réel péril et celle des êtres qui l'habitent aussi. Pour plusieurs jeunes, cette réalité rime avec écoanxiété.

Qu'est-ce que l'écoanxiété ?

L'écoanxiété, un terme récemment introduit dans le langage pour décrire l'anxiété ressentie face aux changements climatiques ou encore une peur chronique de la catastrophe environnementale, suscite un intérêt grandissant. Certains la définissent de façon très large, de manière à englober l'ensemble des réactions possibles face à la dégradation de l'environnement : déni, désarroi, sentiment d'impuissance, culpabilité, colère, révolte, anxiété, voire angoisse et tristesse, notamment. Ces réactions, que la psychologue Dre Karine St-Jean qualifie d'" écoémotions ", dans son livre Apprivoiser l'écoanxiété et faire de ses écoémotions un moteur de changement, peuvent s'apparenter aux réactions associées au deuil.

L'écoanxiété n'a pas encore été incluse dans la liste des troubles recensés dans le DSM-5 qui sert de livre de référence, en psychiatrie, à travers la planète. Cependant, depuis quelques années, l'Association américaine de psychiatrie qui le publie multiplie ses communications en lien avec les effets des problèmes environnementaux sur la santé mentale des personnes et des collectivités.

Cela dit, réagir, même fortement, à la menace réelle que constitue la crise environnementale est sain en soi. En effet, dans la même optique que la célèbre citation du penseur indien Jiddu Krishnamurti, selon qui " Ce n'est pas un signe de bonne santé mentale d'être bien adapté à une société malade ", il est tout à fait sensé de vivre des réactions émotionnelles négatives face à la menace environnementale. Toujours selon Dre St-Jean, l'objectif est de parvenir à accueillir ses écoémotions avec douceur et à en prendre bonne note de manière à saisir les messages qu'elles véhiculent et à passer à l'action. Car, contrairement à l'anxiété provoquée par les monstres fictifs dans le placard, pour durablement atténuer les écoémotions, l'action sur ses déclencheurs est nécessaire et potentiellement bénéfique.

En tant que parents, éducateurs ou intervenants, comment pouvez-vous aider les enfants et les adolescents à faire face à leurs écoémotions ? Voici quelques pistes d'actions.

1- Prenez conscience de vos propres écoémotions et dotez-vous de moyens pour en atténuer l'intensité.

Bien que les jeunes soient davantage susceptibles de souffrir d'écoanxiété, tout le monde peut être affecté par la menace de la crise environnementale et par ses effets déjà perceptibles. Lorsqu'on est parent ou éducateur, l'avenir des jeunes qui nous tiennent à cœur est en jeu et il est possible que nos réactions face à la situation soient d'autant plus vives.

Pour éviter d'accentuer la détresse chez les jeunes, en leur communiquant une charge émotionnelle trop intense, prendre conscience de ses propres réactions et voir à les canaliser positivement dans l'action est une stratégie importante à mettre en œuvre.

2- Dans la mesure du possible, faites des choix écoresponsables pour que les jeunes constatent que l'avenir de la planète et le leur vous importe.

Nous vivons dans un système complexe où faire des choix écoresponsables peut se révéler être un défi de taille. Cependant, il est possible de tendre vers des comportements plus écologiques. Lorsque la protection de l'environnement devient une priorité, une panoplie de choix s'offrent à nous dans toutes les sphères de nos vies : réduire sa consommation de biens, faire des déplacements actifs, préparer des lunchs, acheter en vrac, prendre des vacances à proximité... Les possibilités pour réduire son empreinte écologique sont innombrables.

Les jeunes ont besoin de constater que l'avenir de la planète importe aux adultes autour d'eux. Exprimez votre engagement vis-à-vis de la protection de l'environnement en gestes concrets.

3- Permettez aux jeunes d'exprimer leurs émotions et accueillez leur écoanxiété avec empathie.

Il peut s'avérer plus difficile qu'il n'y paraît d'écouter ce que les enfants et les adolescents ont à dire au sujet des problèmes environnementaux. Lorsque les enfants résistent à s'endormir et nous font part de leurs inquiétudes pour les ours polaires à la dérive, lorsque les adolescents font la grève et reprochent aux adultes de ne pas prendre les moyens radicaux nécessaires pour assurer leur avenir, ou encore, quand les jeunes adultes, de plus en plus nombreux, expriment avoir renoncé à l'idée de faire des enfants dans un monde en perdition... nos cœurs se brisent. Les chocs sont durs à absorber.

Pourtant, il est essentiel de trouver la force de tolérer nos sentiments de culpabilité et nos envies de prendre nos jambes à nos cous et de les écouter. Accueillons leurs craintes et leurs colères avec toute l'empathie qu'elles méritent. Partageons leur indignation avec eux, tout en demeurant solides. Allons chercher le support nécessaire pour y arriver, au besoin.

4- Donnez-leur, chaque jour, des occasions de bouger, de faire du sport et d'aller dehors et offrez-leur fréquemment accès aux bienfaits de la nature.

Nous ne le répéterons jamais assez, l'activité physique est essentielle à la santé tant physique que psychologique et au bien-être des jeunes, comme de tous. D'autre part, être en contact étroit avec la nature comporte des bénéfices inégalés sur le plan de la santé mentale. Assurez-vous d'encourager et de favoriser la découverte de ces bienfaits par les jeunes auprès de qui vous jouez un rôle clé.

Jardinez avec eux. Les retombées de cette activité pour la santé physique et mentale, comme pour la santé de la planète, sont incalculables.

5- Favorisez leur acquisition de saines habitudes de vie.

Les habitudes de vie jouent un rôle fondamental dans la santé psychologique. Certes, le contexte social rend parfois difficile de réduire l'exposition des enfants aux écrans, par exemple. Cela ne devrait pas pour autant nous inciter à baisser les bras. Au contraire ! La vigilance est de mise. Efforçons-nous, dès que c'est possible, d'offrir aux jeunes des alternatives aux écrans pour favoriser leurs apprentissages scolaires, comme dans leurs moments de repos ou de loisirs. Accordons de l'importance à leurs habitudes de sommeil. Enfin, une saine alimentation contribue également à favoriser leur bien-être. Ne lésinons pas sur une offre alimentaire attrayante où les fruits et légumes frais et colorés égayent quotidiennement les assiettes !

6- Accompagnez-les avec humilité et bienveillance dans leurs efforts pour comprendre le monde qui les entoure.

Phénomènes météorologiques, décisions politiques, conflits armés ou accords commerciaux internationaux : même les adultes peinent souvent à comprendre les dynamiques en cause lorsqu'ils sont bombardés d'informations via les médias. Les enfants et les adolescents sont aussi exposés à une multitude de messages et d'images qui peuvent les affecter sans pour autant qu'ils soient en mesure de bien les interpréter.

Le rôle des adultes est d'accompagner les jeunes dans leur découverte de leur environnement, dans le plus grand respect possible de leur développement et de leurs besoins de compréhension. Nous aimerions les préserver des nouvelles accablantes. Il est responsable de tenter de réduire leur exposition à des images choquantes, ou encore à des contenus alarmistes ou inadaptés à leur degré de maturité, tout en étant conscient qu'il peut être très difficile, voire impossible, de contrôler toutes les sources d'informations auxquelles les jeunes sont exposés. Lorsque des drames font la manchette ou lorsqu'un phénomène aussi majeur que la crise environnementale secoue l'humanité, il est illusoire de penser que les jeunes pourront être épargnés. Il est du devoir des adultes qui les entourent de trouver les mots appropriés pour aborder ces questions avec eux, en fonction de leurs degrés d'intérêt, de leurs sensibilités et de leurs capacités.

Aider les jeunes à faire des recherches, en les sensibilisant à la pertinence des différentes sources d'informations et à développer leur esprit critique est un moyen important pour les accompagner dans la gestion de leurs écoémotions.

7- Exposez-les, sans modération, aux bonnes nouvelles environnementales.

Les initiatives favorables à la santé de la planète se multiplient comme des petits pains ! Informez-vous de ces initiatives (dont les exemples regorgent dans les pages de 100 degrés ou unpointcinq) et faites-les découvrir aux jeunes ! Visitez des jardins communautaires, des commerces zéro déchet, des friperies, des cuisines où les légumes moches sont revalorisés ou des centres de tri avec eux. Organisez des conférences ou des rencontres avec des porteurs de projets inspirants. Faites-leur part des gains dans les luttes environnementales. Ne ménagez pas vos efforts pour leur faire part des bonnes nouvelles !

8- Positionnez-vous en alliés dans la lutte environnementale et offrez-leur des opportunités concrètes pour développer leurs compétences en matière de participation citoyenne.

La protection de l'environnement ne devrait pas seulement être l'affaire des jeunes " qui sont l'avenir ", comme on l'entend parfois. Cela dit, l'inverse n'est pas plus juste. Les jeunes ont le droit de participer activement aux solutions aux problèmes environnementaux auxquels nous sommes tous confrontés et dont, il faut l'admettre, ils subiront davantage les conséquences que les populations plus âgées. Partageons les responsabilités, avec équité, entre les générations, en tenant compte des leviers et des besoins développementaux de chacun.

Faites équipe avec les jeunes auprès desquels vous jouez un rôle significatif. Aidez-les à développer leurs capacités d'agir et leur sentiment d'efficacité personnelle. Consultez-les au sujet de leurs préoccupations et accompagnez-les dans la mise en œuvre d'initiatives signifiantes pour eux. Prenez vous-mêmes des responsabilités et accompagnez-les dans la prise en charge de responsabilités proportionnelles à leurs capacités. Offrez-leur des occasions de transformer leurs environnements et de constater les effets positifs de leurs actions. Permettez-leur aussi de prendre part aux actions collectives ou politiques qui pourront leur faire découvrir la force du nombre : pétitions, marches ou autres.

9- Aidez-les à comprendre leur écoanxiété : d'où elle vient, comment la reconnaître et comment ils peuvent l'atténuer et initiez-les à la pleine conscience.

Tout en validant leurs émotions, vous pouvez aider les jeunes à prendre conscience de ce qu'ils pensent et ressentent, à identifier les effets de leurs pensées et émotions sur eux et à faire la part des choses. N'hésitez pas à vous informer sur l'écoanxiété (ou d'autres formes d'anxiété) et à vous outiller pour soutenir les jeunes face à elle.

Parmi les stratégies pouvant contribuer à réduire le stress et l'anxiété, les différentes méthodes favorisant la pleine conscience, comme la méditation, sont reconnues pour leurs effets bénéfiques importants.

10- Accompagnez-les vers des ressources d'aide professionnelles lorsque l'anxiété ou toute autre forme de mal-être est envahissante.

Lorsque la souffrance est importante ou lorsque le fonctionnement d'un jeune est perturbé, que ce soit sur le plan de son sommeil, de son alimentation, de sa réussite scolaire, de ses loisirs ou de ses relations sociales, il importe de lui offrir une aide appropriée.

Notre merveilleuse planète, notre habitat auquel nous sommes intrinsèquement liés, est malade. Il est bien normal que cela affecte notre bien-être et celui des enfants et adolescents aux cœurs de nos vies. Accueillons nos écoémotions et celles de nos jeunes avec bienveillance et servons-nous de leurs messages pour lever nos manches et prendre les mesures nécessaires pour assurer un avenir sain à tous les êtres vivants de la Terre.

Prenons soin les uns les autres, en prenant soin de notre planète !

[1] Nugent, C. (2019). Terrified of Climate Change? [2] St-Jean, K. (2020). Apprivoiser l'écoanxiété et faire de ses écoémotions un moteur de changement. Les Éditions de l'Homme, Montréal, 300 pages. [3] Selon la doctorante en psychologie, Christina Popescu (UQÀM, Gauvreau, C. (2019). Êtes-vous éco-anxieux? La doctorante en psychologie Christina Popescu cherche à comprendre le phénomène de l'éco-anxiété. Actualités UQÀM, 4 novembre 2019, You Might Have Eco-Anxiety. TIME, 21 novembre 2019, https://time.com/5735388/climate-change-eco-anxiety/: " L'American Psychological Association a défini pour la première fois l'éco-anxiété en 2017 comme " une peur chronique de la catastrophe environnementale". "

Ce sujet vous intéresse ? Vous voulez en savoir plus sur l'écoanxiété ou sur l'éducation relative à l'environnement ?

Consultez également les articles suivants:

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Écoanxiété: comment soutenir les jeunes inquiets de l'avenir de la planète? | 100°

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Au fil de leur développement, les enfants et les adolescents rêvent de partir à la rencontre des lions et des gazelles de la savane africaine, des neiges éternelles du Kilimandjaro, des aras bleus de la forêt amazonienne et de planter leur drapeau en Terre de Feu.

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Eco Schools Canada - Resources, ideas and certifications

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EcoSchools Canada offers a supports school communities as they assess, track, benchmark, and celebrate environmental excellence. We are the exclusive national operator of the EcoSchools program in Canada, and a member of the international network of EcoSchools programs, coordinated by the certification program for K-12 schools that nurtures environmental learning and climate action. Our award-winning, curriculum-linked framework Foundation for Environmental Education.

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EcoSchools Canada offers a supports school communities as they assess, track, benchmark, and celebrate environmental excellence. We are the exclusive national operator of the EcoSchools program in Canada, and a member of the international network of EcoSchools programs, coordinated by the certification program for K-12 schools that nurtures environmental learning and climate action.

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https://outdoorlearningstore.ca/podcast/

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Curriculum, Professional Development, Research
In 2015, all 193 countries of the United Nations along with scientists and political leaders agreed to partner together to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030. The SDGs are a set of 17 goals aimed at achieving peace and prosperity worldwide by addressing pressing issues such as climate change, quality education, and poverty, to name a few. Issues such as these are expected to have devastating impacts on people and the planet if not addressed. For example, climate change is expected to lead to global challenges in this lifetime that no single country alone can resolve. Approximately 42% of the world's population is currently under 25-years-old, children and youth are at most at risk of experiencing the impacts of these issues, making schools an ideal place for learning about the SDGs.

HERE ARE KEY TIPS FOR K-12 EDUCATORS WHEN TEACHING ABOUT THE SDGs:

Choose one or a few SDGs to start with when planning class activities and discussions. Each SDG also comes paired with "Global Targets," which can make them more manageable to address.

2. Learn alongside your students and connect with their interests

Students are often already passionate about global issues, and the SDGs provide a way for them to learn how to become active global citizens. Take the opportunity to learn about what your students are passionate about and build activities, projects, and discussions around these.

3. Find ways to connect the SDGs to the curriculum

The SDGs can enhance the curriculum by making space for learning about global issues and including perspectives from people around the world, which are often left out of national curriculums. There are many resources available for teachers that can be used as content for teaching the SDGs across subject areas.

4.Partner with other classrooms around the world

There are programs where you can partner with other classrooms locally or in other countries to work on projects that address global issues. This gives students an engaging opportunity to learn from other students who have different perspectives and to see how their actions can impact other people - even people halfway across the world.

In an increasingly interconnected world where local and regional decisions can have global impacts on world economies, policies, and societies, it's evermore important for countries to find ways to collaborate on issues that affect us all. Teaching about the SDGs offers meaningful learning opportunities and encourages students to discover their role in solving local, regional, and global issues. As today's children and youth will become the next generation of voters and leaders, it is necessary to equip them with the knowledge and skills to make sound decisions in an increasingly complex world - and the SDGs provide a framework to do just that.

Creating education goals and activities that help students have a planetary or global view. This moves education beyond merely providing skills for individuals' future employment but instead, provides the knowledge and skills for living on a shared planet.

Engaging students around the world in shared research and collaboration to identify different experiences and responses to global issues (see for example, the Global Classroom projects on Global Citizenship and Energy Futures )

Accessing portals of research and information shared by people around the world as the content for learning. For example, the work of South Korean APCEIU

Teaching students from an integrated curriculum approach that makes space for learning about global issues from multiple perspectives including from people in locations often left out of national focused curriculums. This will include building a global historical consciousness (see for example https://historicalthinking.ca)

WITH THE GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF:

Meet the Expert(s)

Le Ré... Read More

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How can the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) support K-12 teaching and learning? | EdCan Network

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Curriculum, Professional Development, Research In 2015, all 193 countries of the United Nations along with scientists and political leaders agreed to partner together to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030. The SDGs are a set of 17 goals aimed at achieving peace and prosperity worldwide by addressing pressing issues such as climate change, quality education, and poverty, to name a few.

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Land as teacher: understanding Indigenous land-based education

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What is Indigenous land-based education and what is it not? Four Indigenous voices from across the country share their insights on what it means to them, why it’s important for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, and how it can support reconciliation efforts in Canada.

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The Sky Above and the Mud Below: Lessons from Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens

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Where children tinker with saws and hammers while parents stand on the sidelines

"It looks like a dumpster playground," my wife told me, as we pushed our double stroller down a hill on Governor's Island in New York City. "Like some slum."

In front of us was an area that looked like-to my eyes, at least-an Occupy Wall Street campground, with shoddy constructions of plywood, wooden palates, and blue tarp. I counted 10 children, who were roaming a space about half the size of a soccer field littered with car tires, plastic crates, orange cones, and a sea of unidentifiable debris.

My family and I live in Finland, but I had read something in The Atlantic about this quirky place months ago, and I was determined to see it up close during our summer trip to New York City. This "adventure playground" opened in May, thanks to the work of play:groundNYC.

In 1943, the first adventure playground ("junk playground") was piloted in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, which was under Nazi occupation. From then on, the concept was embraced around the world, especially in Europe. A professional methodology called " playwork" was established in the United Kingdom, in which trained adults ("playworkers") would run these environments. One of the world's most famous adventure playgrounds today-known as "The Land"-is located in Wales. In fact, Hanna Rosin, a national correspondent for The Atlantic, investigated the site in 2014, where she found children arriving at the playground parentless making fires, rolling car tires into a creek, and doing "mad flips" on dirty mattresses while playworkers rarely intervened.

Still, despite their global popularity, adventure playgrounds have struggled to gain traction in the U.S. In the 1970s, New York City had at least three junk playgrounds, run by playworkers, but today that number is just one-that on Governor's Island, according to Reilly Wilson, the board chair of play:groundNYC and an environmental psychology Ph.D. student. Playworker-run adventure playgrounds haven't caught on in America partially because there's a lack of willingness to fund these places, Wilson told me over email.

But funding isn't the only obstacle.

Peter Gray, a psychology research professor at Boston College, wrote in the American Journal of Play that free play-"activity that is freely chosen and directed by the participants and undertaken for its own sake"-has declined over the past half century in America, and he inferred that a high level of parental fear about the safety of children and the rise of "adult-directed, school-like activities" are two of the major causes.

I found myself personally confronting these tensions when my wife, two preschool-aged children, and I recently headed on the crowded ferry ride from Manhattan to Governor's Island for a family adventure.

Underneath a tent by the entrance to the playground, we met a man in his 20s dressed in a neon vest and reclining behind a table. He was one of four playworkers on duty, and the designated gatekeeper of the hour. The junkyard had been divided with orange mesh fencing into two sections: the "Family Playground" (recommended for ages 3 and up, with adults required) and the "Adventure Playground" (recommended for 6 and up). The significant difference between the Adventure Playground and the Family Playground had to do with riskiness. The former had real tools available for the children to use-such as hammers and handsaws-and significantly more junk covering the ground.

After my wife and I completed permission forms for both of our two children (a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old), I wondered if we'd later regret that decision, given all the metal tools and stray junk lying around. We never planned to simply drop off our kids and leave them to their own devices-even with our supervision the play area seemed intimidating-but when my wife attempted to lead our children through the tent to the Adventure Playground, we quickly realized that we didn't have a choice. "Sorry, parents aren't allowed on this side,"said the man behind the table.

The playworker eventually let me enter alongside my 4-year-old son after I told him I was writing a story about this junk playground, but he made the rules clear: "We tell the press to try not to intervene with the children," he warned. I got the message.

Predictably, my son led me to the heart of the action, the spot in front of the toolshed, where most of the children were sawing and hammering. Abby Oulton-a 25-year-old playworker sporting a wide-brimmed hat and black shirt featuring a red hammer between the words "I" and "playground"-had been assigned to assist with their play.

But an adult presence didn't necessarily make it "safe": Within a few seconds of observing, I watched one boy, wearing Crocs and holding a handsaw, step into a bucket of nails. He seemed fine, but a handful of nails spilled onto the ground-creating a "near-death trap" for anyone who ventured near the scene.

Leaning against the toolshed was a large green piece of plywood, on which nails had been hammered and tools had been hung. A sign directed children to "Please Ask for Tools," but I witnessed several instances in which children fetched hammers and handsaws on their own. The children gravitated toward different projects around the playground-a broken bike, a dilapidated boat, or hideouts, for example-sometimes taking tools away from the toolshed area. (I watched one tiny boy, in a Superman shirt, carry a handsaw over his right shoulder while holding a construction helmet in his other hand. He traveled from one side of the playground to the other, wobbling over the debris, and I held my breath.)

For a few minutes, my son and I stood in front of the toolshed, captivated by the sawing and hammering before us. But when I nudged him to participate he refused, saying, and continuing to repeat, that he was scared. When I asked him why, he mentioned the children. Typically, strangers and risky situations do not intimidate my 4-year-old, but on this occasion, he looked paralyzed.

I felt conflicted. I got into this adventure playground as a writer, not as a parent. And given the male playworker's earlier warning, the idea of helping my son get settled, as harsh as this sounds, didn't seem right. It would go against the philosophy of this place, where parents aren't allowed and kids are free to roam. Plus, how could I write an article about this adventure playground yet disrespect its rules?

I was also curious to see how my 4-year-old would adjust to this playground without my handholding. If I took the initiative for him (by fetching a hammer, for example, and showing him exactly where to pound the nails), I'd never get to see what he could do without me, and neither would he. So I suggested to my son what seemed like a reasonable compromise: My 4-year-old could ask Oulton, the playworker, for assistance.

My son immediately refused and continued to mope around the toolshed, and suddenly, my writing assignment had gotten personal: In this environment where children appeared fearless and playworkers seemed comfortable in their modest supporting roles, I couldn't help but notice my son's timidity. I started to wonder if I had trained my son, unintentionally, to let me take initiative for him, even when he was capable of doing so on his own. Then I heard a whimper.

Through his tears, he said angrily, "YES, grownups are allowed!" We exited the Adventure Playground and traveled to the Family Playground, where my boy stopped crying, and I proposed a new plan. With my foot, I drew a huge circle in the dirt and told my son that I would stand in it, watching him on this side of the fence, while he received support on the other side from Oulton the playworker, on his own accord. Initially, my son rejected this plan, but when I lifted the orange mesh fence, creating an opening for him to slip under, he reentered. My son trudged over the rubbish, right up to Oulton. Then he muttered something.
My son was happily sawing a piece of wood without a single adult hovering over his shoulder.
"Sure," Oulton said, "I can help you." After my child made a request I couldn't hear, I watched Oulton fetch two hammers-a large one and a small one-and offer them to my son. He grabbed the little hammer. "Want some nails?" Oulton asked. He nodded, and the playworker helped him find a good place to work on a piece of two-by-four. Within seconds, the thumping of my son's hammer brought three boys to the toolshed area.

Two minutes later, my 4-year-old traded in his hammer for a handsaw, which he snatched on his own. As my child pushed the teeth of the saw against a piece of plywood, Oulton stood by him offering support until my son seemed somewhat steady. When another child needed Oulton's assistance, she turned her back on him for a few moments, presenting me with an image I didn't expect to see that afternoon: My son was happily sawing a piece of wood without a single adult hovering over his shoulder.

"Coming, Daddy?" shouted my 4-year-old in the toolshed area. Finally, he had noticed me after five minutes of hammering and sawing, and I stepped out of the circle in the dirt to return to the Adventure Playground.

On my way to reunite with my son, I passed two little girls deep in play (they looked about four), a pony-tailed blonde and a frizzy-haired brunette. They were playing the roles of "mommy" and "child" on a rickety wooden structure-three long pieces of two by four laid across three gigantic wooden spools-and pretending it was their home. "I think we have to go to the kitchen underneath to do more work," said the frizzy-haired girl, after which the two enthusiastically hammered on the foundation of their house. Then they stumbled upon a tattered piece of ribbon, and pretended it was a flower, perfect for home decor. When I reached the toolshed area, one boy yelled: "Teddy! We need your help clearing the hideout!" I couldn't help but laugh, because the task seemed impossible in a playground full of dirt and rubbish, but these boys, along with those girls, overlooked the junkyard's aesthetics as they played.

On the ferry ride back to Manhattan, I reflected on how four simple ingredients-junk, tools, physical space, and playworkers-could create such a powerful learning environment, where children appeared to develop their " Four Cs" (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity) for hours on end. Indeed, these Four Cs were the key "21st-century skills" that many American schools strived to sharpen in their students, but at the junk playground, this development seemed to happen rather effortlessly through self-directed play, supported by well-trained playworkers. A 2007 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report appears to corroborate my findings on Governor's Island:

Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue.

It is ideal when play involves adults (such as the playworkers at the junk playground), says the AAP report, except "when play is controlled by adults." Under this condition, children accept the rules and worries of grownups, and several of the benefits of play are lost, specifically "in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills."

The day after our trip to the junk playground, I visited a Connecticut children's museum with our two kids. It cost a small fortune to get in, and judging by the long line on a Sunday morning, my expectations were pretty high.

"Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold," said one sentence on the museum's wall-a quote from the childhood-development expert Joseph Chilton Pearce. "As they play," declared another sign, "[children] are exploring new spaces, using their senses, and collaborating with others." But all that trumpeting of play (there was lots more of it) didn't exactly match the design of the place. It felt like everything in the children's museum had been designed not for risky, self-directed play, like the junk playground, but for aesthetics, order, and safety. "Parents must accompany children of any age," said a friendly voice on the PA system.

The sharpest contrast I found between the junk playground and the children's museum was evident in the museum's building exhibit, where kids were directed to "tile the walls" and "paint the walls," but I could only find several rubbery, magnetic tiles for the kids to adhere to a particular section of the play structure, and there wasn't any paint available-only dry paint rollers lying around. It featured a picture of a happy child in an orange vest, wearing work gloves and gripping a construction helmet. Around the play structure (a miniature model of a house), I found four signs with the same message. "Play it safe: A clean construction site is a safe construction site." This poster was especially strange because I could find nothing unsafe about this exhibit.

That children's museum seemed to represent how many American parents and teachers think about how to best raise kids. In an effort to ensure safety and success, freedom gets limited and play gets structured.

Reilly Wilson, of play:groundNYC, believes America is headed in the direction of playworker-run adventure playgrounds. "The pressures that parents are facing are extreme. There is palpable fear about letting children play unsupervised, and recess periods have been cut down to absurd levels," Wilson told me. "Young people are coming home from school having not had reasonable opportunities to use their bodies or minds in self-directed ways, and then parents and caregivers are forced to police their activities further to ensure that they complete their homework."

Oulton echoed a similar sentiment to me in an email: "So long as we live in a fear-based, control-obsessed, litigation culture, [the United States] will probably keep seeing the padded, safe playgrounds that have become the U.S. norm. But if we as a society could hold on a little more loosely, we could get to a future where Adventure Playgrounds are the norm."

Not only do I think playworker-run junk playgrounds represent the future of playgrounds, they seem to provide a glimpse into the future of schooling, too. Today, teachers-especially in America-are gravitating toward more active, child-directed pedagogical methods that look similar to what I observed on the junk playground: " project-based learning," " makerspaces,"and " genius hour." Finland, the Nordic nation that's often praised as a leader in public education, is implementing its newest national core curricula this fall, in which playful learning and developing student agency are emphasized. Although it may be some time before adventure playgrounds become the norm and playful, student-directed classroom practices becomes mainstream in schools, it's never too early for parents and teachers to start thinking like playworkers.

Initially, I wondered if the playworkers I observed on Governor's Island were permissive bohemian-types who were fine with kids doing whatever. But as I watched Oulton and the three playworkers, I developed a hunch that they were guided by a particular pedagogical mindset, in which they intervened in little, tactful ways.

"We wait to be invited before joining in," Morgan Leichter-Saxby-a veteran playworker and a Ph.D. student who researches adventure playgrounds-emailed me. In playworker training, Leichter-Saxby said, adults adopt a vocabulary for discussing play and a set of skills for assisting children in their play, without controlling them.
"Try not to micromanage your kids so much."
At one point during our visit, my wife passed a fruit smoothie over the fence to my 4-year-old son, and he brought it straight to me, complaining that the straw was broken. Impulsively, I started to fix the straw, which had been chewed by his 2-year-old sister. Oulton's impulse, on the other hand, was to suggest to my son that he could use a pair of scissors (from the toolshed), so he could do his own trouble-shooting.

I asked Oulton over email if she had any advice for parents, like me, who want to cultivate the playworker's mindset. "Stay aware that your kid will learn more from how you interact with them than what you say in those interactions," she said. "They'll feel it if you trust yourself, and they'll feel it if you trust them. You have the power to model self-reflection, asking for help, communicating and listening effectively, navigating influence, staying curious and playful."

During my trip to the junk playground on Governor's Island, I met one playworker named Tyjahay-a 17-year-old girl in cornrows-and we also discussed the playworker's mindset. I wondered if she, too, had any tips for parents. "Try not to micromanage your kids so much," she said, "because if you do, they might have a shell around them, and they won't be able to experience what it feels like to actually be a child and to actually have fun and connect with others."

Then my 4-year-old son appeared before us, interrupting our conversation. "I'm done," he said, proudly, leading me to the area in front of the toolshed. "It went really well!" He showed me the nail he had (mostly) hammered into his piece of two-by-four-and then, a little band-aid on his middle finger.

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At the Junk Playground, Children Play Freely With Hammers and Saws

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Where children tinker with saws and hammers while parents stand on the sidelines "It looks like a dumpster playground," my wife told me, as we pushed our double stroller down a hill on Governor's Island in New York City. "Like some slum."

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The Junk Playground is a playspace associated with the Grove Community Garden. Its use of loose parts, both natural and urban, encourages free, imaginative play whilst parents tend to their garden plots on site. This project was initiated through the Fountainbridge Canalside Initiative with Local Authority funding through the Waste Action Grant.

#free play
#physical play
#den building
#heuristic play
#outdoor learning
#meanwhile land use
#recycling
#waste materials

In August 2017, the award-winning Woodland Tribe team brought their self build adventure play experience to the festival city of Edinburgh.

The space behind the Pavilion Cafe on the Meadows was seeded with a few structural posts here and there, and a BIG pile of rough sawn timber. Over the course of 5 days,hundreds of children, some as young as 3 years old, used hammers, nails, screws and impact drivers to build the own adventure playground.

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The Junk Playground is a playspace associated with the Grove Community Garden. Its use of loose parts, both natural and urban, encourages free, imaginative play whilst parents tend to their garden plots on site. This project was initiated through the Fountainbridge Canalside Initiative with Local Authority funding through the Waste Action Grant.

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NEW YORK With a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other, 7-year-old Zayne Cowie was hard at work building a home. He had already gathered planks of splintered wood, an old tire for the entrance and a tattered blue tarp for the roof. No parents were there to stop him as he started hammering away.

He wasn't a homeless orphan, however, nor was he a victim of parental neglect. He was just one of dozens of kids running around New York City's first adventure playground in decades.

This is a typical scene at play:groundNYC, located on Governors Island, where children are given a free space to play without any management, mediation or overprotection from parents. The nonprofit includes "playworkers," the staff at an adventure playground that act like lifeguards, watching for dangerous hazards without interfering with activity.

"An adventure playground is a space that's by and for children foremost," said Eve Mosher, Zayne's mother and a co-founder of play:groundNYC. "It's about letting the kids walk really high up on the structure that they've built. ... It's about creating space where they can take risks and experiment. In our specific case, it's kind of like a junkyard for kids."

Play is an important part of childhood development, both physical and psychological, researchers say.

"So much that's positive in terms of intellectual development, social development, emotional development, physical development is best understood when understanding play," said Roger Hart, professor of environmental psychology at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Hart's work focuses on child development and the quality of their physical environment. "Play is a great indicator of health. ... It's where children create their world and learn to know themselves."

Sergio Pellis, professor of behavioral neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, has studied the effects of play in rats, finding that "if young rats are prevented from engaging with peers in social play, then when they get to young adulthood they show a variety of deficits in things like problems with impulse control, they are overactive to benign social stimuli, they have difficulty solving problems and encountering potentially dangerous situations."

His research links those issues to changes in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which can affect a wide-range of executive functions later in life, including attention span, emotional regulation and short-term memory.

Destructive and constructive play is a critical part in developing crucial motor and mental skills, Hart said. However, conventional playgrounds contain "fixed equipment" which leaves little to be built, created or destroyed by children.

Hart said conventional playgrounds are "useful, especially for very young kids, for gross motor play, as we call it, large muscle play. But, when it comes to children using the environment richly, they need to manipulate it, move things around, control it and feel that they're directing their activity."

This idea of self-directed, unmediated play is embodied in the idea of "adventure playgrounds," or "junk playgrounds." Unlike traditional playgrounds, these spaces leave kids with ample freedom, and the responsibility that comes with it.

In the process of building his structure, Zayne decided it was no regular home -- it was a castle. He began gathering tires for turrets and scrap wood for beams. As he jumped onto his new fortress, he lost his footing and fell to the dirt. He let out a cry, checked himself for cuts and stared up at the stronghold. A few minutes later, Zayne dusted himself off and climbed again, four or five feet in the air, and balanced carefully along the beams.

"They were able to try things out without huge consequences and self-directed play in particular hones skills and self-awareness," said Alex Khost, an alternative educator and co-founder of playground:NYC.

Some parents, especially in cities, have looked for ways to give their children the opportunity for more self-directed play, a reaction against what some see as an increase in over-parenting.

"Children are often over-directed and taken from one activity to another and expected to be good at it, but at a place like this, they can let their imagination run free," said Michael Haggiag, a NYC parent in support of playground:NYC. "I think it's very important for children to have this time to confront whatever it is ... to develop their imagination, to develop their sense of play without too much direction. I think that's the source of all creativity."

As their children use saws, nails, hammers, drills and other tools to build and destroy the contents of the playground, parents are relegated to the other side of a fence with signs that encourage them to "sit back and relax."

"Initially, it does give you pause because it's so rare that you let your kids go in an area where there's sharp objects and wood stuff, but to see that they kind of police themselves in a way was reassuring," said parent Tom Widmann during his first trip to playground:NYC. "Of all the kids that I've seen today, there doesn't seem to be any incidents."

Despite safety concerns, "in every study that I've found that has been done, adventure playgrounds have much lower levels of serious injury than your sort of traditional playgrounds," said Reilly Wilson, graduate student for the Children's Environments Research Group, focusing on adventure playgrounds. "Part of it is that regular playgrounds, as it were, are designed for safety and young people know that. So when young people play on a regular playground they often pay less attention to risks."

Adventure or junk playgrounds were popularized in post-World War II Europe, where bombed-out ruins lingered for years. In the U.S., dozens were operating during the 1970s, though they've declined in popularity since.

Wilson and Hart said their decline in the U.S. was due to a number of factors, such as rising safety concerns, higher engagement with technology and a lack of funding. (In the adventure playground model, materials are low-cost but the playworkers are paid staff.)

Khost and Mosher were determined to bring one to NYC for the first time in decades. After months of searching for a site, they were offered a space by Governors Island, which they quickly accepted, and began building a world of creative junk. They filled the space with "loose parts" - acquired through donations, from their own homes or off the curb - that children could manipulate. They hired and trained playworkers to watch over the environment and implemented a strict "no parent" rule.

Playworkers are a critical part of any adventure playground. Their role is not only to provide a watchful yet unintrusive eye but also play a unique role in a child's life. "They're no longer an instructor, they're somebody who seems to respect you as an equal, as a citizen and so the kids start to talk with these people. That is really wonderful. ... It's an organic type of social work," said Hart.

As Janea Singleton, a playworker at play:groundNYC, helped Zayne clamp in a piece of wood, he grabbed a hand saw and they chatted about lunch and the day ahead. Earlier, she helped a group of children learn how to use a hacksaw, calmly answering questions, grabbing tools from the toolshed and encouraging kids to make use of anything around them. Singleton said the hardest part of being a playworker is learning not to say "no," but instead "stepping back and letting them surprise you."

Play:groundNYC opened its permanent site on Governors Island this summer and soon found it attracting 80 to 100 children a weekend. The suggested age to play on the main junk playground is 6 years and older; kids 3 years and up can head to the "family" playground, where parents are allowed on the grounds. Parents must sign a liability waiver and the site is insured. The space is free to the public on weekends as weather permits and the summer camp was filled to capacity. With nearly half a year down, the creators are now looking for creative ways to keep children engaged in the short term while still thinking about longer term goals.

"Our dream is that it goes out and we can be a model for other people to start adventure playgrounds in their communities and it's a place where kids can go there after school and play," Mosher said. "That's the dream."

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Junkyard or playground paradise? Kids making their own adventures

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NEW YORK With a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other, 7-year-old Zayne Cowie was hard at work building a home. He had already gathered planks of splintered wood, an old tire for the entrance and a tattered blue tarp for the roof.

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To help reach our goal of actively supporting and enhancing the work of the United Nations' efforts within K-12 classrooms, our TeachSDGs organization contributes to the 2030 Agenda in the following...

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Dossier thématique sur l’enseignement en plein air (RIRE)

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Dossier thématique sur l’enseignement en plein air (RIRE)

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Enseignement en plein air [Dossier thématique] - RIRE

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Aujourd'hui, le RIRE vous offre un bref survol du thème de l'enseignement en plein air par l'entremise des articles et ressources recensés dans sa bibliothèque virtuelle.

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How many planets does it take to sustain your lifestyle?

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What is your Ecological Footprint? How many planets does it take to support your lifestyle? Take this free quiz to find out!

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When we were studying outer space last week, we discussed how remarkably unique Earth is from all the other planets in our solar system. As an extension activity, my son colored a picture of the Earth and then we cut it open into fourths so that there were flaps to lift once he glued it to the paper. Under each flap, I had him draw and write about something that makes the Earth special. His answers were: trees, people, animals, and water.

This simple writing activity could easily be adapted to all the other planets as well. You could have your students draw and/or color the other planets, cut them open to create flaps, and then write about the planets underneath. They could be put together into a great book or interactive notebook about the solar system.

With Earth Day coming up on April 22, students could use this same concept to display facts about Earth Day, ways to protect the Earth, or any other similar information.

I've created 3 different templates that could be used for these activities: "Our Amazing Earth", "Protecting Planet Earth", and a blank template where your students can add any title. You can download them for FREE by right clicking HERE and saving the file to your computer by choosing "Save Link As". This file is best viewed, saved, and printed in the latest version of Adobe Reader. If you want to use this template in a composition notebook as part of an interactive notebook, you can simply reduce the size on your copying machine to make it smaller.

Enjoy!

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Earth Lift-the-Flap Printable Template FREEBIE - Primary Theme Park

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This free Earth template printable is perfect for the study of the solar system or Earth Day. Students can cut the template to create flaps, allowing them to write underneath once it's glued to a piece of paper or into a notebook.

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Teach children about keeping the Earth clean with these engaging Earth Day ideas. This post includes a free writing and art activity, as well as book suggestions.
By Proud to be Primary

This post includes wonderful Earth Day ideas and ways to teach children about caring for the Earth.

Earth Day Ideas & Classroom Activities

Every year I teach my students that they can make a difference in the world by doing small things every day. I believe that educating our children and students about the importance of caring for our Earth is extremely important in the world today. The children of today are the ones who will make a real difference in how the Earth continues to evolve in the future.

In my classroom, I spend the two weeks before Earth Day (April 22nd) teaching my students about the ways they can care for the earth and completing Earth Day ideas. We discuss the things they can do in their classroom, at home, and on the playground. It's fun to brainstorm ideas and have great discussions on ways we can keep the classroom and playground clean, save energy and, do our part to keep the Earth green and beautiful. We practice reusing items instead of throwing them away, and we recycle our containers and paper when we finish with it every day. Also, we reduce how much energy we spend by turning off our classroom lights, and we go outside to pick up trash left out on the playground.

Earth Day Ideas: Great Books

We read tons of great books that remind us and teach us about these things.

A few of my favorite books are:

The Earth & I by Asch.

Earth Day Hooray! by Stuart Murphy

The Earth Book by Todd Parr

Earth Day Ideas: Poetry & Writing

We read a poem of the week called "Earth Day Every Day!", and we complete our follow-up poetry activities. This poem and activities, plus many more, are available here.

We write about why every day should be Earth Day using the ideas we have brainstormed about on a chart. I give my students a template that they may wish to follow for ideas.

Earth Day Ideas: Art Activities

1. Holding the Earth Art Activity

With any classroom unit or theme, I love to incorporate art as a way of illustrating our learning.
For the student "Holding the Earth" art activity, I start by taking a photo of each student pretending to hold a ball over their heads.

I print them out in black and white off the computer.

We each color a coffee filter with green and blue markers to look like the earth. We spray the filters with water and let them dry.

Lastly, we assemble and glue our writing, photos, and earth onto a green tag.

We include our "Every Day is Earth Day!" writing together with our photo and our water sprayed Earth to create a lovely display.

We post each of the displays together on a bulletin board.

This display is my favorite bulletin board of the year. We have the parents in to show off our writing and how cute their children look holding up the earth!

Click HERE for Teacher Idea Factory's kid holding the earth idea & HERE for Teacher Time 123's coffee filter idea.

2. Recycled Paper Self-Portraits & Bulletin Board

We also make "Recycle Kids" self-portraits on newspaper print. First, we start by drawing a self-portrait with a pencil. We then use sharpies to trace the lines. Next, we color our clothes and hair (not skin). We glue onto white cardstock for durability and cut out. It was an exciting activity because my students had never reused a newspaper this way before. They said it seemed strange to have newspaper print as their skin color.

This art activity creates a meaningful result and a special bulletin board with an important message.

I add an earth cut-out to the bulletin board. My class made it a previous year by tearing out pieces of blue and green paper from old National Geographic magazines and gluing them down to look like the earth. What a great project of teamwork that was. I enjoy REUSING the Earth again each year!

Earth day is a great day to remind yourself and your students about the importance of keeping our earth clean and healthy.

I had a parent come and tell me today that her daughter no longer wants to have baths, but "quick showers that save water!" It makes everything we do to teach our students worth it when it changes an attitude or behavior for the better.

Earth Day Ideas & Resources

If you are looking for Earth day ideas, this comprehensive Earth Day unit includes writing, reading, science, and more hands-on learning activities. Click HERE to see it in-store.

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Earth Day Ideas: "Earth Day is EVERY Day!" Classroom Activities

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Teach children about keeping the Earth clean with these engaging Earth Day ideas. This post includes a free writing and art activity, as well as book suggestions. By Proud to be Primary This post includes wonderful Earth Day ideas and ways to teach children about caring for the Earth.

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Canadian Outdoor Learning Spring Virtual Workshop Series

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Canadian Outdoor Learning Spring Virtual Workshop Series

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Don’t miss it !

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Canadian Outdoor Learning Spring Virtual Workshop Series To support professional learning for educators, our Canadian Non-profit Outdoor Learning Store is pleased to offer free virtual workshops with the authors/developers of resources available for order in our online store.

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​Ce programme permet de proposer nos paniers à vos membres et clients, d' acheter des légumes provenant directement de notre ferme et d' insérer nos recettes dans le menu de votre établissement.

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​Ce programme permet de proposer nos paniers à vos membres et clients, d' acheter des légumes provenant directement de notre ferme et d' insérer nos recettes dans le menu de votre établissement.

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Grants available annually

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Bird Protection Quebec - Protection des oiseaux du Québec

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I f you participate in any of our virtual field trips, we ask that you respect government COVID prevention regulations and recommendations at all times. For example, if travel between zones is allowed but is not recommended, please stick close to home. Be careful, be safe!

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Bird Protection Quebec - Protection des oiseaux du Québec

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If you participate in any of our virtual field trips, we ask that you respect government COVID prevention regulations and recommendations at all times. For example, if travel between zones is allowed but is not recommended, please stick close to home. Be careful, be safe! EDUCATION

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ask Ferme Tournesol

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First Nations Garden at Botanical Gardens

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First Nations Garden at Botanical Gardens

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Natives share their vision of nature

The First Nations Garden, open since August 3, 2001, presents the close bonds Amerindians and the Inuit have always had with the plant world. It is designed to evoke a natural environment, and is the first infrastructure of its size anywhere in Montréal dedicated to the First Nations of Québec. The 2.5 hectare garden is the culmination of three years' work and the realization of one of Brother Marie-Victorin's dreams.

The planned site for the First Nations Garden was already planted with a highly diverse stand of trees. Today, it boasts more than 300 different plant species-some 5,000 trees, shrubs and grasses were planted. The First Nations Garden is set in the very heart of the Jardin botanique de Montréal, between the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, the Pond Garden, the Flowery Brook and the Alpine Garden.

Discovering the culture of the first inhabitants of North America

The First Nations Garden serves as a crossroads of cultures, a place for sharing knowledge, allowing non-Native Quebeckers to discover or rediscover the culture of the first inhabitants of North America, while offering an opportunity for the First Nations to share their traditions, wisdom and know-how. The Jardin botanique and a committee of First Nations representatives specially formed for this project worked closely to come up with a set of guidelines and criteria to be integrated into the project concept and design.

The spokesman

Florent Vollant, an Innu singer-songwriter, readily agreed to act as spokesman for the First Nations Garden, "in a spirit of sharing and respect for differences, and to break down the barriers of ignorance and intolerance between Native and non-Native peoples."

The First Nations Garden avoids stereotypes; it is a contemporary garden, one inspired by Amerindian and Inuit cultures. It highlights not only Native knowledge of plants, but also First Nations activities relating to the plant world, from gathering food and medicinal plants to using wood and trees to make things and build and transport their homes, and growing plants, mainly corn, squash and beans.

These themes are addressed in different ways. There are interpretation panels, interactive terminals, visitor activities, shows, special events, etc. These learning, sharing and communication tools are found in the five zones of the Garden: the hardwood forest, the softwood forest, the Nordic zone, the interpretation pavilion and the gathering areas. In addition, paths, plant interpretation panels and guided tours by Native interpretation staff will help visitors explore and learn from this thematic garden. The pavilion also houses a permanent exhibition including a slide show on contemporary Native lifestyles.

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The First Nations Garden, open since August 3, 2001, presents the close bonds Amerindians and the Inuit have always had with the plant world. It is designed to evoke a natural environment, and is the first infrastructure of its size anywhere in Montréal dedicated to the First Nations of Québec.

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Translation in Progress

We are currently translating our website and resources into both official languages! If you would like something translated into French, please contact us: info@nutrientsforlife.ca

Canadian Foundation

We are a Canadian Foundation. Our American friends should visit Nutrients for Life USA.

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Nutrients for Life: Showing students the role of soil science

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We are currently translating our website and resources into both official languages! If you would like something translated into French, please contact us: info@nutrientsforlife.ca We are a Canadian Foundation. Our American friends should visit Nutrients for Life USA.

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Examples of addressing Environmental Issues using Technology

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Examples of addressing Environmental Issues using Technology

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Microbit and Sustainable Development Goals, and the Environmental Education & Sustainability Institu

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Tree planting support?

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As a community
Apply for a grant →
(includes municipalities, community groups, indigenous communities, BIAs)

About us

We are the leading national tree planting charity in Canada. We're dedicated to improving the lives of Canadians by planting and nurturing trees while teaching about their value.
Read more about us →

Tree Canada by the numbers:

communities restored following disasters

Urban Forest Conferences hosted

Latest news: articles, blogs & news releases

You can make a difference.

Help us grow better places to live

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As a community Apply for a grant → (includes municipalities, community groups, indigenous communities, BIAs) We are the leading national tree planting charity in Canada. We're dedicated to improving the lives of Canadians by planting and nurturing trees while teaching about their value.

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Bénéficiez d'une subvention de la ville de Montréal pour vos plantations sur terrains privés ou institutionnels.

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Why would anyone take their students outside in winter?

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Why would anyone take their students outside in winter?

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I wrote a blog post to explore this question:

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During a pandemic, getting outdoors is a welcome breath of fresh air for many reasons.

Historically, open air schools were created in response to the 1918 pandemic and were designed in line with the traditional classroom model of a teacher in the front at a chalkboard with students sitting in rows. As COVID-19 hit, the story of the Scotland outdoor learning model started trending, where we all found some relief when we were discovering that the safest place to be was outdoors. Scandinavian culture also stood out for their embrace of nature-based learning and forest schools as they have long practiced friluftsliv, a lifestyle where open-air living is built into everyone's daily life. Global campaigns have also gained momentum, like Outdoor Classroom Day which raises awareness of the importance of making "outdoor learning part of every school day". Even in NYC, inner city schools had the mayor's permission to close city streets to allow students more space to be outdoors.

More locally, two Quebec teachers won the Fondation Monique-Fitz-Back award for taking their 5-year-olds out all day to a green space one kilometer from the school. The Quebec government added sous-mesure 50531 to fund for schoolyards' beautification in response to COVID-19. With an outdoor learning program funded by Mesure 15023 École primaire Saint-Félix was able to rebuild their student population after "...school attendance fell by 53% between 1998 and 2012" (Quebecers on the Move Outdoors!, 2018). Funders for greening schoolyards are reporting an uptick in applications.

Outdoor Ed experts from Learning for a Sustainable Future and Toronto EcoSchools, are in demand and are sharing their experiences about being outdoors in all the seasons. Their advice to start taking your class out for the first time in the middle of winter? Plan ahead, start small, and take the easy wins.

Whether building a permanent space, or heading outside for part of the day, Outdoor Classroom Day reports that students display enhanced well-being, mentally and physically over time. In the Suzuki Foundation's Nature as a Classroom guidebook, they advocate for giving children the opportunity to discover nature as the benefits include children becoming less stressed and more focused. Building a connection to nature is also a step towards becoming an environmental advocate as demonstrated by Nordic culture.

The early stages of planning is to get everyone around you on board, from parents, to admin, to your students.

But first, start by talking yourself into it.
Learning to love the outdoors in the midst of winter is a worthwhile challenge that takes some building up to. The first step is to go out on your own, or with a colleague, and to take some time to observe nature at different times during the day within close proximity of the school. Consider spots that may be good for gathering sheltered from the wind. Also seek out spots to visit where changes that occur over time may be noted down, while looking closely at these spaces through a curriculum lens (Learning for a Sustainable Future, 2020).

Keep in mind that, "Being outside reduces stress. I find the kids are happy," as Josée Bédard, the principal at École élémentaire et secondaire publique Rivière Rideau, said. " They are motivated to learn. They bring what they learn outside back to the classroom. And they bring what they learn in the classroom outdoors," she elaborated (Ottawa Citizen, 2020).
To ease the transition for everyone who is new to this idea, stay close to school for short time periods with flexible expectations. Commit to going outside regularly - if not once a day then once a week or month. The more it becomes a routine for everyone, the quicker it will take to get out the door. Bookend the day with outdoor visits while students are still in their outdoor gear. Notify parents to send extra layers to ensure students arrive prepared. Adopt the Nordic saying as the class mantra, There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing (TDSB EcoSchools, 2020).

Coordinate a schedule with the school office and fellow staff to share the space in case other classes are using the yard. With this higher interest in having classes outside, David Hawker-Budlovsky, the Central Coordinating Principal for Toronto Outdoor Education Schools thinks "... it's completely unrealistic to expect every class in every school to be outside all day every day. I think it's completely reasonable to expect that students in each and every class do have outside time every day and not just within recesses," (CBC, 2020).

The Toronto Outdoor Education team has years of experience, and plenty of tips for us. Prepare, plan, and take time to reflect. While indoors, hold open discussions with students about the outdoor routines and protocols. Define together the boundaries and signals for regrouping in the main meeting spot.

Students will still need time to adjust while they enjoy the freedom of the great outdoors, as they associate being able to move freely with gym and recess. That behaviour may linger for the few first visits outside but it is no reason to give up, (TDSB EcoSchools, 2020).

At first, walks together could help students practice mindfulness. Listen to the sounds. Develop observation skills when looking at shapes and shadows or trees and birds. Reflect on the temperature and how that changes the qualities of the snow. Look for hoarfrost, clouds, or animal tracks. Ask reflective questions. Encourage curiosity and exploration. Teach respect for nature.
Once the class is acclimated, focus can turn to learning activities. In winter, you want to keep kids moving to stay warm. Within your schoolyard, there can be efforts to attract birds, by creating bird feeders, which leads to bird identification and Winter bird count. Learn how to identify tree types. Create nature-based scavenger hunts, with laminated cards. Blow bubbles in the freezing weather, to see what happens.
Close the adventure, with time for students to reflect, with the group, each time. Trust your students, to become outdoor learners.
Providing students with outdoor learning experiences does not require a teacher to be an outdoor expert, rather you can be a "guide on the side". Overtime, students will learn to work outside (Learning for a Sustainable Future, 2020) (TDSB EcoSchools, 2020) .

You would be surprised how much nature can be explored even within your schoolyard. Students can become outdoor learners, even in the middle of winter, with some guidance towards focused observation and intentional inquiry.

Events
Outdoor Education + Online Learning for K-Cycle 1
LEARN welcomes Debbie Myles and Annie Renaud of the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) for an online session to share the importance of outdoor education and online teaching strategies that support our youngest learners as they share their experiences and answer your questions.
January 26
4 - 5 PM
Register here
LEARN to Action: Environmental and Sustainability Education Institute
Join LEARN and our McGill partners to learn alongside educators, community development agents (CDAs), and community partners who want to empower our youth to learn and take action for global sustainability and the environment.
Feb 25th and Feb 26th
1 PM - 4 PM
Register here

Resources

Bird Songs, interactive illustration: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Count birds in your Schoolyard/Backyard and submit your findings to Birds Canada or https://feederwatch.org/

Observe the natural world and submit findings to iNaturalist

Funding

Apply to Bird Protection Quebec with an environmental education project - Deadline January 31, 2021

Review LEARN's Healthy choices and Greening spaces grants
References
Back to Nature Network. (2013.) Stepping into nature: teacher stories volume 1. http://www.back2nature.ca/resources-research/.

Bernier, J. (2020, June 08). COVID-19: l'école dans la forêt pour ces élèves du préscolaire. Journal de Québec. https://www.journaldequebec.com/2020/06/08/lecole-en-plein-air-pendant-la-crise.

Bridge, S. & Common, D. (2020, September 07). The future of school may be outdoors, even after the pandemic. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/pandemic-education-school-outdoors-1.5535039.

Brooks, L. (2020, May 10). Scotland eyes outdoor learning as model for reopening of schools. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/10/scotland-eyes-outdoor-learning-as-model-for-reopening-of-schools.

Couillard, A. (2020, November 24). Deux profs hors pair reconnues. L'Actuel. https://www.quebechebdo.com/local/lactuel/238209/deux-profs-hors-pair-reconnues/.

David Suzuki Foundation. Nature as a classroom guide. (2015, April). https://davidsuzuki.org/take-action/act-locally/connecting-youth-with-nature/.

Gouvernement du Québec. (2020). Sources potentielles definancement- Aménager la cour, un travail d'équipe!. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/references/tx-solrtyperecherchepublicationtx-solrpublicationnouveaute/resultats-de-la-recherche/detail/article/guide-pour-la-realisation-dun-projet-damenagement-dune-cour-decole-primaire/.

Gouvernement du Québec. Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur. (2018). Quebecers on the Move Outdoors! Brief on Outdoor Activity. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/loisir-sport/Avis_plein_air_VA.pdf.

Laucius, J. (2020, October 27). Two local schools started taking class outside five years ago. Here's what they learned. Ottawa Citizen. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/two-local-schools-started-taking-class-outside-five-years-ago-heres-what-they-learned.

Learning for a Sustainable Future: Staying Outside: Tips for Cold Weather Learning (K-6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJkR62tffNQ

Leone, U. (2016, December 12). Soap Bubble. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/users/ulleo-1834854/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1893368.

Radio-Canada. (2012, July 04). Saint-Félix-d'Otis : une école axée sur le plein air, la nature et le développement durable. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/568660/saint-felix-projet-plein-air.

Savage, M. (2017). Friluftsliv: The Nordic concept of getting outdoors. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20171211-friluftsliv-the-nordic-concept-of-getting-outdoors.

TDSB EcoSchools. (2020, December 08). Taking k 12 learning outdoors in winter. https://youtu.be/2kfpOrvZ_MA.

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During a pandemic, getting outdoors is a welcome breath of fresh air for many reasons. Historically, open air schools were created in response to the 1918 pandemic and were designed in line with the traditional classroom model of a teacher in the front at a chalkboard with students sitting in rows.

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Planting our vegetables and fines herbs with my grade 2 students on a sunny and hot morning ( June 2020)

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Michelle ( CLC coordinator ) and I dreamed about and .... finally
created a community garden last year. I miss working with Michelle. (St-Patrick Elementary, CQSB) April 2019

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CRLT Students take action to help College Teachers understand Sustainable Happiness and bring it into their classrooms.

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Four final-year students in the Community, Recreation and Leadership Training (CRLT) Program presented a workshop to teachers at Ped Days Jan. 20 with the goal of bringing Sustainable Happiness into the virtual classrooms of Dawson College. It was the first time that students have been presenters at the annual professional development event for Dawson teachers.

The idea of students sharing Sustainable Happiness concepts with teachers originated with Myka Taylor, a teacher in the CRLT Program. In 2014, Myka was one of the first people to take the Sustainable Happiness (SH) Course and last year, she became one of the first Certified Sustainable Happiness Facilitators through a series of certificates offered by Dawson's Sustainability Office.

Sustainable Happiness part of CRLT course

"Last semester, I decided to offer sustainability and SH as an option of choice in a CRLT third-year Public Relations Course," Myka said. "The students excelled in their workshops and created an awareness of why SH is important, not only in the classroom but in our personal lives as well. Some Dawson employees in Human Resources attended the event, and they thought it would be a great workshop for faculty."

In the CRLT course, Jennifer de Vera of the Sustainability Office and Myka shared many resources about how Nature and happiness are intertwined. They explained that "to achieve a positive feeling that sustains, we must first acknowledge the importance of Nature as our mentor and how well-being for all means well-being for ourselves," said Matteo Zappone, one of the students.

Well-being a challenge for everyone

Well-being is a challenge for many people as we live through the pandemic. "Being online is difficult," said student Ethan Belley. "Creating an online environment that engages is easier said than done."

Fellow student Anissah Vanhorn said that she hoped faculty members would "take the learning and apply it in your teaching environment."

The four students covered what Sustainable Happiness means and gave lots of practical tips to incorporate it into our daily lives and into the classroom, whether it is virtual or in person.
Anissah said that sustainable happiness is "purposeful happiness" and that "we already have it when we talk about gratitude."

Happiness comes when you know life is good

Matteo said: "that happiness is that feeling that comes over you when you know that life is good. You can't help but smile when a baby laughs, when you see an animal or smell fresh baked desserts."

Another student, Noémie Gravel, said that "sharing happiness spreads happiness" and she warned about focusing on "the goods life," which is focused on consuming and promoted by advertising, instead of "the good life," which is focused on true happiness.

Another way of putting it is that Sustainable Happiness consists of well-being for yourself, well-being for others and well-being for the environment.

Students offered tips to bring Sustainable Happiness into our lives, classrooms, families and workplaces:

Beginning a meeting or conversation with good news or sharing a reason to be grateful

Making plants part of your environment for a calming effect

Using natural light

Thinking about things that make us happy

Sharing with others and doing good deeds

Doing meditation or taking time for the spiritual life

Watching a time lapse video of a blooming flower

Exercising to give yourself energy for the day

Reconnecting with Nature as often as we can

Moving our activities outside when we can (like teaching outdoors)

Taking time for play

Keeping a gratitude journal

An SH mindset can help teachers and students

Teacher Myka believes "Sustainable Happiness can be the perfect new mindset to help students, educators or anyone interested. We need to see the importance and power of incorporating themes such as sustainability, wellbeing, and innovations in our classroom, to help mold more sustainable, healthy, and creative individuals."

Student Matteo says that teachers can use Sustainable Happiness to help students make it through this period: "If this concept spreads, like I think it could, it could make a major impact in people's lives. For students online, it can offer a new perspective on the pandemic and a chance for growth, self-reflection, and gratitude. This, in my opinion, is lacking and needs to be reinforced as much as possible from educators in our classrooms.

"Teachers are my source of hope because they are the ones who can choose to use positive rhetoric in their classrooms and repeat that message of conserving happiness and not letting it drift away from one moment to the next. Using their skills in public speaking and persuasion, I believe it is with their help that we can turn Sustainable Happiness into the new norm and a staple in our everyday classrooms."

Anissah Vanhorn : 3rd year, Community, Recreation and Leadership Training

Matteo Zappone : 3rd year, Community, Recreation and Leadership Training

Noémie Gravel : 3rd year, Community, Recreation and Leadership Training

Ethan Belley : 3rd year, Community, Recreation and Leadership Training

What did the students get out of Sustainable Happiness?

Matteo: "The fundamental quote that I'm neither worse nor better than anyone else has allowed me to respect and appreciate everyone and everything around me. I'm able to feel more compassion for others and with that I can be kinder to myself. As a student, being patient and continuing to see the glass half full has allowed me to stay motivated and resilient during a time like this."

Noémie : "I have adopted sustainable happiness by taking the time to do sports, enjoying Nature as much as possible, taking the time to take care of others and thinking of what I consume daily to limit my harm to the environment."

Ethan: "I've started thinking of things differently. When in a difficult situation, rather than complaining, I think of it as a lesson for me to grow individually. I've decided to spend at least a few minutes outdoors to breathe in fresh air and to meditate on the things I'm thankful for."

Anissah: "Personally, I have been practicing Sustainable Happiness through taking care of myself and the environment. As a student, I ensure that I am creating space in my agenda to care for myself. Giving myself time to prep meals, go grocery shopping, to fix my bike, ensure that I am not ordering take out or taking an Uber because I didn't plan my time right."

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Student-led workshop on Sustainable Happiness a first at Ped Days | Newsroom

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Four final-year students in the Community, Recreation and Leadership Training (CRLT) Program presented a workshop to teachers at Ped Days Jan. 20 with the goal of bringing Sustainable Happiness into the virtual classrooms of Dawson College. It was the first time that students have been presenters at the annual professional development event for Dawson teachers.

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Unique au Québec, École-O-Champ est le seul organisme à but non lucratif qui offre des services spécialisés en éducation agricole dans les deux langues, et dont le curriculum relève directement des sciences agroenvironnementales !

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Math in an outdoor education setting

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Frame vector created by vectorpouch - www.freepik.com Inspired by Fantastic Ideas for Math Outdoors by Kristen Beeley

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Outdoor Education for our Youngest Learners - Webinar

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Outdoor Education for our Youngest Learners - Webinar

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Educators' Toolbox - LEARN Webinars and Live Streams

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Recorded Webinars and Live Streams Recorded sessions and discussions for various subjects across the curriculum.

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Teacher notes - How-to...

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From Low Tech to High Tech: Solving today's most pressing environmental issues in schools

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From Low Tech to High Tech: Solving today's most pressing environmental issues in schools

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our presentation

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Program our micro:bits here...

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A Blocks / JavaScript code editor for the micro:bit powered by Microsoft MakeCode.

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Micro:bit SDG projects and contest

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micro:bit & the Global Goals

do your :bit brings together the micro:bit and the UN's Global Goals to provide inspiring activities for your classroom or club and an exciting digital challenge for you to run.

Resources for your classrooms and code clubs

Use the resources on this page to introduce the Global Goals, have fun with the micro:bit and develop world-changing ideas and solutions using technology.

The do your :bit challenge is changing

From January 2023 anyone who wants to run do your :bit in their school or club can do so with the support of our online resources. To ensure as many young people as possible can get involved and inspired, do your :bit is no longer run as a global competition by the Micro:bit Educational Foundation.

If you are running a do your :bit challenge for your students, we'd love to hear about it. Email us on info@microbit.org and tell us about your plans, or share your creations on social media using #doyourbitwithmicrobit.

Run your own do your :bit challenge

do your :bit challenge pack

To help you run the challenge, we've put together a pack of materials to help you celebrate your students' success, each step of the way.

Download certificates, posters, bunting, sticker sheets and our logo to run your own do your :bit challenge. The download bundle also includes guidelines for use of the do your :bit logo.

Global Goals guides

The UN's Global Goals or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a call for action by all countries to promote prosperity for everyone while protecting the planet. Use our guides to introduce the Goals to students and young people.

micro:bit projects

Quick projects in MakeCode to help you explore the Global Goals with the micro:bit!

Lessons

Use our Lessons to run prototyping activities linked to the Global Goals.

Only available in English language.

Inspiration

You can get inspired in your own classroom by exploring the creative solutions designed by previous participants in the do your :bit challenge.

do your :bit is no longer run as a global competition by the Micro:bit Educational Foundation but you can use our resources to run your own local version and ensure as many young people as possible can get involved.

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do your :bit activities for your classroom

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do your :bit brings together the micro:bit and the UN's Global Goals to provide inspiring activities for your classroom or club.

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Mapping

We strive to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages across the world in a way that goes beyond colonial ways of thinking in order to better represent how Indigenous people want to see themselves.

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Native Land is a resource to learn more about Indigenous territories, languages, lands, and ways of life. We welcome you to our site.

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A short video on what we get up to at the Gardens on Vanier campus

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Pedagogical Opportunities at the Gardens, October 2020

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St Lawrence_Sustainability Committee_LEARN to Action - Feb 2021

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Links to citizen data projects all over the globe!

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The Zooniverse is the world's largest and most popular platform for people-powered research.

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Phenology, plants, climate change and data analysis.

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join as a Birds Canada member or renew your membership. Your donation of any amount makes you a member and your membership is valid for the rest of that year. If you give $50 or more, you will also receive our exclusive BirdWatch Canada magazine.

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iNaturalist is a social network for naturalists! Record your observations of plants and animals, share them with friends and researchers, and learn about the natural world.

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Birds are everywhere, all the time, doing fascinating things!Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count for four days in February to watch, learn about, count, and celebrate birds. People from around the world spend these four days in their favorite places, connecting to the birds around their homes and in their community. Whether you see one bird or hundreds over the weekend, we want to share in your joy of watching birds and connecting to nature. Count the birds you see for as little as 15 minutes on one of the four days. Then, submit your bird list to be part of a global movement to better understand how bird populations are doing. Your participation matters. Il est important que vous participiez! Tu participación importa. Your participation connects you to the beauty that lives around you while helping scientists better monitor and protect birds around the world. Work with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. We look forward to spending this fun, special event with you. Join us! Únete a nosotros! Soyez des nôtres!

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Birds are everywhere, all the time, doing fascinating things!Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count for four days in February to watch, learn about, count, and celebrate birds. People from around the world spend these four days in their favorite places, connecting to the birds around their homes and in their community.

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Water Rangers is a non-profit organization aiming to make water science easy to understand so that ALL Canadians can participate in the protection of water. We deepen our impact by [...]

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Water Rangers - Empower anyone to learn about, test and act to protect our waterways through citizen science

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Water Rangers is a non-profit organization aiming to make water science easy to understand so that ALL Canadians can participate in the protection of water. We deepen our impact by [...]

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Micro:bit, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Environmental Education & Sustainability Institute

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Micro:bit, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Environmental Education & Sustainability Institute

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Feb 22, 2021

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Microbit and global goals

Micro:bit, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Environmental Education & Sustainability Institute 3 Transcript

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the microbe. It is a small, low cost, self contained computer designed to execute one task. It's powered by two triple A batteries, which last a long time since the microbe. It is very energy efficient. It's also resilient to bumps, falls and outdoor temperatures. Let's just look at what is contained on the microbe. It 25 leads on the face could be used for various displays, similar to a scrolling marquee and retail stores and airports. Two buttons for initiating various functions. USB connector but also radio and Bluetooth antenna for wireless communication. A compass, a thermometer, emotion sensor. It can even detect light and dark. Where have you seen microcontrollers? Everywhere they stop a grass door when a pet walks past the motion sensor, open doors when a button is pressed. Activated touchless faucets. They had water to the automatic ice maker in your freezer. Turn on a light to indicate the oven surfaces hot and they beep to notify. The time is up in the microwave. Connecting coding. With the real world, the United Nations has 17 sustainable development goals, with a target to achieve by 2030 microbe. It has integrated Do your bit, which pairs learning to code with the U. N. Global Goals Given options student followed personal interest related to the goals, which led to greater engagement. Partnership between micro bit organ and the U. N. Global goals is Do your bit initiative. We use the projects as a starting point to help learners see the possibilities of using technology to positively impact the world. Thes starter activities enable learners to get comfortable with the coding environment by reproducing programs already provided for them. We next use the lessons from the do your bit initiative. Our teacher role and scaffolding gradually moved from leading the sessions toe having the learners gain complete autonomy. In the final weeks, we met with students only to provide feedback and troubleshoot snags they had encountered during their venture. In many cases, the solutions came from Pierce, not from the teacher. Here are a few examples This project to promote sustainable agriculture is a heat alarm to notify of overheating plants. In a raised bed vegetable garden with a greenhouse like plexiglass cover yellow indicates that an intervention will soon be needed. Red means I open the panel toe. Let the heat escape. Green means I can close the panel. This project is also to promote sustainable agriculture. It's a soil moisture sensor which displays when a plant needs water. The display uses the words, add more water and will display stop when enough water is headed to the soil. This particular student even designed the prototype of an automatic watering system, using a small motor, a straw and a bowl of water. This project promotes good health and well being. The user can wear the devices an armband during daily activity if measures body temperature and indicates overheating by a red led lighting up. The display also indicates to drink water at appropriate times. This is the make code microbe it or interface with simple, colorful blocks. It even has a simulator shown on the left. We've used the microbe it as early as Great three Elementary, the microbe. It could be an engaging, in fun way to make connections to the real world and two important global issues

Presentations

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PechaKucha: Micro:bit, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Environmental Education & Sustainability Institute 3

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Feb 22, 2021 0 Microbit and global goals Expand to view full transcript the microbe. It is a small, low cost, self contained computer designed to execute one task. It's powered by two triple A batteries, which last a long time since the microbe. It is very energy efficient.

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Welcome to the 10th anniversary edition of the Classroom Energy Diet Challenge, the only energy literacy competition in Canada where students in grades K-12 compete for more than 100 prizes worth a total $45,000! Students in homes and classrooms across Canada can improve their energy awareness and energy literacy by completing energy-related challenges and competing for prizes.

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Check out the 3D(?) sketch of JAM's planned outdoor education and garden space. They are looking for suggestions to increase staff buy-in.

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Heritage Regional High School  - Garden and Greenhouse

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Cedar Street Students (RSB) using saved seeds.

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Definitions of Environment, sustainability in the education context

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Definitions of Environment, sustainability in the education context

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Environmental Education:

Learning that "encourages a sense of personal responsibility for the environment; fosters a commitment to sustainable living, and promotes an enduring dedication to environmental stewardship."

- Green Street

"Environmental education is education about the environment, for the environment, and in the environment that promotes an understanding of, rich and active experience in, and an appreciation for the dynamic interactions of:
* the Earth's physical and biological systems;
* the dependency of our social and economic systems on these natural systems;
* the scientific and human dimensions of environmental issues;
* the positive and negative consequences, both intended and unintended of the interactions between human created and natural systems."

- Ministry of Education
"Shaping Our Schools, Shaping Our Future", 2007, p. 6

Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE):

"Environmental and sustainability education (E&SE) is about healthy relationships between humans and the Earth's living systems. It includes the many and varied forms of education that help us appreciate and maintain the integrity of the biosphere....the transmission, growth and application of environmental knowledge across all sectors of society."

-Environmental Education Ontario (EEON)

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD):

"The role of education for sustainable development (ESD) is to help people develop the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to make informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, now and for the future, and to act upon those decisions. ESD is an approach to teaching and learning based on the ideals and principles that underlie sustainability - human rights, poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods, peace, environmental protection, democracy, health, biological and landscape diversity, climate change, gender equality, and protection of indigenous cultures. In these and many other dimensions, education for sustainable development is analogous with the vision and goals of UNESCO."

"Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) encourages us to explore the profound interdependencies of ecological, societal, and economic systems. ESD is about respecting and preserving our histories, valuing culture and community, caring for others and the environment, and taking action to create a fair, healthy, and safe world for all beings. ESD also supports flexibility, creativity, critical reflection, and fosters a sense of personal responsibility for the economy, society, and environment."

- Learning for a Sustainable Future

Ecojustice Education

Ecojustice education "is connected with the need to reduce the impact of the industrial/consumer dependent culture on everyday life while at the same time ensuring that people are not impoverished and limited in terms of equal opportunity; the five aspects of ecojustice...include (1) eliminiating the causes of eco-racism, (2) ending the North's exploitation and cultural colonization of the South (Third World cultures); (3) revitalizing the commons in order to achieve a healthier balance between market and non-market aspects of community life, (4) ensuring that the prospects of future generations are not diminished by the hubris and ideology that drives the globalization of the West's industrial culture, (5) reducing the threat to what Vandana Shiva refers to as 'earth democracy' - the right of natural systems to reproduce themselves rather than to have their existence contingent upon thedemands of humans."

- Ecojustice Education website

Sustainability Education:

"The goal of sustainability education is to develop...new knowledge and new ways of thinking needed to achieve economic prosperity, participate democratically, secure justice and equity, and all the while regenerate the health of the ecosystems, the gift upon which all life and all production depend."

-Madeson, Frances. (2009). Spotlight On: The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

Place-based Education:

"Place-based education (PBE) immerses students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences, using these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum. PBE emphasizes learning through participation in service projects for the local school and/or community."

-Promise of Place

"Place-based education takes us back to basics, but in a broader and more inclusive fashion. Desirable environmental education, or what we're calling place-based education, teaches about both the natural and built environments. The history, folk culture, social problems, economics, and aesthetics of the community and its environment are all on the agenda... one of the core objectives is to look at how landscape, community infrastructure, watersheds, and cultural traditions all interact and shape each other."

Sobel, David. (2004). Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities. Massacheusetts: The Orion Society.

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ESE :: Definitions :: Environmental and Sustainability Education

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Learning that "encourages a sense of personal responsibility for the environment; fosters a commitment to sustainable living, and promotes an enduring dedication to environmental stewardship."

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BIODIVERSITY-RELATED EDUCATION RESOURCES & LESSONS 

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BIODIVERSITY-RELATED EDUCATION RESOURCES & LESSONS 

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database from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)

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Lessons to teach about birds and the environment that surrounds them

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Lessons to teach about birds and the environment that surrounds them

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Le Nichoir

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Try one of our programs and teach your class or group more about birds and the environment that surrounds them.

All of our programs are interactive and hands-on to create a memorable experience for children.

Programs can be given at Le Nichoir's conservation centre in Hudson or at your location.

Programs at Le Nichoir include a visit to our bird care facility.

We also offer an optional add on activity in the Clarke Sydenham Nature Reserve adjacent to Le Nichoir to allow children to explore and connect further with nature.

See Charity and Non-Profit Pricing

Bird Adaptations: Custom-made for Habitat

Age: 6-14 years old
Grade: 1 to 7
Maximum group size: 30 participants

Discover why birds have different beaks, feet and wings. Is it because of their food? Because of where they live? And why is habitat so important to birds? This interactive program teaches children about bird's adaptations using prepared specimens and tools they can manipulate. Preparatory and review activities are available.
For more information Video of the program
The development of this program was supported by:

This program is sponsored by:

Age: 8-14 years old
Grade: 3 to 7
Maximum group size: 30 participants

How does a rehabilitation centre work? Why do wild birds become injured? This program encourages children to use their imagination by becoming detectives in order to answer these questions and solve real cases from Le Nichoir's patients.

Multiple case studies will be provided to the children including the use of x-rays and specimens such as prepared wings and feet.

Preparatory and review activities are available.
For more information
What is a bird?

Age: 4-5 years old
Grade: Pre-K and K
Maximum group size: 20 participants

The program What is a Bird? is an initiation into the fascinating world of birds for children 4 and 5 years old.

Using puppet stories, games and creative activities, the program is designed to introduce the children to what makes birds so unique and different from other animals.

Optional activity ideas and material are available to prepare the group in advance or for follow-up activities.
For more information

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Try one of our programs and teach your class or group more about birds and the environment that surrounds them. All of our programs are interactive and hands-on to create a memorable experience for children. Programs can be given at Le Nichoir's conservation centre in Hudson or at your location.

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Play It Fair! is an easy to use educational Toolkit developed by Equitas to promote human rights, non-discrimination and peaceful conflict resolution within non-formal education programs for children, such as summer camps or after school activities.

A resource of activities. More than 60 games to promote human rights values such as cooperation, respect for diversity, fairness, inclusion, respect, responsibility and acceptance with children aged 6-12 years and youth working with them.

A prevention tool. To promote positive values and encourage the development of an environment that fosters inclusion, respect and cooperation.

An intervention tool. To provide constructive responses to conflict and to support staff to address challenging situations related to bullying, cliques, exclusion etc.

Copyright Statement
This publication may be reproduced by any organization for use in human rights education activities, provided the source is acknowledged and Equitas - International Center for Human Rights Education is notified of such use.

No part of this publication may be adapted, distributed in any other form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the authorization of Equitas. Commercial reproduction and use are prohibited.

Copyright © 2008 Equitas - International Centre for Human Rights Education
ISBN - 13 978-2-921337-94-6
Legal Deposit - Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2008

All content is the intellectual property of Equitas unless otherwise noted herein.

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Play It Fair! is an easy to use educational Toolkit developed by Equitas to promote human rights, non-discrimination and peaceful conflict resolution within non-formal education programs for children, such as summer camps or after school activities. A resource of activities.

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Empowering students to improve the world in sixty lessons

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Empowering students to improve the world in sixty lessons

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Fernando Reimers

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Justice climatique Montréal poursuit comme groupe la justice environnementale et climatique par l'éducation, la mobilisation, et l'action collective en solidarité avec les communautés directement touchées.

Nous participons dans plusieures luttes intersectionnelles.

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Justice climatique Montréal poursuit comme groupe la justice environnementale et climatique par l'éducation, la mobilisation, et l'action collective en solidarité avec les communautés directement touchées. Nous participons dans plusieures luttes intersectionnelles.

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Going Green at Valcartier Elementary School

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Going Green at Valcartier Elementary School

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Going Green at Valcartier Elementary School

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COVID-19 has put a spotlight on education like never before. With over a billion students facing some kind of disruption to their learning, the virus has exposed the depths of pre-existing educational inequalities as well as sparking growing calls for a re-imagination of our education systems.
At World's Largest Lesson we have always believed in the power of education and its ability to transform lives and equip children with the skills and values to tackle global challenges. Education systems should benefit children everywhere, providing them with the opportunity for real-life learning and the prioritisation of collective wellbeing.

That is why the World's Largest Lesson is calling for climate and environmental education to be implemented in national curriculums around the world. Not only is there a dire need for it and for the transformation to a green economy and jobs, but we also know it is what teachers and crucially, students want.

Research by EARTHDAY.ORG shows that even in the countries where climate and environmental education is included in curriculums, it is often lacking in implementation and too focused on the understanding of the cognitive science aspects rather than taking a holistic view at the emotional, social and economic pillars of climate and environmental education.

Although recent news from New Zealand, Italy and the US state of New Jersey is encouraging, the need to ensure consistent and broad implementation across nations is acute.

OUR SOLUTION

In 2021 World's Largest Lesson will launch a child-led campaign, facilitating students in their call for universal climate and environmental education. We will create a fun and interactive toolkit, leading children through activities that culminate in producing a written call to action for climate and environmental education that they can share with decision makers. It will be a creative literacy and civic activity that can work in any learning setting.

In launching this campaign, we hope every child, everywhere will have the opportunity to have climate and environmental education which seeks to:

Be inclusive and interconnected - An education that looks at the economic, social as well as environmental issues of the climate and ecological crisis, looking at and drawing upon the knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples and the need for nature-based solutions.

Action focused - provide students with the opportunity to implement their learning through inquiry and project-based learning that they can replicate in the real world.

Connect students to nature - helping them foster a sense of wonder in the natural world and build a positive relationship with it, for we cannot ask students to protect something they have no positive experience of.

OUR AMBITION

In order to achieve the targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement and the Global Goals by 2030, we have to see education as the key to accelerating progress and action. By giving children and young people the opportunity, skills and values to be a climate and environmentally literate generation, we increase our chances of success.

We will work with educators, climate campaigners and most importantly children themselves. Our shared aim will be that when the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) finally happens, in November 2021, world leaders stand up and tell us how they will meet their commitments to provide climate education. If you can support this work, we'd love to hear from you.
World's Largest Lesson will be launching their Climate and Environmental Educational Advocacy ask in early 2021. For more information and if you would like to be involved please email: kinvara@project-everyone.org

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Why we're advocating for climate education

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COVID-19 has put a spotlight on education like never before. With over a billion students facing some kind of disruption to their learning, the virus has exposed the depths of pre-existing educational inequalities as well as sparking growing calls for a re-imagination of our education systems.

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micro:bit & the Global Goals

do your :bit brings together the micro:bit and the UN's Global Goals to provide inspiring activities for your classroom or club and an exciting digital challenge for you to run.

Resources for your classrooms and code clubs

Use the resources on this page to introduce the Global Goals, have fun with the micro:bit and develop world-changing ideas and solutions using technology.

The do your :bit challenge is changing

From January 2023 anyone who wants to run do your :bit in their school or club can do so with the support of our online resources. To ensure as many young people as possible can get involved and inspired, do your :bit is no longer run as a global competition by the Micro:bit Educational Foundation.

If you are running a do your :bit challenge for your students, we'd love to hear about it. Email us on info@microbit.org and tell us about your plans, or share your creations on social media using #doyourbitwithmicrobit.

Run your own do your :bit challenge

do your :bit challenge pack

To help you run the challenge, we've put together a pack of materials to help you celebrate your students' success, each step of the way.

Download certificates, posters, bunting, sticker sheets and our logo to run your own do your :bit challenge. The download bundle also includes guidelines for use of the do your :bit logo.

Global Goals guides

The UN's Global Goals or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a call for action by all countries to promote prosperity for everyone while protecting the planet. Use our guides to introduce the Goals to students and young people.

micro:bit projects

Quick projects in MakeCode to help you explore the Global Goals with the micro:bit!

Lessons

Use our Lessons to run prototyping activities linked to the Global Goals.

Only available in English language.

Inspiration

You can get inspired in your own classroom by exploring the creative solutions designed by previous participants in the do your :bit challenge.

do your :bit is no longer run as a global competition by the Micro:bit Educational Foundation but you can use our resources to run your own local version and ensure as many young people as possible can get involved.

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do your :bit activities for your classroom

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do your :bit brings together the micro:bit and the UN's Global Goals to provide inspiring activities for your classroom or club.

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Designing for the Circular Economy | The World’s Largest Lesson

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Google Slides presentation for Design Thinking Project

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Circular Economy Project

In this project, students will follow the process of Design Thinking to reuse an object. It is around 10 hours in total, split into 10 separate activities.

Students will:

Identify the characteristics of the Circular Economy

Answer the design question "How can I reuse an object in a different way for the well-being of the people in my community?"

Present their design project at a school fair or virtually

Understand why designing for the circular economy is a positive climate action

If you are teaching virtually, a digital workbook is included in this guide for students to work from. Alongside this guide, you can use the Designing for the Circular Economy presentation below.

Protecting Planet Earth

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Designing for Climate Action | The World's Largest Lesson

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In this project, students will follow the process of Design Thinking to reuse an object. It is around 10 hours in total, split into 10 separate activities. Students will: Identify the characteristics of the Circular Economy Answer the design question "How can I reuse an object in a different way for the well-being of the people in my community?"

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Educating with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

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Educating with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

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On a global scale, we're faced with complex societal and environmental challenges such as climate change, poverty, inequality and environmental degradation that we must address in order to achieve a more sustainable future for all. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay out 17 action areas aimed at sustaining life (both human and non-human), ending poverty, and achieving social justice. These are the building blocks of global well-being. For educators, the SDGs have enormous educational importance and potential. They offer cross-curricular relevancy and invaluable learning opportunities for students to discover their crucial role in solving local, regional, and global problems, starting in their own community. Simultaneously, education ministries, school districts and school communities will discover that engaging with the SDGs can support students in the important goal of acquiring the six pan-Canadian Global Competencies identified by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), to equip them to thrive in and shape their world.

In this issue, we explore how educators can engage students to become active global citizens and authentically address global issues in empowering and hopeful ways.

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On a global scale, we're faced with complex societal and environmental challenges such as climate change, poverty, inequality and environmental degradation that we must address in order to achieve a more sustainable future for all. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay out 17 action areas aimed at sustaining life (both human and non-human), ending poverty, and achieving social justice.

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Why are we here together?