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Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

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How is Paper Made? - Lesson for Kids - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Paper can come from different materials, but it generally comes from trees. Learn how paper is made from trees and explore the importance of…

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HOW TO EASILY MAKE RECYCLED PAPER WITH PRESCHOOLERS

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Recycling Paper at Preschool - A hands-on look at how paper is made. Perfect way for preschoolers to see (and feel) how paper is recycled into new paper | you clever monkey

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https://keepaustinbeautiful.org/activity-kits/

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We are excited to announce that our Activity Kits are back! We currently have five Generation Zero Waste Activity Kits available - including 3 new ones.

The kits include lesson plans and materials to facilitate the activity with approximately 30 youth. If you know you will be replicating the activity for several groups, let us know at confirmation and we can ensure you have enough materials.

These kits are great to add to lessons, use with substitutes when you have planned days off, and work well with non-traditional learning or youth groups.

To request a Generation Zero Waste Activity Kit, simply scroll down to the Calendly calendar at the bottom of this page, select the Activity Kit of your choice, and fill out your preferred pickup date and time. We'll be in touch to confirm your reservation and pickup time.

Once confirmed, our educators will coordinate a time to pick up the Activity Kits from the Keep Austin Beautiful office. After your event, please return the Activity Kits, fill out our Report Form, and send your photos to education@keepaustinbeautiful.org to share your success.

Recycle Relay- Practice sorting trash and discover what makes up our waste-stream with this recycling relay game.

Compost Critters- Explore the science of composting and vermicomposting.

What's in the hole? - Landfill science for elementary age kids. Compare and contrast characteristics of waste, what's in our trash, and how trash is processed in a landfill while building mini landfill models.

Landfill Logic (middle/high school) - Compare and contrast characteristics of waste, what's in our trash, and how trash is processed in a landfill while building mini landfill models.

Waste Audit Kit (middle/high school) - Perform an audit of a locations waste/recycling to learn more about the different types of waste that are generated. This can be community center, home, or school. Students will audit several bags of waste, record and graph the results, learn how to recycle correctly, and formulate a plan to do a service project concerning waste at a nearby location.

**Kits are cleaned or quarantined following CDC guidelines based on materials.

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We are excited to announce that our Activity Kits are back! We currently have five Generation Zero Waste Activity Kits available - including 3 new ones. The kits include lesson plans and materials to facilitate the activity with approximately 30 youth.

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https://keepaustinbeautiful.org/youth-education-virtual-registration/

We can request for them to present.

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Youth Education Registration - Keep Austin Beautiful

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Educators spoke, we at PLT listened. And asked lots of questions, took lots of notes, and really did our homework to create our new K-8 guide, Explore Your Environment. It's fresh, it's user-friendly, and it works indoors and outdoors, in classrooms and nonformal settings.

As director of curriculum for PLT at the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), I am excited to tell you about our resource development journey. It recognized that trends in education - and society at large - required a major revision of our flagship resource to become the field-tested, cutting-edge guide that we are launching this April in conjunction with celebrating Earth Month and Earth Day!

I'm pleased to highlight what the guide offers you as a teacher, curriculum developer, museum or nature-center volunteer, scout leader, career counselor, natural resource professional, or other educator.

The Guide at a Glance

Explore Your Environment features 50 activities divided into three grade bands-K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Most activities also offer grade-appropriate variations to modify the lesson for older or younger students. The activity names themselves pique curiosity: Birds and Bugs, Web of Life, Forest in the City, and more. Some are new, others were revised from earlier iterations to meet the needs of educators and students today. Each activity includes:

Take it outside!: A way to do all or part of the activity outdoors, whether you have an outdoor classroom nearby, a few plantings on a city street, or anything in between

Differentiated Instruction: Eight tested strategies to adapt the activity for different learners with differing abilities

Did You Know? Forest Fact : A brief, big-picture insight about how forests contribute to environmental, economic, and social sustainability

Career Corner: Inspiration from the earliest grades on up about career opportunities adjacent to concepts covered in the activity, many of which are "green jobs"

Academic Standards Connections :
Colorful charts detail how each activity meets at least one (and usually more) sets of content benchmarks in science, English/language arts, mathematics, and social studies

Each activity also includes the practicalities instructors need-such as safety tips, time/materials required, student pages, assessment opportunities, and enrichment extensions.

The Development Process Defined

Many people have asked about our process to develop materials that enhance environmental literacy but also apply across the disciplines of curriculum development. To say that it takes a village is an understatement! The page of Explore Your Environment that acknowledges those involved lists more than 100 content experts, practitioner reviewers, pilot testers, and PLT partner-leaders. The text also thanks our 80+ PLT State Coordinators, PLT Education Operating Committee Members, SFI Implementation Committees, and SFI Board Members for their continuous and ongoing support.

As with all PLT materials over the past 45 years, we designed a process that drew on best practices in curriculum design and development. This rests on six essential steps:

Of course, a lot of consultation and thought lies embedded in each of them! In addition to accuracy and rigor related to content, we spent a lot of time with educators to improve the organization and layout of the guide. New icons and graphics not only make Explore Your Environment look contemporary and visually appealing, but also they make the guide easy and efficient to use. We consulted closely with accessibility and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) experts to ensure that the materials serve diverse students and diverse educators.

What's Next?

One of PLT's hallmarks is our hands-on professional development offerings. You can purchase a print guide or e-book directly from PLT's Shop now, and you can also find out about professional development workshops offered around the country through PLT's network. Workshops provide participants with tips and tricks to use our materials, build excitement, and strengthen networks within and among school districts, conservation groups, or other communities of practice. In the coming months, expect to hear about training opportunities in your state that will use the new guide-virtually and, once it is safe post-COVID-19, in person. National PLT will also offer an asynchronous (learn at your own pace) online course later in 2021.

A dedicated section of our website at www.plt.org/myk8guide is replete with additional lesson-planning resources. Here's where you will find more detailed correlations with standards (specifically NGSS), a glossary, and editable PDFs of the student worksheets printed in the new guide. We'll also create "roll-ups" of numerous resources presented in-guide, such as the Career Corners and Forest Facts for educators and students to manipulate all in one place.

I look forward to learning how you use Explore Your Environment. Since PLT is all about continuous improvement, we welcome and invite your suggestions about how we can make our work even more relevant to you and the youth you reach.

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An Extraordinary Exploration: Introducing PLT's New K-8 Activity Guide, Explore Your Environment - Project Learning Tree

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Educators spoke, we at PLT listened. And asked lots of questions, took lots of notes, and really did our homework to create our new K-8 guide, Explore Your Environment . It's fresh, it's user-friendly, and it works indoors and outdoors, in classrooms and nonformal settings.

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Here's a quick (3-minute) introduction to how Earth Day started and the impact it's had:

Earth Day 2022

Earth Day will be held April 22, 2022 and the theme is Invest In Our Planet -because a green future is a prosperous future.

Just in time to support Earth Day this year, PLT has released a new, cutting-edge resource for elementary and middle school educators, Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide. Learn about the guide's 50 field-tested, hands-on activities and get a copy directly from PLT's Shop or by attending a local PLT professional development workshop conducted by PLT's 50-state network of 75 coordinators and 1,000 facilitators across the country.

Another way teachers and parents can observe Earth Day is to simply take children on a nature walk, whether that's in your backyard, at a local park, on a nearby forest trail, or on school grounds, depending on what's accessible in your area at this time. Doing a nature walk is not only about celebrating Earth Day. It's also an opportunity for learning experiences in a variety of subjects such as science, geography, math, and art. Make your nature walk educational and fun at the same time with these 12 Nature Walk Activities for Earth Day (or Any Day!)

Also, be sure to bookmark our Earth Day News Article full of fun ideas and activities to help you celebrate.

Even though Earth Day has a rich history, many people associate it with recycling. You'll probably find a lot of Earth Day activities for the classroom that focus on just that. This can be a great starting point, especially because it's an action students, schools, and families can do right away. If you want to incorporate activities on recycling in your Earth Day lesson plan, be sure to check out these reduce, reuse, recycle lesson plan ideas for every subject.

Young students can, and do, make a big difference. As an educator, you have the opportunity to spark a passion in students that will drive them to do their part to take care of the Earth. Here are a few different kinds of activities you could add to your lesson plans to inspire your students this Earth Day:

Make a pledge and a plan to take action

Writing down a commitment and making a plan are two actions that increase the likelihood that someone will follow through. So if you want those Earth Day lessons to stick, this is an easy activity to do with students of any age. This is a great way to incorporate an art project with a writing prompt.

Here are a few examples:

Integrate art projects

Art projects are fun way to add a hands-on activity to a lesson about Earth Day. Creating art can also help students feel connected to environmental topics, even if the issues you're studying are happening far away from home. It's also a great way to help them imagine the world they want to live in.

Here are a few examples of art projects for Earth Day:

Also, be sure to check out these art project ideas using recycled materials and Earth Day art activities.

Make signs for school and at home

Sometimes we just need a little reminder to help us change our habits. Have students think about what they can do at school and at home to help the environment and how they can encourage others to change their habits.

Make a video or presentation urging others to take action

Students can make a bigger impact if they influence others to do their part to protect the environment. Putting together a video or presentation also helps them internalize the material - they need to understand it before they can explain it to others. Presentations can be given in the classroom or even to the whole school. Eventually, they may be able to present their lessons and research at a local conference, like these students from Two Rivers Magnet Middle School in East Hartford, Conn.

Plant a tree

The Earth Day Network has a goal of planting 7.8 billion trees by 2020 - one tree for every person alive. By planting trees, you're taking a tangible action with your students and you're taking part in this bigger goal. Don't forget to check out these tree planting tips before you get started.

Engage students in a pollution experiment

Teaching about pollution is an essential part of Earth Day because it helps students understand the consequences of not protecting the Earth. It can be much easier to prevent pollution than to remedy it later. Students can experience the effects of pollution on a small scale in the classroom.

An activity for younger students:

See more types of pollution experiments you can do in your classroom and check out PLT's "Pollution Search" activity.

Pick up trash around your school

Trash clean-ups are another hands-on activity you don't even have to leave the school grounds to do. To make a bigger impact, have students write down what kinds of trash they pick up and where. After analyzing the data together, you can find patterns and explore solutions so you can stop the trash at the source.

In fact, there's a new app that can help you do just that. Check out Litterati, the app that makes it fun to pick up littler and helps prevent litter:

Host a drive to collect e-waste

E-waste is a growing problem in the U.S. and around the world. E-waste represents more than 70% of toxic waste in landfills. So it's probably not surprising that only 12.5% of e-waste is recycled.

This is an opportunity for your students to help raise awareness about this problem within our school and community. Students can research a nearby recycling facility and organize a drive to collect e-waste to help combat this problem in your community.

Show them examples of other students making a real difference

It's important for students to see examples of young environmentalists so they know they don't need to wait until they're older to make a difference. These inspiring examples of young environmentalists is a great place to start, and there are many more young people doing great work. Learning about the work these young people are doing can give your students new ideas for how to protect the environment. It can open the door of possibilities for how to think about finding solutions to problems they can help solve.

Earth Day isn't just on April 22. It's every day. How will you celebrate Earth Day and help students make a difference year-round?

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Earth Day activities to inspire your students and make a difference - Project Learning Tree

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Here's a quick (3-minute) introduction to how Earth Day started and the impact it's had: Earth Day will be held April 22, 2022 and the theme is Invest In Our Planet -because a green future is a prosperous future.

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Most adults are familiar with the 3 Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle. But it's important to make sure children understand their responsibility to care for planet Earth, too.

Every year on April 22nd, Earth Day brings the world together to celebrate, and it's the perfect time to educate kids about climate change and how they can work to protect our home with Earth Day activities for kids.

Fortunately, there are lots of spring crafts and activities we can use to inspire students to care for the environment!

We've put together a list of Earth Day activities perfect for your classroom and beyond, and even included some bonus activities kids can do at home with parents.

No matter where students are, there's always an opportunity to teach them about protecting the environment, recycling and reducing unnecessary waste.

Let's get started!

Earth Day activities for the classroom

1. Connect with nature

Wouldn't it be fun to take a walk through a local park? The first and best way to celebrate Earth Day is getting outside and exploring nature.

As they explore, kids can birdwatch and observe wildlife in natural habitats found throughout city parks and conservation areas.

There are countless ways to show kids how nature wakes up. In the spring, newly forming buds appear on trees. Birds chirp more often as the weather warms up. As they observe nature, kids just might develop a love for nature and our planet.

As you walk, be sure to remind students about the golden rule of nature exploring: " Take only pictures, leave only footprints."

Speaking of which...

2. Organize an Earth Day scavenger hunt

While students are exploring nature, have them catalogue what they find!

There are lots of ways to observe and record nature that don't involve disturbing the environment or taking things out of it. Create a list of things for them to do and spot as they walk, including:

Drawing pictures of flowers and plants

Spotting birds (and identifying them if they can)

Writing down or taking pictures of any wildlife they spot

Collecting litter and recycling - with the proper equipment, of course

After, use the nature walk as a writing prompt or opportunity for class discussion.

3. Hang birdseed ornaments

Celebrate Earth Day and feed the birds with the help of birdseed ornaments made from supplies you can find in the kitchen!

Great for kids of all ages, birdseed ornaments give feathered friends a snack and let kids see the birds that come to visit when you hang them outside the classroom or kitchen window.

What you need:

Straw

Twine

Birdseed

Corn syrup

Cookie cutters

Parchment paper

2 packets of gelatin

Cold and boiling water

What to do:

1. Mix the gelatin with ½ cup of cold water until it dissolves the powder.

2. Have an adult add ½ cup of boiling water to the gelatin so it dissolves.

3. Add 2 tablespoons of corn syrup and mix well.

4. Add birdseed to the gelatin mixture.

5. Spoon the birdseed mixture into cookie cutters and use parchment paper to pat the seeds into the cookie cutter.

6. Keep filling and pressing down the birdseed mixture. Be sure to leave a hole to thread twine through the ornament.

7. Place the filled cookie cutters in the fridge overnight.

8. The next day, give the birdseed ornaments a gentle push to let them fall out of the cookie-cutter mold.

Pull the twine through the holes and hang it outside for birds to enjoy!

4. Build an insect hotel

Your students can build an adorable hotel for bugs using basic materials you'll find around the home - and recycle some trash in the process!

What you need:

Tree bark

Pinecones

A large plastic bottle

Fallen sticks and twigs

Any other earthly elements your kids may want to add

What to do:

1. Cut the bottle into two pieces to form separated cylinders. Remove the top and bottom pieces, as we will not be using them.

2. Push holes in the top of the bottle pieces and thread twine to hang when the hotel is completed.

3. Put twigs, branches and pine cone pieces inside each bottle. You may need to snap the twigs to shorten them. Fill the bottles.

Hang outside to allow bugs to enjoy their new home.

5. Grow a love for plants with seed jars

Students love science experiments! Involve kids in making seed jars to honor Earth Day. They'll be able to watch seeds sprout and grow into a flower or vegetable, then plant it in a garden once it's ready.

What you need:

Water

Paper towels

A clear large jar

Seeds (nasturtium, sunflowers, peas, and beans germinate quickly)

What to do:

1. Fold paper towels and place them inside jars. Allow your students to push the paper towels down into the jar.

2. Add water slowly into the jar but do not overfill it.

3. Put seeds on the wet paper towels near the edges of the glass so kids can watch their experiments grow before their eyes!

6. Build a cardboard tube bird feeder

Here's a delightful DIY project for parents and teachers to try with kids. These cute feeders are completed in record time for birds to enjoy right away.

What you need:

String

Scissors

Birdseed

Butter knife

Peanut butter

Bamboo skewer

Toilet paper roll or another cardboard tube

What to do:

1. Cut two holes at the top and bottom of the cardboard tube.

2. Push the bamboo skewer through the bottom holes as a perch for birds to stand on.

3. Spread peanut butter throughout the outside of the tube.

4. Pour birdseed onto a plate and roll the tube in the seeds until it is completely covered.

5. Thread twine into the top holes and hang outside.

7. Clean up a science experiment

The words "science experiment" conjures up thoughts of cool and exciting things to try at school or with parents at home.

Involve your mad scientists in an oil spill and clean up experiment to enhance their awareness of environmental accidents.

What you need:

Oil Spill and Clean-up Science Experiment:

1. Fill the pan halfway with water.

2. Squirt some oil in the water.

3. Now comes the fun part! Experiment with ways to clean up the oil spill using cotton balls or trying to suck up the oil with a medicine dropper or paper towel.

4. Drop dish soap on the oil to see how the two elements react. The soap helps the oil to break apart so that clean up becomes an easier task.

Students will gain a better sense of how oil spills poison marine life and birds.

8. Teach students to recycle

It's important to get kids interested in saving our planet at an early age. A valuable technique for instilling good recycling habits is to show kids how to sort recyclables.

This is a perfect Earth Day activity for preschoolers or kindergarteners, since it's a skill they'll use for the rest of their lives.
Show kids how to separate plastics, metals, cardboard and glass. Ask them to place each type of recyclable into separate bins.

Reinforce these skills throughout the year at lunchtime, or whenever students have recyclables.

9. Learn how to compost

Be sure to help students develop good environmental habits like composting. They'll learn how to reuse plant waste and make gardens abundant and healthy.

What you need:

Soil

An old rug

Compost bin with lid

Plant waste such as leaves and weeds

Kitchen waste from fruits and vegetables

What to do:

1. Put the bin outdoors on top of soil under the sun. Top up with kitchen waste.

2. Kitchen waste with a layer of soil.

3. Cover with a lid and the old rug.

4. Continue to add kitchen waste to the compost.

From time to time, be sure to turn over the compost with a shovel as it decomposes.

10. Make a bee and butterfly garden

Bees and other pollinators play an essential role in our food supply. Their decreasing numbers could affect the availability of produce at grocery stores.

Set up a new project for kids with basic instructions on how to plan and build a home garden that attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Give them handouts that contain a list of various plants and shrubs to get them started.

For kids who live in apartments, container gardens are a great space-saving alternative.

11. Make an Earth Day handprint keepsake

Wouldn't it be fun to make a beautiful Earth Day keepsake using salt dough and food coloring?

Here's what you need:

String

Child's photo

Heart-shaped cookie cutter

Kids' hands and a big smile!

Blue and green food coloring

Round non-stick cookie sheet

Salt dough (1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups of salt and 3/4 cup of water)

Now, for the fun part!

1. Use two separate bowls to make blue and green salt dough.

2. Drop pieces of blue and green salt down onto the cookie sheet and blend the edges. Smoothen out so that the dough is flat.

3. Allow your child to put their handprint in the middle of the cookie sheet.

4. Use the cookie cutter to cut out the palm section.

5. Poke two holes at the top.

6. Bake for 3 hours at 200 F. Let cool overnight.

Add student photos in the heart-shaped hole and thread string through the holes to hang up.

12. Make a coffee filter Earth

Watch kids' amazement as they drop green and blue food coloring on coffee filters to create their own unique artwork of planet Earth! Here's how:

What you'll need:

Newspaper

Coffee filters

Eye droppers or spoons

Blue and green food coloring

What to do:

1. Take the supplies outdoors under the sun to maximize drying time.

2. Lay out newspaper on a table or walkway.

3. Put coffee filters on top of newspapers to catch excess water.

4. Use eye droppers or spoons to apply drops of food coloring on coffee filters. You can also use blue and green markers for the same effect!

5. Add a bit of water with a spray bottle to blur the lines between the blue and green, and watch as the Earth takes shape.

13. Create bottled hanging gardens

Share your love of gardening with your students by offering this fun tutorial on how to reuse a plastic bottle to construct a cute hanging garden.

What you need:

Pencil

Craft knife

Length of string

Thoroughly washed plastic bottle

Let's do this together:

1. Grab the plastic bottle and the craft knife to slice a long line from 1 to 2" from the mouth of the bottle down toward the bottom. Cut out a rectangle. (A teacher or parent should do this.)

2. Poke a hole at each end of the bottle.

3. Push yarn through each hole with a pencil. Tie a few knots.

4. Fill the bottle with soil and plant seeds.

Your students will be in awe as they watch seedlings grow.

14. Take an Earth Day pledge

Since kids love to draw and doodle, put those talents to good use by creating an Earth Day pledge.

Make a list of the things kids would like to do to maintain the health of our environment:

1. Plant trees

2. Go paperless

3. Turn off lights that don't need to be on

4. Use cloth grocery bags instead of plastic ones

5. Try shampoo bars instead of the bottled variety

6. Make cleaning products using lemon and vinegar

7. Stick to the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

8. Lower your carbon footprint by reducing trash output

9. Spend more time outside than playing video games indoors

10. Use energy-efficient LED bulbs -- they last much longer than traditional bulbs

Or anything else you can think of!

Feed kids' imagination with a shortlist of ideas they can use today for their Earth Day pledge. Encourage them to come up with ways to minimize their carbon footprint, then write them down on a colorfully decorated paper.

Earth Day activities for kids at home

1. Take a virtual holiday

Since we can't take vacations to explore faraway places, take a virtual day-trip with your family from the comfort of your living room.

Consider places you've always wanted to visit that showcase some of the most beautiful scenes Earth has to offer.

1. Climb Mt. Everest

2. Swim through a coral reef

3. Visit Yellowstone National Park

4. Explore the Antarctic landscape

5. Find the secrets of ancient ruins

6. Try and spot the Northern Lights

Virtual holidays are a great way to enjoy the scenery without the environmental cost of flying. We can teach kids that this is a viable way to reduce their carbon footprint and still have fun, too.

2. Build a vegetable garden with your family

Get back to basics by starting a vegetable garden with the entire family. Make family time feel more significant by showing kids how to grow and care for their vegetable gardens.

Like we mentioned above, it's important to stress creating "bee" gardens filled with lots of snacks for our favorite pollinators.

3. Go paperless!

The best way to show kids to go green is by teaching them clever ways to go as paperless as possible. We need trees to give us oxygen, so it makes sense to spare them from being pressed into magazines and other paper goods.

Some ideas include:

Try going printer-free for 30 days

Consider sending digital greeting cards instead of mailing them

Buy digital magazines to keep on your computers or tablets and out of landfill sites

There are several ways we can go paperless to help preserve our planet's health - how many more can your kids think of?

4. Make Earth Day salt dough ornaments

Get creative with your family by making up a batch of salt dough!

1. Begin by forming a ball with your hands and flattening it

2. Put a small hole near the top so that you can thread a piece of yarn or twine to hang it up

3. Use green acrylic or craft paint to brush on the continents

4. Fill in the remaining areas with blue paint

Voila - you have the world in your hands!

5. Upcycle plastic and metal

What plastic and metal items do you have at home that you want to throw away? There are endless possibilities for reusing those pieces for something that you need.

For example, we can use small plastic tomato boxes as a pencil cup or hold colored markers for craft projects.

Did you know metal tins are easily reused as pieces of art?

6. Eat tasty dirt cup treats

No celebration is truly complete without dessert, so bake a delicious treat and include kids in Earth Day festivities. All you need are a few simple ingredients and your taste buds are celebrating, too!

Ingredients:

Milk

Small cups

Oreo cookies

Gummy worms

One package of Jell-O instant chocolate pudding

Instructions:

1. Make the mud by mixing chocolate pudding with three cups of milk.

2. Evenly distribute the chocolate mixture in plastic or ceramic cups.

3. Crush Oreos with your hands or in a sandwich bag to create "dirt".

4. Spread the crushed cookies on top of the pudding.

5. Add the gummy worms on top to make a fun and delicious treat!

Final thoughts: Earth Day activities for kids

There are lots of ways teachers and parents can motivate kids into caring for our planet.

Earth Day activities teach kids how to reduce their carbon footprint, appreciate everything the earth gives us and take steps towards protecting the environment.

When we share information in a manner that is both fun and enlightening, it will inspire kids to do more to make our world a healthier place for future generations.

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20 Fun Earth Day Activities for Kids to Help the Planet

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Most adults are familiar with the 3 Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle. But it's important to make sure children understand their responsibility to care for planet Earth, too. Every year on April 22nd, Earth Day brings the world together to celebrate, and it's the perfect time to educate kids about climate change and how they can work to protect our home with Earth Day activities for kids.

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37 Engaging Earth Day Activities for Elementary Students - Teaching Expertise

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It is difficult to motivate students to care about the Earth if they don’t have a direct connection with the natural world. This series of engaging classroom

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Earth Day is a great opportunity to give middle school students the chance to learn more about our planet and how to help preserve it. Use informational text resources, books about environmental issues, and passages about natural disasters to help students learn more about the Earth and the day we choose to celebrate it. This list of 24 activities includes ideas you can use for this annual event in your very own middle school classroom!

1. Alien Visitor Writing Activity

Creative writing at its best is this alien visitor writing activity. It is a fun way to include Earth day activities in your daily writing while writing from a different perspective.

Learn More: Pinterest

2. Virtual Field Trips

Virtual field trips are always a great idea! They provide an opportunity to travel outside the classroom that not all students would get otherwise. Students can see places that will show them places that need help with water pollution or ground pollution.

Learn More: Earth Reminder

3. Bottle Painting Recycling Activity

Reusing and recycling are important concepts for middle school students to learn about. Collect bottles to use for painting and help students learn the value of recycling and reusing plastic, and also how to repurpose these items for good, like creating art.

Learn More: Earth Reminder

4. Bottle Cap Mural

Collect bottle tops of all kinds for this art project! Let students work together to form a beautiful art project of the planet to display in your school or classroom.

Learn More: Angela Lutzker And Theart Room

5. Earth Day Recycled Crayons

Make recycled crayons with your students. Show them how to recycle broken crayon bits to form new crayons by melting down the old ones and using a mold to form new ones. These are great to donate to your local art teacher or elementary school.

Learn More: The Gunny Sack

6. Litter Clean Up

Organizing a litter clean-up day can be very beneficial. Students can divide up areas to work on and form teams that can tackle each section together. If you can leave the classroom, you may look into going to a public place in your town that could use some help.

Learn More: Suburban Science

7. Drinking Water Experiment

Another good science experiment to try on Earth Day is this drinking water experiment. It is a great way to show the effects of water pollution and how water can be affected by choices that humans make.

Learn More: Suburban Science

8. Escape Room

Creating an Earth Day escape room is a great way to break up the regular classroom activities with something a little different. You can use a pre-made one, like this, or make your own. Students can work together to find the clues and figure out how to make their escape!

Learn More: Amigo Science

9. Learn How to Compost

Teaching students how to compost is a great idea for Earth day. Students will have the opportunity to learn more about the benefits and how it can help their environments and their own towns. This is a great science experiment for students to participate in as well.

Learn More: Amigo Science

10. Have a Debate

Organizing a classroom debate is a great way to tie many skills together. Include reading and writing in preparation for the debate. Use oral language skills to present the data in the debate and have students take different stances to debate against each other.

Learn More: Mondays Made Easy

11. Write an Essay About Plastic Waste

Plastic waste is a very real problem. Learning more about specific content like this is a great way to teach persuasive writing skills as well. Help students write from a perspective that reminds them to pitch their views to others.

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12. Make Bird Feeders

Even the big kids enjoy this activity! Have students create bird feeders from ice cream cones, peanut butter, and birdseed. Students can hang these from the trees around the school and enjoy watching the birds that come to eat.

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13. Earth Day Reader's Theater

For a change of pace and a break from worksheets or craft projects, try this reader's theater activity. Earth day is a perfect time to take a break from all the printable activities and let students take part in this read-aloud activity.

Learn More: Mrs. Beers

14. Bean Pole Garden Tent

Let students take learning outdoors. Students can work together to create a bean-pole tent. If you have the space for a small garden, this would be a great addition, as students can grow these beans in an upward direction and save space but still have plenty of results.

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15. Root Veggie Grow Bags

Growing root vegetables is a great way to grow things that students can use! Watch as these root vegetables grow "under the ground". These bags have a window that allows a sneak peek so you can watch as they change while growing.

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16. Earth Day Learning Lab

This digital resource is a great way to take kids outside the classroom and into a virtual learning lab. Students will experience new learning relating to Earth day. Students will have the option to participate by watching videos or reading through the collection of informational texts.

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17. Start Some Seed Jars

Let students try their hand at growing. Starting seed jars is a fun way to let students see that they can grow something if they stick with it. Start small and let students experience the benefit of growing something on their own.

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18. Start Recycling

Activities on recycling, like creating a recycling program, are a great way to get students involved in learning more about recycling and waste management. Reusing recycled items to create crafting projects is another great way to help our planet.

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19. Read and Respond

Read-and-respond prompts are always a great way to build engagement, social interaction, and content retention. Students can use the digital resource to address concepts like environmental concerns and current events related to protecting our planet.

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20. Think Aloud

This classroom activity combines digital and print resources. Students can read to learn more about Earth day and how to protect our planet and as they do, they can fill out the Google slides and print additional resources. These also serve as great science resources!

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21. All About Earth Day and Its History

Another great way to teach more about these concepts is through the use of informational text. You could use this with copies of student exit slips to have students recall facts from their nonfiction reading or use this as a resource for a writing activity.

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22. Writing Activity

This writing project is a fun way to learn more about how to protect and help our environment. These activity sheets focus on writing and reading and can be used in a science lesson as well.

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23. Recycled Art Projects

Challenge kids to see what kind of art they can make from recycled paper! This is a great project for students in grades K to 12. This activity may even spark some interest in creating a recycling program at school.

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24. Earth Day Collage

You can teach the basics of recycling with this art project idea! Use scraps of paper to create a colorful craft paper version of the Earth. This is a great way to show students how to repurpose recycled paper and challenge kids to create something new.

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24 Engaging Earth Day Activities for Middle School - Teaching Expertise

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Earth Day is a great opportunity to give middle school students the chance to learn more about our planet and how to help preserve it. Use informational text resources, books about environmental issues, and passages about natural disasters to help students learn more about the Earth and the day we choose to celebrate it.