Earth Day
Celebrate Earth Day all month long with this selection of resources to connect young students to nature, both inside and outside of your learning environment.
© Shutterstock / Kuznetsov Dmitriy
Resources
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Lessons & activities
Thanks, Nature! A Scavenger Hunt
Challenge your students to step outside and discover how nature supports our everyday lives. As they explore a yard, neighborhood, park, or school, students will draw and describe examples of what nature gives us and reflect on ways to give back to nature.
Grade3-5SubjectsScience & STEMSocial studiesThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
Conservation Challenge Cootie Catcher
Follow the instructions to challenge yourself and friends to make a difference for the planet! Each play reveals a habitat and wildlife species that need your help. Inspired by World Wildlife Fund’s efforts, these actions will show you how small steps can help protect our planet’s amazing biodiversity. Use the DIY cootie catcher on page two to come up with your own ideas to help wildlife and the environment. Get creative and inspire others to care for our planet!
SubjectsArts & craftsThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
Pollinator Garden Guide and Wildflower Journal
Learners can create their own pollinator garden and track its progress with a science journal.
Grade3-56-8SubjectsScience & STEMThemeEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
Wildflower “No Pick” Scavenger Hunt
Learners can use this guide to locate and identify wildflowers local to their region.
Grade3-56-8SubjectsScience & STEMThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
Field of Bees
Print-and-play dice game that teaches players about endangered bee species native to North America. Players will match flowers to the bees they attract while avoiding threats such as pesticides and climate change. Use this game to introduce your students to the importance of pollinators and motivate them to support their local bee species.
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Lessons & activities
Grasslands and Pollinators Activity Book
This book is full of fun activities about the Northern Great Plains, wildflowers, and pollinators.
GradePreK-23-56-8ThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitatsSustainability & human impact -
Lessons & activities
Sea Turtle Activity Book
Sea Turtle Activity Book
GradePreK-23-5ThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitats -
Presentations
Biodiversity Classroom Presentation
The Biodiversity Classroom Presentation reflects the information provided in the Biodiversity Educator's Resource Guide in an easy-to-give interactive slideshow. Included in the notes are prompts to help guide the lesson, with bolded vocabulary terms and opportunities to integrate discussion points.
Grade3-56-8SubjectsScience & STEMThemeWildlife & biodiversity -
Lessons & activities
Biodiversity Escape Room
Challenge your students with this team-building, escape room-style exercise exploring ecological roles within an ecosystem and how biodiversity is connected to ecosystem health. While solving the puzzles, students will learn to recognize how their own actions contribute to a team's success.
Grade3-5SubjectsScience & STEMThemeWildlife & biodiversity -
Lessons & activities
Biodiversity Audit
Students will perform a biodiversity audit of their local grounds, following similar steps as scientists in the field. Based on their findings, they will evaluate the property based on how well it can support species and devise a plan for how they can increase its biodiversity score.
Grade6-8SubjectsSocial studiesThemeWildlife & biodiversity -
Lessons & activities
Biodiversity Mosaic
Students will create an artwork piece that reflects their interpretation of biodiversity. After learning about all that biodiversity encompasses, as a group, they will then piece their artwork together to create a large collaborative representation of healthy biodiversity on Earth.
Grade6-8SubjectsArts & craftsThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
The Connections Between Us
To understand the interdependence of living things, students will participate in a role-playing activity that demonstrates the vast impacts of threats to our planet’s biodiversity and how biomes and species are connected.
Grade6-8SubjectsScience & STEMThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
Eating Our Planet
Students will compose a creative letter to a future pen pal describing Earth's environmental health as a result of the impacts of food.
Grade3-5SubjectsEnglish language artsThemeWildlife & biodiversitySustainability & human impact -
Lessons & activities
How Much Water is in Your Lunch?
Students will comprehend the amount of resources, namely water, required to produce various food items by comparing data and creating a pictograph.
Grade3-5SubjectsMathThemeWildlife & biodiversitySustainability & human impact -
Lessons & activities
A drop in the bucket
Students will evaluate their current daily water use and be tasked with designing a new daily routine, imagining they were limited in the amount of water available, as many areas of the world are.
Grade3-5SubjectsScience & STEMMathThemeEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
A Need for the Seas
This persuasive writing exercise allows students to gain a sense of empowerment by composing a letter that addresses the threats sea turtles and oceans face.
Grade3-5SubjectsEnglish language artsThemeWildlife & biodiversityEcosystems & habitats -
Lessons & activities
Trees and Tigers
Using a discovery and data collection exercise, students uncover the immense number of products humans use that come from the forest.
Grade3-5SubjectsScience & STEMSocial studiesThemeWildlife & biodiversity
Additional resources
Video: How Can I Make a Difference? Helping the Planet as a Young Person
Students can often feel powerless in the face of environmental crises, but there is tremendous potential for young people to make a difference. Start off the school year empowered by tuning in to learn tangible ways for your students to help the planet. Ryan Zlatanova, Activism & Outreach Specialist at WWF, will talk about why youth voices are so important and be joined by Reid Chapman, a current high school student who has been advocating for nature since he was a child. For more educational videos and Q&A sessions with our experts, subscribe to WWF's Wild Classroom YouTube channel.
Test Your Knowledge
Check out Wild Classroom's Earth Day collection on Kahoot! Academy for fun trivia and quizzes about small actions we can all take to help protect our planet.
