Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

As Earth Day approaches, take your students on a visit to Recycle City for a virtual, hands-on experience with reducing and reusing waste. To get started, click on any part of the city, and discover what residents and businesses have done to improve their environment. The site includes a "Dumptown" interactive which gives students a taste of what it would be like to be a city manager in charge of selecting community programs for cutting the amount of waste destined for the landfill. Click on the Activities link to find information for teachers and classroom activities.

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This environmental education site, a cooperative effort across the entire U.S. government, is filled with creative ways to make learning about the environment fun! Click on the "General lesson ideas for teachers" link to learn more about specific topics and take a virtual trip to "Recycle City," reviewed and link here. The "Homework resources for students" page provides an annotated collection of kid-friendly environmental Web sites filled with clever and interactive activities. Learn about the history of Earth Day, ways to celebrate in your classroom or at home, and more. There is quite a bit to explore!

tag(s): earth (189), earth day (71), ecology (111), environment (249), recycling (46)

Created by the Environmental Protection Agency, this visually appealing site is filled with interactive story books, climate animations, and cleverly designed animations for students. Links include Climate Change (What is It), Climate & Weather, Greenhouse Effect, What is the Climate System, Climate's Come a Long Way, The Climate Detectives, Games, Climate Animations, Climate Change Calculator, Stuff for Teachers, So What's the Big Deal, We CAN Make a Difference, and Can We Change the Climate. Use this site to supplement a unit on the Greenhouse Effect or as a springboard for Internet Earth Day activities. Though a few parts of this site requires Flash, there is plenty of information to learn that doesn't require Flash.

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SEE the relative contributions to carbon dioxide emissions country by country. Students roll the mouse over countries on a flattened world map to see what the carbon dioxide emission of each. The featured country's pertinent facts pop up, including emissions, populations, and birth/death rates. Countries are color-coded to indicate rates of carbon dioxide emissions. The pop-ups of births and deaths are fascinating (they occur in real-time). The bottom of the site includes a detailed legend; be sure to check it out. Note that spelling is Australian ("tonnes" vs "tons"). You can turn off the audio at the lower left. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

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Need a bookcase or rug for your classroom or home office area? Perhaps you have extra, personally-purchased classroom supplies that you no longer use. There is a solution to both dilemmas--Freecycle! Check this site to see if there is a local Freecycle group in your area. With 4,336 groups and growing, there's a good chance one is in your neighborhood. Twenty five states currently have participants. This grassroots, non-profit network's aim is to get unused 'stuff' into the hands of someone who can use it, and most importantly, they want to keep it out of our clogged landfills. Teachers are the most resourceful people on earth, and Freecycle is here to help fuel that creditable reputation. Membership is free -check it out!

tag(s): earth (189), earth day (71), environment (249)

Use this interactive air pollution simulation to learn about the effects of particulates, ozone, and individual choices on air pollution. The Create Your Own section allows you to test cause and effect of different factors in a controlled setting. Although the option to download the simulator is offered, it runs just fine in its online version. The site's disclaimer explains that the complex relationships between environmental factors have been simplified for this simulator, but the processes are still representative of the "real world" factors. This is a MUST for Earth Day!

This site is powerful and therefore may take some extra time to load - so prepare ahead! This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

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Have your students decorate paper grocery bags for Earth Day! The "Earth Day Groceries Project" is cost-free and one of the largest and oldest projects on the Internet. The project, managed by Mark Ahlness (a third grade teacher in Seattle, Washington), challenges students to decorate paper grocery bags for Earth Day featuring environmentally friendly messages. There are four steps to the project, all well-explained on the site. Be sure to visit the Project Starter Kit link. This link includes a PowerPoint presentation about the project, screensavers, project details, and more.

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Use this site to understand the ozone and how it affects our air quality and life here on Earth. Satellite imagery of ozone holes includes an updated daily picture and comparison over the last decades. NASA facts listed on the side include an opportunity to learn more about the information presented, watch satellite images from the last 7 days, view animations, compare year-to-date, and look at the annual records since 1979 using "Ozone Hole Watch." Information about the ozone and how it is measured is explained in detail here. "Explore the ozone with NASA" by viewing a short video that outlines the ozone and discusses new research and climate change. Use the "Resources for News Media" to view the Multimedia gallery for pictures of the largest ozone hole on record, the Arctic vortex, and Earth's Atmospheric Layers. Information about ozone depleting chemicals and ozone chemistry is also found here. View video of the ozone missions from NASA. "Ozone Hole 101" provides basic content about the ozone that is easy to understand for students. Read interesting information such as "Ozone levels drop when hurricanes are strengthening" and "Ozone hole is a double record breaker." This site requires Quicktime and animations require Flash. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

tag(s): earth (189), earth day (71), environment (249), ozone (7)