In 1970, the first Earth Day sparked a massive public outcry, with 20 million Americans taking to the streets and college campuses to denounce air and water pollution, nature loss, and animal extinction. Public outcry led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency and legislation to safeguard the air, water, and endangered species.
Although significant progress has been made in controlling pollution and preventing the extinction of notable species like the bald eagle and California condor, concerns of the past still linger. Furthermore, we now understand that human-caused climate change represents a significant threat that needs urgent attention to prevent widespread disruption of societies around the world.
The following free Earth Day lessons and activities will help teachers explore this crucial topic with K-12 students in an age-appropriate and engaging way.
The Best Free Earth Day Lessons and Activities
NOVA: Earth System Sciences (opens in a new tab)
What are the invisible processes that fuel Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and volcanoes? In these videos for grades 6-12, NOVA investigates nutrients from deep-sea vents, how water vapor fuels hurricanes, the “megastorm” from Hurricane Sandy, and more. Shareable with Google Classroom, each video can be the basis for an entire lesson plan.
Earth Day Lesson Plans and Activities (opens in a new tab)
An important collection of lessons related to Earth sciences, climate change, water conservation, animals, plants and much more. Each lesson is age-appropriately labeled and includes applicable standards as well as downloadable PDF files. Themes like bumblebees, polar bears, and climate heroes will appeal to students of any age.
11 Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Lesson Ideas for Every Topic (opens in a new tab)
11 3R projects that can be easily implemented in the K-12 classroom in subjects like math, language arts, civics, and science.
Gill Guardians K-12 Shark Courses (opens in a new tab)
Dozens of fascinating K-12 lessons on the science of sharks, their role in our environment, and how we can protect them. Each lesson pack is grouped by grade and focuses on a single species. Created and presented by MISS, Minorities in Shark Science, a group dedicated to providing opportunities for everyone to learn about sharks.
ghost forests (opens in a new tab)
What is a ghost forest? Sadly, it is the dead remnants of once thriving ecosystems that have been decimated by climate change, invasive pests, and disease. This collection of videos from PBS Learning Media discusses the case for the endangered whitebark pine, why it is critical to the ecosystem, and how scientists are racing to save this keystone species.
PBS Learning Media: An Unpredictable Environment (opens in a new tab)
and NGSS standard (opens in a new tab)-lined video highlighting how Inuit peoples are facing unprecedented challenges to their traditional knowledge of weather patterns. An elderly Inuit woman explains how forecasting the weather for hunting trips was a task traditionally assigned to women and girls, however, with recent climate changes, the reliability of using Alaska Native science to predict weather and animal behaviors associates has been reduced considerably. This video, which can be shared on Google Classroom or via a link, can form the basis for an entire slide-based lesson.
deep residue (opens in a new tab)
Revamp your health, science, and environmental curriculum with this video featuring a landfill located in southern New Jersey that delves into the current state of food waste in the United States. To create a complete lesson, incorporate the activity “Making Mountains from Landfills: Telling a Visual Story of Waste,” which will equip students with the skills to visually monitor and document various types of trash in their neighborhood.
Ethanol as biofuel
(opens in a new tab)How does ethanol work as a cleaner burning biofuel? When we grow corn to turn it into ethanol, what is the net energy benefit? Instead of corn, can we use other, less energy-intensive materials to achieve the same goals? This video from Nova explores the sustainability of the corn to ethanol pipeline and how it can be improved. Share or use as the basis for a full lesson.
Conservation Station Classroom Activities (opens in a new tab)
Increase energy and water literacy and conservation efforts through 18 downloadable, standards-aligned lessons and classroom activities. New activities designed for Earth Day 2023 focus on communication skills, critical thinking, collaboration, and creative thinking in the context of sustainable water and energy use. Intriguing topics include “Harvesting Energy at Your School,” “Smart Schools,” and “World Water Day Art Gallery.”
Resources for the Build the Change classroom (opens in a new tab)
A collection of standards-aligned classroom lessons, activities, and games designed to help children examine environmental issues, from helping sea turtles to renewable energy to the importance of recycling.
Nature Lab Resources for Educators (opens in a new tab)
Nature Labs resources for educators are perfect for Earth Day, covering topics from wildfires, climate justice, sustainable food and water, and more. Excellent for hands-on or project-based learning.
Climate Restoration for Kids (opens in a new tab)
Climate restoration goals go far beyond limiting our CO2 emissions. Climate restoration advocates believe we can capture and sequester enough carbon from the atmosphere to reverse anthropogenic effects. In this interactive online course for grades 3-5, children will learn about climate change, the carbon cycle, and climate restoration. Includes a quiz and art and writing contests.
Plastic Pollution Curriculum and Activity Guide (opens in a new tab)
From the 5 Gyres Institute, this extensive set of diverse and in-depth lessons for K-12 focuses on the problems of plastic and other forms of waste that have skyrocketed in the last 75 years. Activities include examining seabird stomach contents (virtually or IRL), understanding watersheds, identifying plastics, and much more. Lessons and activities are divided by grade level.
Library of Congress: Earth Day (opens in a new tab)
You may be surprised to learn that before 1970 there were no federal environmental laws protecting our air or water. He learns how growing public demand to protect the environment led to the first Earth Day, critical environmental legislation, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Introduction to Earth Day (opens in a new tab)
This standards-aligned lesson for grades 3-5 is an excellent introduction to the history and goals of Earth Day, in the US and around the world. Note the link for the National Geographic Explorer! Magazine article “celebrate the earth”, mentioned in step 2.
The Lorax Project (opens in a new tab)
Big ideas for a stimulating classroom discussion about how human society treats the Earth, seen through the lens of Dr. Seuss’s environmental cautionary tale, The Lorax.
Earth Now App iOS (opens in a new tab) Android (opens in a new tab)
From NASA, the free Earth Now app provides interactive 3D maps showing the latest satellite-generated climate data. Dive into the latest data on temperature, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other key environmental variables.
Chemists celebrate Earth Week (opens in a new tab)
The word “chemical” gets a bad rap around Earth Day. However, literally all substances in the universe, whether natural or man-made, are chemical substances. Chemists celebrate Earth Week with fun online science games, lessons, and activities. Be sure to check out the illustrated poetry contest for K-12 students.
Library of lessons and educational resources from the World Wide Fund for Nature (opens in a new tab)
The effects of human activities on Earth are sadly reflected in the severe reduction of animal species and their habitats throughout the world. WWF offers a robust set of lessons, apps, games, quizzes, and videos covering major charismatic animals (tigers, turtles, and monarch butterflies), as well as reptiles, food and plastic waste, wildlife arts and crafts, and more.
Measure what you hoard (opens in a new tab)
What is your ecological footprint? This easy-to-use yet sophisticated resource calculator takes data about your daily energy use, eating habits, and other key factors and turns it into a measure of your “footprint” on Earth. Unique among such calculators, the Ecological Footprint compares your resource demand with the Earth’s regenerative capacity. Fascinating.
TEDed: Earth School (opens in a new tab)
Enroll in TEDEd’s free Earth School and immerse yourself in 30 lessons covering the gamut of topics from transportation to food to people and society and many more. Each video lesson contains multiple-choice and open-ended discussion questions and additional resources for further study.
Lesson plans, teacher guides, and online environmental resources for educators (opens in a new tab)
Robust collection of K-12 environmental teaching resources, comprising lesson plans, experiments, lesson plans, digital books, and virtual activities. Explore topics like air quality, transportation, watersheds, radiation, and more. Do you remember acid rain? That’s here, too, and it’s an ideal topic to teach as an example of an effective national response to pollution.
