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Did you know April 22nd, 2020 marks the 50th Earth Day? Do you know the story behind Earth Day?
It was founded in 1970 in the U.S. by Senator Nelson from Wisconsin who witnessed the devastating impact of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California and wanted to do act. Mr. Nelson came up with the idea of Earth Day to teach young people about the environment and inspire them to look after it.
Readers of this blog will know, despite Mr. Nelson’s vision for a better, cleaner world, the Santa Barbara oil spill was far from the last. Indeed, this week marks 10 years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in which oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days before the leak could be plugged. Check out this Deepwater Horizon blog postfor links to resources and tools to learn more about this this devastating event.
Because of the situation in which we find ourselves with coronavirus, this 50th anniversary actually becomes the first Digital Earth Day but that need not hinder the learning or the action or prevent us having our voice heard!
The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. As you might expect, there are lots of ideas and lessons available online and I have collected a few of them for you here. To begin with, I recommend using our Earth Day image to begin a discussion with your child about their ideas of what this day means and gauging how much vocabulary (s)he knows related to the topic. Can (s)he create a wordle (word cloud) of their own related to Earth Day/climate action? The attached downloadable PDFcontains resource materials for this and other activities.
Thereafter, you may like to check out NASA Climate Kids. There is lots to explore on this site, including the very important question of What is Climate Change and the distinction between weather and climate.
Another excellent information source for parents/teachers and older learners is this UNICEF booklet Unless we Act Now.
The animation on this pageshows satellite observations of Arctic sea ice each September from 1979 to 2018. Children will be able to observe how the area of ice has shrunk since 1979. Ask your child to calculate how long ago that was.
Further evidence of the speed and scale of change is evident in the very many graphs on the Met Office website. There are plenty other links here too your child may be keen to explore. It is important (s)he understands the impact of climate change goes beyond the melting of ice-caps. Investigate the effects of climate change around the world on the NASA siteand on the NOAA site. How many impacts of climate change can your child identify?
In a very short period of time, massive change to our ice-caps has taken place. This online lesson adopts change as its theme. In acknowledgement of how disconnected many of us may feel at present, this lesson advocates “Climate Conversations” and urges children to phone older friends or relatives to discuss with them changes they have noticed over time in the areas of weather, food, and transport. A useful way to promote connection and learning at the same time.
We need to act quickly! The urgency with which we must act is outlined in this excerpt from How to Save our Frozen Worlds.
As it’s the 50th Earth Day, can your child compile a list of 50 actions (s)he can take to look after the earth? Your child may find inspiration in these 170 Actions to Transform Our World(related to the Sustainable Development Goals I mention next). Use the template in the attached free download to create the list. Place it in a highly-visible place, referring to it periodically to monitor your family’s progress on action for climate.
Check out the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 13 relates to climate change. A good summary 2 page summary in a much easier-to-read format can be found here. Discuss the extent to which each (or some) of the others relate to Earth Day. How can we act on these now to make a difference in the future? In these Makematic videos, over the course of 17 days, children are asked to consider how they might act on each of the 17 goals. I only discovered this site today; the uploads began on Monday April 20th. As the videos are short, catching up should be relatively easy!
UN Sustainable Development Goals
So, what next? Your child may be interested in demanding urgent action on climate change by adding their name to Voice for the Planet.
To truly appreciate our planet, it is important to get out and enjoy it. If you are still allowed outside where you live, why not try some outdoor activities?
How about doing some gardening? Can your child help with weeding, watering or planting?
How about creating some found art with pebbles, twigs and leaves?
How about a scavenger hunt? Try it with a theme, e.g.,
photographing items of a particular colour (or as many different colours as possible);
find a flower with a beautiful fragrance;
search for items with a particular texture (pick a few items, such as leaves, stones and pine-cones, and have your child look for items that feel the same);
have a “critter quest” where your child searches for mini-beasts;
Have a “listening quest” where your child must note down all the things they hear outside.
There you have it – a bonus lesson idea to mark this very important day. The issue of climate change is a worrying one for all of us. It is important to discuss such topics in terms of proactive steps we can all take to address it as otherwise it can feel overwhelming for us all. The last thing we want to do right now is further add to worries and concerns our children may have. On a positive note, our confinement has shown us lots of signs our planet can recover when we allow it to. Your child might enjoy looking for evidence to support this statement.
Don’t forget to download our free Dumond Education Earth Day Activity Guide and please share with us what you do to mark Earth Day 2020. If you find any other useful resources, please comment below. Most importantly of all, please share your child’s ideas for ways to look after our planet. After all,
“Great changes in the destiny of mankind can be effected only in the minds of little children.”
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