Earth Day is the perfect opportunity to help your budding scientists learn more about the Earth and everything that makes our planet beautiful and amazing!
Below are 5 simple activities to celebrate Earth Day in the classroom!
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- Read about Earth Day– There are so many wonderful Earth Day books to entertain and inform! Click on the image below for the roundup of my favorites!
2. Create a Water Cycle in a Bag– It’s simple! Add some blue food coloring to a small pitcher of water. Using a permanent marker, have your students write their names and draw clouds and the sun on the top of the baggie. Fill the bags with blue water, close them, and then tape them to the windows! As the warm sun heats the water, it evaporates. Since there is nowhere else for the water vapor to go, it will condense along the sides of the bag to create little droplets that will fall back down to demonstrate the water cycle at work!
3. Create a Bug Hotel– What better way to celebrate little creatures on Earth Day than to create a hotel just for them?! Use recyclable items such as empty toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, and small cardboard boxes as the little ‘rooms’ in the hotel. Fill the rooms with bug-friendly items such as moss, grass, twigs, leaves, and rocks. Place the rooms together on shelves to leave outside then watch your guests check in!
4. Germinate Lima Beans Using Water Beads– Learn about parts of a plant, then grow some in the classroom! To germinate seeds, don’t bother using wet paper towels that often cause molding. Simply soak the water beads in water for an hour or so. With clean hands (to avoid contamination), place several soaked beads in a baggie with a big lima bean. Close the bag then hang it on a window. In about a week and a half, the bean will germinate. Next, place the seed and the beads in a cup of soil and water it regularly. Place the cup by the windows for sunlight and watch it grow! 🌱
5. Conduct Animal Research and then Create a Diorama – Encourage your students to choose an animal to research in class, and then have them create a diorama at home with their family to share with the class! This is a great way to connect learning in the classroom with a family project! Students are so proud to share their new learning with their families while creating the diorama to share!
If you need teaching resources to celebrate Earth Day, click on the images below!
