Earth Day Curriculum Resources, Grades 9-12
Earth Day is April 22, 2014
Explore new and review familiar ways to live responsibly with these lessons, projects, activities, and games for grades 9-12.
Lesson Plans
Build a Pizza Box Solar Oven
Students in grades K-12 make a simple solar oven using a pizza box that gets hot enough to warm up cookies and other treats, like s'mores.
Building the Basic PVC Wind Turbine
Students in grades 5-12 make a rugged and inexpensive classroom wind turbine that can be used for lab bench-based blade design experiments. A few specialized parts are needed (a hub and DC motor), but most of the components can be found at hardware stores.
Have and Have-Not (
PDF, 43 KB, 2 PP)
Students in grades 7-9 compare consumption habits in developing and developed countries and examine the effect of mass consumption on the Ecological Footprint of a country and an individual.
Reduce, Reuse, and Create Art! ( PDF, 107 KB, 6 PP)
Students in grades 9-12 create their own art project out of recycled materials.
Life, Death, Dirt and Walt Whitman
Students in grades 9-12 use Walt Whitman’s poem “This Compost” as a literary lens to discuss the rebirth of organic materials through composting.
Green Jobs and Economics ( PDF, 132 KB, 8 pgs.)
Students in grades 9-12 explore green jobs and green business practices that will play an important role in rebuilding and strengthening our economy and environment.
An Exploration of Wind Energy & Wind Turbines
In this unit, students in grades 9-12 work in teams to design, test, and analyze components of a wind turbine: blade length, blade shape, height of turbine, etc. Student worksheets are included to facilitate the design and analysis process. The unit includes a pre and post test on wind power.
Lesson Units
Department of Energy: K-12 Lesson Plans & Activities
Teach your students the importance of green energy with creative lesson plans, labs, projects and other activities for grades K-12 on energy-related topics.
Teacher Resources and Lesson Plans
An array of environmental and science based lesson plans, activities and ideas for K-12.
- eGFI: For Teachers Lesson Plans K-12
- Green Your Lesson Plan K-12 (Greening Schools)
- Download green lesson plans and activities K-12 (Green Schools Project)
Websites & Portals
Science Education
ScienceEducation.gov (beta version) is the unification of federal science agencies’ science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education content, supporting cyber-learning and open participation.
- An Educator's Guide to Green Lessons & Activities
- EIA Energy Kids (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
- Green Curricula and Environmental Learning Activities (The Green Spotlight)
- Earth Day (Environmental Protection Agency)
- NASA Earth Day (NASA)
- Earth Hour
Games & Activities
Top 10 Earth Day Activities
10 activities for grades K-12.
Organics 101
Online Jeopardy-style game on organic food for secondary grades.
Environmental Education: Activities & Games 6-12
Printables
- Coloring Pages Environment K-8
- National Green Week: Posters K-12
- Hazardous Substance Information and Education Office K-12
Video
Earth Day Video Recommendations
For grades K-12. Eight full-length conservation-themed episodes from the PBS television program Nature that you can watch online.
Earth Day History
For grades K-12 there are13 brief Earth Day related videos, charting the green movement since the first Earth Day in 1970.
last updated: April 3, 2014
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Advice & Support
Best of Works4Me: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Before you throw it away, read how your fellow educators across the country are keeping it green, saving money and setting great green examples for students.
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