Linking to Save the Earth

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When some 20 million people participated in protests, teach-ins, and other activities on the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, there was no World Wide Web. Today, the Internet helps link people worldwide who want to protect the earth's environment and its creatures, share what they are learning, and take group action — and your kids can participate.

But when it comes to tending the planet, every day is really Earth Day. The Rainforest Action Network, like many environmental groups on the Web, provides "Action Alerts." You can also pick out an environmental issue close to home and organize a letter-writing effort to your local member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The animal world is well-represented on the Web, with countless sites devoted to particular animals and saving endangered species. The Tiger Information Center, for instance, offers your students a chance to learn about the threats of poaching and other human activities to tigers and what people can do about it. Or ask your students to pick their own favorite animal or plant — surely, there will be a Web site devoted to it!

Life in the Rainforest
This content resource helps teachers locate online resources on rainforests. This can be used to develop lesson plans about rainforest topics, facts on rainforests, and a helpful teachers guide to the environment.

Earth Day Lessons for Teachers Using the SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard
Standards-based Earth Day lesson activities for use with the SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard and Notebook collaborative learning software.

Earth Day
Students at Town Center Elementary School in Coppell, Texas, organized a special event to celebrate Earth Day called Earthfest. At Earthfest, kids had the opportunity to learn about the importance of protecting our environment. The students who helped organized the event are members of the environmental club, Green Team.

LESSON PLAN	Teacher Lesson on Ecosystems and Recycling Learn about ecosystems, understand how reducing, reusing, and recycling can impact the environment, and practice reading comprehension skills.
UNIT PLAN	Endangered Ecosystems Students will learn firsthand how Earthwatch teams study animals in their environment and work to preserve these endangered ecosystems.
ONLINE ACTIVITY	Math Hunt: Earth Day Find out how to help preserve the planet by solving these environmentally-themed math questions on ratios, percentages, and basic operations.