April 22, 2006 is the thirty-sixth celebration of Earth Day. This year's theme is Climate Change as Earth Day Network embarks on a three-year campaign focusing on solutions to global warming. Although ideally everyday should be Earth Day, the annual holiday presents the perfect opportunity to learn more about ecology and the environment.
EcoKids is Canada's environmental youth education program, and even though site membership is restricted to Canadian youth groups, there's oodles of material for non-members. My favorite section is Play and Learn, with activities, slide shows, quizzes, games and PDF printables in topics such as the environment, science, nature, wildlife and energy. For example, did you know that every year thousands of frogs get squashed crossing roads to reach seasonal habitats? You can help by finding frog habitats that span busy roads and educating local drivers about the issue.
"In 1963, former Senator Gaylord Nelson began to worry about our planet. (A senator is a person that the people of the United States have chosen to help make the laws.) Senator Nelson knew that our world was getting dirty and that many of our plants and animals were dying. He wondered why more people weren't trying to solve these problems." In addition to a short history of Earth Day, you'll find Earth Day puzzles, postcards, games, activities, coloring pages, clip art, endangered animals to adopt, and (whew!) more.
Clinton Hill succumbed to cancer at age eleven, but before he died he channeled his passion for the environment into a kids' club dedicated to saving planet Earth. Now, his mother runs the organization, which provides free online information and low-cost classroom materials through the mail. Best clicks are the activities found in the Action Programs, such as creating an event for International Migratory Bird Day on May 2 or having a used book sale to support Reading for the Earth month. When is Reading for the Earth month? Any month you choose!
"Can scientists predict the global impacts of increased levels of pollutants in the atmosphere? Will the planet warm because increased levels of greenhouse gases, produced by the burning of fossil fuels, trap heat and prevent it from being radiated back into space? Will the polar ice caps melt, causing massive coastal flooding? Have humans initiated wholesale climatic change?" NASA studies the earth, not just outer space, and has created this earth science site for kids and their teachers and filled it to the brim with information, lesson plans and games.
"What can you do this Earth Day? Learn about the Arctic Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. It's a wild and wonderful place at risk from oil development." Join photojournalist John Dunne on a three-month trek (read his journal and enjoy his photographs) or take a bird's eye view of the refuge in Max's Grand Adventure. Who is Max? "Max is an American Golden-Plover. Full grown, he's smaller than a football, but logs more miles in the sky than many frequent fliers. His birthplace is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But he'll be a world-class traveler before he's five months old!"
Buy Earth Day Printable for $2.00
or try a FREE trial of the Printables ClubThe following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
Earth Day NetworkUS Government: Earth Day | EPA: Earth DayEarth Day Groceries Project |
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