Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Working on an Earth Day Lesson Plan

Earth Day


     With Earth Day around the corner I have been thinking about what I am going to do for it and how to make it fun for Ricky.  Then I remembered a fun little children's story that I am sure most of us have read The Lorax by no other than Dr. Seuss.  This is a great book for Earth Day and after a little time on Google I see that I am not alone in this thought.  There are many great jumping off places to use the Lorax in a lesson to teach about Earth Day and how to treat our home.




     A great place to start would be right in Dr. Seuss' back yard in Seussville.  This site is great they have video clips of some of the Cat in the Hat cartoons and some of Dr. Seuss' movies (previews).  They also have a Lorax lesson plan that can help get people started planning a lesson.  Ricky just loved the Lorax game that they had as well.  If your child likes printables and coloring they have that as well. 

     So this weekend we are heading to the library to borrow a copy of  The Lorax, and we are going to get the movie from Netflix.  While there we are going to see what other books they may have with an Earth day type theme. 

Smash! Smash! Truck Recycling As You've Never Heard It Before!  
Written by: Aidan Potts

We Planted A Tree
Written by:  Diane Muldrow

Baby Beluga
Written by:  Raffi

The Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute (Anymore)
Written by: Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
              
      
     We are also going to go on a nature hike this weekend to get things started and to look at the trees and show why they are important.  We may even hit up a local nursery and check out what they have.  I am also thinking it would be a great time to get some transplants in and start a garden out 
back.

For other ideas I am going to be checking these sites.  In the end I am going for educational fun and to teach my child what I think is important and also to have this lead into nature study and and study of animals.  Every link I am sharing will have free content on it.
EPA Environmental Kids Club
The menu to the different sections is on the bottom under all the widgets it look ok.  the teacher section has some pdfs that you can check out as well

The Lorax Free Lesson Plans
Some of these would work for a child older than mine but there is still some great info on this site.

Blue Print for a Green School Curriculum Guide
This is easy to use put in the subject you want, grade level and how long you want the lesson and it pulls up ideas with links and stuff.  I have only played with it for a few minutes but I have liked what I saw already.

Green Teachers Celebrating Earth Week: It's Elemental
I just love the ideas on this page and can see them being a great jumping off point for us and many lessons.

Planet Pals
To be honest this site is cute just not sure it will work for us but I know there are so many out there that are looking for things that this might help.  there is free stuff on here and they have a store as well.

Energy Kids from the EIA
This site has lesson plans, games, riddles and science projects you can do with your child and it's educational on energy as well.  I can see my 5y.o. enjoying this site as well as my oldest who is 10.  I am sure we will wrap something from here into our earth day lessons.

The Lorax Saves the Trees Game
Ok my son hasn't tried this one out yet but I did and it was cute and easy.  While not the must educational I believe it will help back up the theme of the book and or earth day and well hey every kid likes a little fun.

These are just some of the ideas and things I have found for Earth Day, I am sure I could find more but I have been given a ton of ideas for a great jumping off point and I hope that they help you the same way.


3 comments:

  1. Sooo cool! I've been toying around with a homeschool blog but its private (for my eyes only) 'til I work out the kinks. I'm not brave enough to jump right in, apparently. Lol

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  2. Wow! I've been thinking alot about our Earth lately and I completely forgot we actually have a day set aside for it. Then again, every day should be earth day :-) Have fun on your adventures.

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