Happy Earth Day!

Looking to celebrate the planet with your class?  Here's a great little collection of Earth Day activities, lesson ideas, printouts, and crafts from Picadome Elementary in Kentucky.

Please peruse to pass on pertinent propaganda to pupils so our planet persists purely!

 ...Sorry, I was feeling like an alliteration was necessary today. :)

Get Ready for Earth Day by Calculating Your Footprint

I have a few sites for you to use with your students to get ready for Earth Day and calculate your ecological footprint.  

The first is My Footprint.Org.  By answering about 30 questions in the quiz, you are provided with, at least in my case, chilling results pertaining to your use of the Earth's resources.  Watch as you input or change answers how the results change.  Good for realizing the actions that cause the most damage or good. You are then able to compare your data with the average of the country, view graphs of the results, and research methods for reducing your footprint.

The next one is more appropriate for the younger students.  Zero Footprint guides students through questions about energy usage, and trash, eating, and travel habits, then provides goals for them to try following at home.
Once all questions are answered, students can see how many Earths are needed to support their lifestyle.

Finally, the Earth Day Network has a quiz where you can answer similar question to the other two site, but here you have the option to have more control over your specific answers.  Using this site's quiz, you can save results, come back later, or even explore different scenarios to see how you can change your footprint.

Enjoy, and hopefully your students benefit by seeing that the way we live is not infinitely sustainable!