April is for flowers and rain showers and celebrating our beautiful and bountiful Planet! I really loved the unit I taught on Earth Day last year so I’ve turned it into a Google Slides hyperdoc that any middle school student can do at home or school. They may need a little help with the research, but it is designed to be independently navigated. It has several different activities and you can pick and choose which ones to do or add your own! Click here to copy for FREE.
In my 6th grade humanities class, we were studying the United States government; its three federal branches; and how local, state, and national governments might work together. It turns out that the history of Environmental Legislation and the Earth Day Movement is a great angle from which to learn more about how citizens can influence and partner with our national leaders to do really impactful things. The environmental movement of the 1970s was a fairly bipartisan effort. It produced a slew of laws that we benefit from immensely today. Students can connect this study to the Paris Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals too. There are tons of art and science connections to make.
Here are my favorite resources for follow up research and exploration (these are at the end of the slide show too):
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT CALCULATOR
So check out the hyperdoc and let me know what you think! I hope to share more resources like this. You know. When I get some free time. đŸ˜‰
Also don’t forget to tune into Earth Day Live on April 22 starting at 12pm EST.
P.S. If any of the links stop working just send me a message at the contact page on teacherlesley.com.
Teacher Lesley 