Eco School Activities
How human activities impact the Earth is an important lesson for children to learn. Eco school activities help students learn about natural processes of the Earth and demonstrate ways to keep it cleaner.
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Gardening
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You will need space and some gardening equipment, but planting and tending to a garden as a class can be a valuable teaching tool. Students learn what a plant needs to grow. They can witness the life cycle of plants and see how different kinds of weather affect the garden. If you plant a vegetable garden, plan how to use the harvest. You can plan a feast day for the class, eating only foods they have grown. You can also donate the produce to a local food pantry.
Litter
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Litter is trash that never makes it to a trash receptacle. It is unsightly and potentially dangerous to people and animals. Broken glass is an obvious hazard, but wildlife can also be harmed by litter. Animals can get their heads stuck inside discarded yogurt containers when they try to lick out the contents or get strangled by a plastic ring, such as those that hold together a six pack of soda. Organize your class to take a field trip to pick up litter around the school, around the neighborhood or in a nearby park. Ask them to identify reasons people would litter and consider ideas to prevent more littering. Have the class make posters to encourage others to put trash where it belongs.
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Walking
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Burning fossil fuels, such as gasoline in cars, is a chief contributor to air pollution. Car exhaust fumes contain carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and particles that deteriorate the air quality and may contribute to breathing problems such as asthma. Students should be aware of how unnecessary car travel can be detrimental to the environment. Take a survey of how students get to school. Record how many walk or bike to school, how many take a bus, how many carpool and how many are driven to school by a parent or caregiver. Graph the results.
Ask students which options are more ecologically friendly. For example, riding a bus that transports many students has a lower environmental impact than if all of those children were driven in separate cars. If practical, encourage students to walk or bike to school for a week.
Recycle
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Start a recycling program at the school as a class project. If your school already has a recycling program, brainstorm ways to improve it by making recycling easier and more accessible. Place paper recycling boxes in every classroom and encourage students to use both sides of a piece of paper. Have another box to recycle craft materials. Many things that are thrown in the trash can be recycled for craft projects, such as egg cartons. Encourage students to bring items from home that would otherwise be thrown away.
Reduce
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Talk about reducing trash. Americans throws away an average 2.6 pounds of trash each day. Challenge students to reduce their trash by taking snacks and lunches in reusable containers. Have students keep a journal on their trash. Ask them to record every piece of trash they throw away during the reduce project. Review the journals periodically. The students may come up with creative ways to reduce their trash generation.
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References
- Photo Credit Recycle image by KateC from Fotolia.com
