Eco-Friendly Awareness in the Classroom
As the curriculum continues to evolve to include the environmental issues (Earth Day, Earth Hour, Eco-Schools etc), here are a few sites I've used and how I've integrated them into my program.
Grade: 3-5
Summary: The Zerofootprint helps calculates how much carbon footprint each of us make on a daily basis. It takes into considerations where you eat, what you do and how you get to school.
How to use it: Independent
I use it in my graphing unit. Then I issue a challenge to the students to reduce their carbon footprints before the end of the unit. The class can graph the data in various charts and graphs.
Grades: 2-5
Summary: Students complete a series of activities that is all about being eco-friendly. They can also design their own EekoCreature and interact with other EekoCreatures from other kids. The more points they earn from learning about the environment the more they can customize their creature.
How to use it: Shared/ Independently
It would work best for independent users but I also used it as a center and had groups create creatures together.
*Note: students must login to save but not necessary
Grade: 3-5
Summary: Get your students to explore the Ontario Greenbelt by completing a series of mini games which will unlock clues to find Enviro Girl.
How to use it: Shared/Independent
Maybe have complete a clue a day as a class or have the students explore on their own.
Grades: 1-8
Summary: There are a lot to explore on this site from information about animals to what we can do to help the environment. There also games to play and activities to print out.
How to use it: Independent/Teacher Resource
This site is great to share not only for Earth Hour but for research projects as well. There are also a lot of great ideas for teachers.
