Earth Day Curriculum Resources, Grades 6-8
Earth Day Is April 22
Explore new and review familiar ways to live responsibly with these lessons, projects, activities, and games for grades 6-8.
Lesson Plans
Comparing Light Bulbs
Students in grades K-8 compare compact fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs to measure the difference between being energy-efficient and energy-wasteful.
Draft-O-Meter
Students in grades K-8 learn an easy technique to measure the presence of drafts in their homes and classrooms.
Build a Pizza Box Solar Oven
Students in grades K-12 make a simple solar oven using a pizza box that gets hot enough to warm up cookies and other treats, like s'mores.
Energy Detectives (3 Activities)
Students in grades 5-8 search their classroom for energy connections and record the ways they use energy throughout a typical day in an energy detective journal.
Geothermal Energy (5 Activities)
Students in grades 5-8 explore heat transfer from rock to water, energy transfer between fluids in a binary geothermal power plant, salinity’s effect on the boiling point of water, emissions from a geothermal power plant and those from a fossil fuel power plant, and the performance of a model dry steam power plant with turbine blades and steam jets of different size and number.
Building the Basic PVC Wind Turbine
Students in grades 5-12 make a rugged and inexpensive classroom wind turbine that can be used for lab bench-based blade design experiments. A few specialized parts are needed (a hub and DC motor), but most of the components can be found at hardware stores.
Endangered Ecosystems K-12 students study animals that live in endangered ecosystems in the tropical forests of Mexico and Costa Rica and the wetlands of Brazil.
Lesson Units
Monterey Bay Aquarium Lessons for PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 cover marine life, ocean environments, and plastic pollution.
Teach and Learn Teach your students the importance of green energy with creative lesson plans, labs, projects and other activities for grades K-12 on energy-related topics.
Lesson Plans, Teacher Guides and Online Resources for Educators
An array of environmental and science based lesson plans, activities and ideas for K-12.
Celebrate Earth Day (Scholastic)
Promote environmental awareness with these lessons, activities, and printables for grades 5-8.
Websites & Portals
Resources for Students and Educators
Science Education
ScienceEducation.gov provides access to federal science agencies’ science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education content, supporting cyber-learning and open participation.
- An Educator's Guide to Green Lessons & Activities
- EIA Energy Kids (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
- Green Curricula and Environmental Learning Activities (The Green Spotlight)
- Earth Day (Environmental Protection Agency)
- Earth (NASA)
- Earth Hour
- Earth Day Network
Games & Activities
- Top Ten Earth Day Activities
10 activities for grades K-12.
Printables
Infographics
- Truth About Plastic
- Infographic: Plastic Pollution
- Plastics in the Marine Environment
- Infographic: How You Can Help Reduce Plastic Pollution
Video
Earth Day History
For grades K-12 there are13 brief Earth Day related videos, charting the green movement since the first Earth Day in 1970.
last updated: February 25, 2020
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Advice & Support
Best of Works4Me: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Before you throw it away, read how your fellow educators across the country are keeping it green, saving money and setting great green examples for students.
