Students compare and contrast two birthday parties (one that generated a lot of waste and one planned around “zero waste”), consider the environmental impact of one’s personal waste, gain an understanding of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and learn to practice zero waste in their own lives.
Lesson Series Summary
Unit Overview
Through readings, activities, and discussions, students compare and contrast two birthday parties (one that generated a lot of waste and one planned around “zero waste”), consider the environmental impact of one’s personal waste, gain an understanding of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and learn to practice zero waste in their own lives.
Grades
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Project Type
In-class or online lesson
Environmental Topics
Environmental Justice, Green Guardianship, Pollution, Resource Conservation, Waste Management
This project may easily be extended into optional family discussions and activities around environmental literacy. To facilitate this engagement, a family guide (in English and Spanish) has been created which teachers may choose to forward to interested parents and guardians.
Through a story and related activities, students discuss the cleanup experience after a character’s wasteful birthday party and define waste. They begin to question how and why we waste things and what steps we can take to reduce waste.
Through a story and related activities, students revisit the cleanup after the wasteful party and discuss how the waste the characters made could have been reduced, reused, and/or recycled.
Through a story and related activities, students learn about zero waste and discuss how the characters plan and participate in a zero waste birthday party.
Through counting and graphing activities, students calculate and discuss the types of waste a character creates in his daily life and how he can reduce, reuse, and recycle it. Then they fill in a picture graph on what they themselves throw away.
Through a collaborative graphing and drawing activity, students work with partners to fill in a picture graph and calculate the kinds of waste they throw away in a day. They create a poster detailing actions they can take to reduce, reuse and recycle.
The CAELI Community-Based Partner Hub is a portal that connects K–12 teachers and administrators to environmental education community-based partners and their programs. Find experiential learning opportunities for your students today!
This professional learning workshop focuses on building teacher capacity for integrating environmental literacy instruction and science instruction in K–1.
This week, we are excited to share some of the programs available this fall for K-12 students through the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) Community-Based Partner Hub (the Hub)!
This week, we are excited to share some of the programs available this fall for K-12 students through the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) Community-Based Partner Hub (the Hub)!
With a wide array of programs offered throughout the fall season, the Hub is a great place to start when looking for environmental education-focused field trips, camps, competitions, and more! Our environmental education community-based partners have programs for students of all ages with a variety of free and fee-based opportunities.
Don’t wait to sign up for your 2021 fall program! See the list of available programs below, and visit the Hub to learn more!
Earlier this month, the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released its Sixth Assessment Report on the latest scientific understanding of climate change, human’s role in it, and present and future implications. The facts were astounding.
Earlier this month, the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released its Sixth Assessment Report on the latest scientific understanding of climate change, human’s role in it, and present and future implications. The facts were astounding.
Some major points that were covered:
Climate change is a universal problem and is affecting every country across the world
Human activity has been the main cause of climate change
We are far from meeting the Paris agreement targets of less than 1.5-2°C of warming
An increase in global temperatures will cause detrimental effects on our climate
There is an immediate need to reduce emissions and reaching net zero carbon emissions
The climate crisis is no longer about avoiding the effects of climate change, it’s about mitigating the environmental damage and human suffering that will follow. We need individuals in all industries and sectors to approach their work and everyday lives through an environmental lens and this will require a much deeper understanding of how natural and human systems interact. We need to rethink our siloed approach to education and integrate environmental education across all core subjects and disciplines in K-12 and higher ed.
We must advance environmental literacy for all. Our future depends on our ability to protect our environment. We’ve left our youth with a crisis, let’s at least provide them with the 21st-century skills needed to solve it. Join us as we advance environmental literacy, raise awareness of the climate crisis, and equip students in K-12 with the knowledge and tools to act as Green Guardians!
For an easy to navigate summary of the report and its findings check out Andra Yegohian’s brief overview here.
Despite the serious implications of [the report] findings, the K-12 education sector has a great opportunity to be a part of the most important teachable moment humanity has ever experienced: surviving and thriving in the climate era.
The Hub promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of environmental education community-based partners and their products and services and fosters educator-partner relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement.
Grades K-1: Through readings, activities, and discussions, students trace the journey of a banana from farm to home and beyond, consider its environmental impact, and envision a greener journey.
Grades K-1: Through readings, activities, and discussions, students compare and contrast two birthday parties (one that generated a lot of waste and one planned around “zero waste”), consider the environmental impact of one’s personal waste, gain an understanding of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and learn to practice zero waste in their own lives.
This is a dynamic and high-quality virtual program for K-12 teachers with the objective of providing a learning experience that enhances your knowledge and classroom lessons.
This interactive webinar will engage participants in a discussion about the inequities observed in our STEM classrooms and how we can address contemporary issues of inequity through collaboration with school leaders, parents, and the community to “build back better.”
The climate crisis is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, and we are not ready for it. While the crisis has many factors that play a role in its exacerbation, there are some that warrant more attention than others. Here are some of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime.
Green-Books.org is an educational project that introduces environmental topics in schools across the Indonesian archipelago. It does so through the work of environmental and educational experts who create interactive activities for children and teach them how to protect nature.
On Monday, an extremely important report on the physical science of climate change will be released to the world. Produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the report will give world leaders the most up-to-date information about climate change.
This year we have seen the deadly impacts of climate change hit places that were not prepared: historic raging wildfires and megadroughts in the Western United States, heatwaves in Canada, floods in Germany and China, hurricanes in the Caribbean.
Students follow the story of Timor, a “bug enthusiast”, who rescues a monarch caterpillar from his backyard and takes it to school to try to save it.
Unit Overview
Through readings, activities and discussions, students follow the story of Timor, a “bug enthusiast”, who rescues a monarch caterpillar from his backyard and takes it to school to try to save it. Students will consider the environmental impact of pesticides and habitat loss on pollinators and learn what they can do to help protect and increase the population of monarch butterflies.
Grades
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Lesson Type
In-class or online lesson, PBL activity
Environmental Topics
Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Environmental Justice, Green Guardianship, Sustainable Human Development
This project may easily be extended into optional family discussions and activities around monarch butterflies and other pollinating insects (like bees) and the challenges facing them. To facilitate this engagement, a family guide (in English and Spanish) has been created which teachers may choose to forward to interested parents and guardians.
Three lessons of 30-40 minutes each and an optional project.
Lesson 1: Timor and the Caterpillar
Through a story and related activities, students discuss the characteristics of monarch butterflies and define life cycle. They observe the metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly and learn what monarch butterflies need to live.
Through a story and related activities, students learn about pollination and the interdependency of living things. They learn of the dangers facing monarchs today, especially weedkiller and bug spray. They begin to think of ways they can help save monarch butterflies.
Through a story and related activities, students pose questions along with the characters about monarch butterfly waystations and discuss how they can put one on their school grounds.
