Go Kids!  Go Earth!!

EARTH DAY PROJECT IDEAS & RESOURCES

The Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Math & Environmental Education has many excellent resources for planning an Earth Day Project! 

• For a list of activity guides, children’s literature and equipment available to teachers for loan through our Resource Clearinghouse, visit our website:  http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/manuals.html & http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/teachers_resources.html
• For information about projects that were done by schools during the past three years of the program, visit our website:

http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/earthweek/index.html

Here are project ideas and web links to get your class or youth group thinking about what YOU can do:

• Plant a school or community garden that provides wildlife habitat, enhances human habitat, or provides food.

http://www.nwf.org/schoolyardhabitats/creatinghabitatsites.cfm & http://www.kidsgardening.com/

• Build bird nesting boxes or bat boxes.  http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/birdhous/birdhous.htm
• Organize an Its Cool to Carpool or Walk to School Day to address global warming.
• Organize a tree-planting project.  http://www.earthday.net/goals/trees/treeplanting.stm
• Calculate your Ecological Footprint:  http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp# & http://www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint/intro.htm
• Start a “Waste Free Lunch Program”   http://www.wastefreelunches.org/
• Hold a recycling drive or set up an in-school recycling program:  http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/ & http://www.resourcefulschools.org
• Make a worm compost bin for your school cafeteria.
• Conduct a frog/toad calling or deformity survey.  http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/frog.htm
• Conduct a forest, schoolyard, or stream clean-up.
• Conduct a storm drain stenciling project.  http://www.earthwater-stencils.com/   (Center has stencils you can borrow.)
• Display gallon jugs of water equal to what is used for various household activities and/or to produce various goods.
• Broadcast an Earth Day message over the school PA system or your local TV or radio station.
• Decorate paper bags for a local grocery store with earth-friendly messages:  http://www.earthdaybags.org/

Earth Day Websites

• Earth Day Network:  http://www.earthday.net/default.asp
• Official Site of International Earth Day:  http://www.earthsite.org/
• Earth Day at Kids Domain:  http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/earthday/index.html
• Wilderness Society Earth Day Page:  http://earthday.wilderness.org/
• EnviroLink Earth Day Pages:  http://earthday.envirolink.org/
• U.S. Government:  http://www.earthday.gov/
• U.S. Department of Energy:  www.eere.energy.gov/earthday
• Environmental Protection Agency :  www.epa.gov/earthday
• National Institute of Health:  www.nih.gov/od/ors/earthday
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:  http://www.noaa.gov/earthday/
• Department of Transportation:  www.dot.gov/affairs/earth.htm
• Sierra Club :   http://www.sierraclub.org/earthday2003/epec/mi.asp

Resources for Environmental Education in Michigan

• Michigan Environmental Education:  http://www.michiganenvironmentaled.org/
• Michigan Department of Environmental Quality: http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3307_3580---,00.html
• North American Association of Environmental Education:  http://www.eelink.net/classroomresources-directories.html
• EPA Environmental Education Kids Club: http://epa.gov/kids/

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