About this Daily Classroom Special: 
Science to Go provides easy yet meaningful science activities for grades k-8. Science to Go was written by Barbara Smith, Magnet Coordinator at Harvard Elementary, Houston (TX) and former Teachers Network web mentor.

Celebrate Earth Day
April 22, 2007

Earth Day is April 22. What are you and your students doing to celebrate?

Here are some ideas:

• Have a speaker come in from the municipal water office, and share information about pollution, storm drains, water treatment, heavy metals, source and destination of public water.
• Clean up a local river or stream.
• Practice installing low-flow shower heads or faucet aerators.
• Compare/contrast performance of different types of light bulbs.
• Count the number of light bulbs in a classroom, determine how much electricity they use every day. How much does it cost to light the classroom for the year? How much electricity could be saved by turning off lights when the classroom is not in use?
• Search the school for dripping, leaky faucets. Calculate rate of loss, and cost per month. Bring information to custodian's or principal's attention.
• Conduct a trash pickup around campus. Educate younger classes about litter and its effects.
• Study cafeteria trash. What can be done to decrease amounts of trash and waste? Devise and implement an action plan.  Design and build a wildlife habitat on campus.
• Sponsor a car free day campaign. Encourage others to walk, bicycle, or use public transportation.
• Find out how many reams of paper the average tree produces. Find out how much paper your school buys every year.
• Sponsor an environmental trivia quiz to be announced on the intercom.
• Save your classroom trash for a week. Compare to trash generated at home and in the cafeteria. How much does the average person produce per day? week?
• Discuss how to make environmental awareness a year-round phenomena, not a one-day event.