Linking to Save the Earth

• PRINT

When some 20 million people participated in protests, teach-ins, and other activities on the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, there was no World Wide Web. Today, the Internet helps link people worldwide who want to protect the earth's environment and its creatures, share what they are learning, and take group action — and your kids can participate.

But when it comes to tending the planet, every day is really Earth Day. The Rainforest Action Network, like many environmental groups on the Web, provides "Action Alerts." You can also pick out an environmental issue close to home and organize a letter-writing effort to your local member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The animal world is well-represented on the Web, with countless sites devoted to particular animals and saving endangered species. The Tiger Information Center, for instance, offers your students a chance to learn about the threats of poaching and other human activities to tigers and what people can do about it. Or ask your students to pick their own favorite animal or plant — surely, there will be a Web site devoted to it!

Life in the Rainforest
This content resource helps teachers locate online resources on rainforests. This can be used to develop lesson plans about rainforest topics, facts on rainforests, and a helpful teachers guide to the environment.

Earth Day
Students at Town Center Elementary School in Coppell, Texas, organized a special event to celebrate Earth Day called Earthfest. At Earthfest, kids had the opportunity to learn about the importance of protecting our environment. The students who helped organized the event are members of the environmental club, Green Team.

Earth Day: Cleaning Up
Not all plants are great for every environment. Some plants are growing too fast and are doing harm. So to help clean up the environment, people are volunteering to pull these plants.

LESSON PLAN	Taking an Animal Census Grades 3-8 Students conduct an animal census in a designated area for six months to observe and record what types of species are present, in what numbers,...
UNIT PLAN	Endangered Ecosystems Students will learn firsthand how Earthwatch teams study animals in their environment and work to preserve these endangered ecosystems.
ONLINE ACTIVITY	Kids' Environmental Report Card Make your voice heard by voting in the Kids' Environmental Report Card.
BOOK INFORMATION	Four Against the Odds Four exciting, true stories of ordinary people who tackled important environmental issues, including one Brazilian man who was killed while trying to save the rain forests.