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Earth Day {A Hands-On Lesson}

We can talk all day long about how to take care of the Earth, and why it is so important, but children have a really hard time grasping the concept of pollution.  This hands-on demonstration will help your students get a better understanding of the importance of taking care of the Earth.
 Here is what you will need:
Tub or bucket
Tongs and/or a spoons
Oil
Water
Trash and/or Food Scraps
Dirt (Optional)
Pour clean water into a tub and discuss how this is the clean water that we should see in lakes, oceans, and rivers.  (Next, I added a little dirt to the water to add to the effect, but this is optional.)
Pour about a 1/4 cup of oil into the water.  Discuss how sometimes oil spills happen in the ocean, and how it is extremely harmful to ocean life.
Next, begin adding some trash and/or food scraps into the water. 
(Any guesses what I ate for breakfast this morning?)
Talk about how when we liter, trash can end up in our water supply.
Have students work together to try and pull all of the trash out of the water.
 You can also let the students use spoons to try and get the dirt and oil out of the water.
They will find that it is nearly impossible to remove all of the oil and dirt from the water.
This activity can be followed up with student writing.  You could have them write about what they learned or how they would take care of the Earth.
You can click on the picture below for some free Earth Day writing paper.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bTZllX7s9pRjBmLUVfUHJ0NXM/view?usp=sharing
 
These are some of my favorite Earth Day books.
 
Happy Earth Day!


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