Celebrate Earth Day with Discovery Education’s collection of Earth Day activities and encourage your students to explore the wonders of our planet!
Explore Earth
Our planet is beautiful—from land to sea! Wondering about the importance of water to our world, what issues our planet is facing, or how we can help? DE has pulled together engaging lessons, videos, and activities to show students the wonders of our planet.
Start the journey for students in grades PK-5 with Earth to Luna: So Much Water, Fishtronaut: The Case of the Underwater Desert, and Fishtronaut: A Case of the Missing River videos to learn where our water comes from and how to protect its natural resources. Next, G3-5 students can dive into the different climates and weather conditions around the world with DEmystified: Climate.
Introduce the various resources our planet offers us and highlight the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources, and ways to protect these resources with videos from DEmystified. Take the research even further with Elements videos on clean water and trash!
Students in grades 6-12 can explore real-world environmental issues with videos on the experiences of living in a California drought with When a Town Runs Dry, or stories of how commercial farming impacts life in the Gamo Highlands of Africa with A Thousand Suns.
Next, step into the animal kingdom with an Endangered Species Series created in partnership with LG! In the first activity, students will dive into the world of animal adaptations by observing snow leopards in real time! Students will be able to identify variations in characteristics within the species, which play a crucial role in providing advantages for survival and successful reproduction. Our planet offers many resources, animals, and plants, and Earth Day is the perfect opportunity to explore them all!
Care for Our Community
With so much to appreciate about Earth, how can we show we care for our local communities? Inspire students to think about their communities by highlighting stories of local leaders making an impact.
Sustainable Futures, a program from Discovery Education and Trane Technologies, provides resources to inspire students to learn, explore, innovate and lead us to a healthier world. With career profiles and a look inside Trane Technologies, students can see employees who are using sustainable solutions to create the systems that make a positive impact in their communities.
More Planet-Friendly Resources for Earth Day Lessons
Sesame Workshop: Make Our Earth Better
N*Gen
Conservation Station
Make Mindful Choices
Help students see how individual human actions impact the planet with the Make Our Earth Better video and mini-lesson for grades PK-2 and N*GEN’s video for older students.
Peer into how plastics are used with videos from Earth to Luna and Fishtronaut. Next, take a peek at the solutions scientists are creating for plastics! Watch The Recycling Process to discover how plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, and aluminum cans can be transformed into something new, then step into a science lab in this Elements video to learn about a new “super enzyme” that breaks down plastic materials faster than ever.
Students can practice making mindful choices by using the Sandbox AR app to clean up the beach in augmented reality! Walk around in a pre-made beach scene, find the plastic objects, and remove them to pick up the litter. This activity takes place inside the free Sandbox AR app for iOS and Sandbox for Chromebook.
Find out about Fast Fashion’s Impact on the Environment with a video from Newsy, reading passages from Science News Explores, or turn your classroom into a design studio with the Plastic Fabric STEM Challenge that allows your students to create a makeshift fabric from recycled plastic.
Support our Planet
Explore a range of impactful programs dedicated to promoting environmental education and conservation. These initiatives are designed to inspire and empower individuals to make a positive difference for our planet. Explore their programs and standards-aligned resources to inspire students to help make our future greener!
Environmental Education Initiative (EEI): Empowering students and educators with the knowledge and tools to conserve our planet’s resources.
STEM Careers Coalition: Inspiring the next generation of leaders in science, technology, engineering, and math to tackle environmental challenges.
Conservation Station: Providing practical tips and strategies for conserving energy and water, helping individuals and communities to live more eco-friendly lives.
Sustainable Futures: Focusing on climate solutions that enhance the quality and comfort of indoor environments.
Earth Day is on April 22 each year, but with engaging content from Discovery Education, you can elevate your students’ understanding of the Earth any time of the year!
