Classroom Tips for Earth Hour and Beyond
By Vijaya Selvaraju
Earth Hour, which occurs at 8:30 pm on March 26 2011, is a celebration that raises awareness about the earth. For one hour, millions of people around the world join forces by turning off their lights, showing their support towards a sustainable future. The first Earth Hour took place in 2007 in Australia, and has since been observed by over 128 countries.
Around the world Earth Hour is celebrated in different ways. Some people keep their lights off for more than an hour, while others participate in environmental rallies, and recycling drives to shed light on the importance of preserving the environment.
Although Earth Hour occurs once-a-year, it is important to instill in students the importance of a lifestyle that is conscious of the earth’s well being. Here are a few ideas on how you can become more environmentally aware in the classroom:
- Create a compost bin, and encourage students to drop lunch or snack food scraps in it.
- Organize a classroom recycling program with paper, plastic, aluminum, and waste bins.
- Assign rotating monitors who are responsible for turning off lights, and closing doors when leaving a room.
- Encourage students to bring refillable water bottles to school.
- Organize a field trip to the local recycling plant.
ProjectExplorer.org features numerous videos to encourage students to protect and preserve the world in which we live. Visit Kirstenbosch Garden in South Africa to learn about plant and animal biodiversity in the Cape Floral Kingdom.
Jenny M. Buccos is the Project Explorer Editor for Wandering Educators. You can see more great videos at explr.com/