Sustainable Classroom Activities
Lesson Activity Examples
Alphabet Fruit
Rather than wasting unused fruit, use alphabet cookie cutters to cut out the fruit to use as a tool for students to build words with for a day.
Paper Free Week
Challenge your class, or even the school, to go paperless for a week to compare the amount of paper they would use during a regular school week. This may even lead to more paper-free classroom or activities within your class.
Have students create a model of our solar system using fruit that is being unused.
Give your students the challenge of keeping apple slices from turning brown. See how many hour, days, or weeks an apple would be able to last without turning brown.
Discuss with students what trees have been able to provide for use and in turn what we are doing to help the trees by using “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein as an introduction. Can we be doing more in this area?
Explore the importance of the ocean, and water in general, to develop an understanding of our impact on the ocean.
Have students imagine they are on a intergalatic trip to another planet. Describe to them the overall state of the planet (whether good or bad) and have them reflect on it by drawing on what they feel of Earth.
Vermiculture
Try out worm composting in the classroom to teach students about animal life cycles and/or habitats.
Lesson Resource: Books
Included are a list of books with a focus on environment and sustainability which can be used within a range of lesson and grade level outcomes.
The Lorax - Dr. Seuss
The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
Miss Rumphius - Barbara Cooney
Mama Miti - Donna Jo Napoli
The Wump World - Bill Peet
The Curious Garden - Peter Brown
The Little House - Virginia Lee Burton
The Water Hole - Graeme Base
On Meadowview Street - Henry Cole
Owl Moon - Jane Yole
The Tree - Dana Lyons
Just a Dream - Chris van Allsburg
Not Your Typical Book About the Environment - Elin Kelsey
A Seed is Sleepy - Dianna Aston
Lesson Resource: Movies
Delves into man's destructive habits and rampant consumerism and the inherent impact on Earth
Focus on the impact of commercial overfishing and pollution on endangering the Antarctic and its inhabitants.
Tells the story of surburban housing development and the impact on the forest and animals within the developing area, a similar movie with the focus on habitat destruction is "Hoot".
"The Lorax" tells the tale of the creation of the 'once-ler'. The old gruff expresses the impact of greed on overpowering respect of nature.
Lesson Resource: Online Games
A list of games with a focus on climate change, agriculture, energy, landscape and more!
Students can explore a multide of games, and activities, which a focus on environmental and sustainability awareness.
Students work within three virtual worlds - the environment game, the building game and the town game - to develop sustainable living throughout the town.
ELEMENTARY
