We take paper for granted, while thousands of trees are being made into the paper we toss in the trash. Start a dialogue about paper reduction and recycling in class, and share the negative effects paper production has on our ecosystem....

Reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover. Young environmentalists learn about the overwhelming amount of garbage produced and discover better ways to minimize their impact on Earth by learning the difference between garbage and recyclables. 

Inspire environmentally conscious young minds with an exceptional video, which traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles after they are thrown away and move through the earth with different journeys through a landfill, an...

Trying to plan an engaging elementary science unit on natural resources? Conserve your energy! This five-part series of lessons and hands-on activities has exactly what you need to teach young scholars about the importance of conservation.

Here is a 20-box bingo card to use when exploring ways that humans impact the environment. Various environmentally aware activities are listed in the boxes, and learners circulate the room to find someone who practices the different...

Use this slick video to introduce your environmental scientists to the wonders of biodiesel. They will learn about problems caused by our waste oil, how it can be recycled, and other benefits of using biofuels. Use the video, assessment...

After reading about the history and recycling of paper, creative crafters collaborate to think of a new process for making recycled paper. A complete teacher's guide and student worksheets are included. There is no written procedure for...

What happens to our recycling once it is hauled away? In the third of four Earth Day lessons about recycling and reducing our impact on the world's natural resources, learners explore where recycled materials go and what becomes of them....

When Earth Day rolls around, a lot of kids ask why recycling is so important. Middle schoolers find out their own answers by examining 10 ordinary household items, working in a group to estimate how long it would take for each to break...

Dice and playing cards are used to play a "resourceful" board game! Correct answers to questions on the cards get garbage to be reused, recycled, or composted, while incorrect answers get garbage sent to the landfill. Landfill points are...

Here is an interesting activity on waste. It puts waste into seven hierarchical categories. The text associated with the activity is interesting to read, then learners must give an example of types of waste that fit into each of the...

First, young chemists practice polymer identification by density and flame tests. With the data collected, they propose a method of separating polyethylene from other plastics and determine what property makes it desirable for recycling....

Youngsters discover what recycling is and identify things that can be recycled. They use both video and Internet resources to aid them in their study. This is a well-designed lesson with excellent activities and a nicely-written letter...

To recycle or not to recycle, that is the question. Your class can find the answer by taking a teacher created WebQuest, where they assume a role of a community member taking a stand on implementing a community wide recycling plan. The...

Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...

Young scientists investigate the water cycle through a lettuce seed experiment. For this experiment, learners plant lettuce seeds inside of a ziplock bag in order to create a small greenhouse. They observe condensation and precipitation,...

Fourth graders understand the benefits of recycling. In this recycling literacy lesson, 4th graders read an article and identify the main idea. Students understand the process of transfer to the landfill and discuss how recycling helps...