The Owls Celebrate Earth Day!

Last week, our Owl Class celebrated Earth Day with a fun-filled week learning about ways to protect our beautiful, wonderful Earth. 

We began our week by reading an Earth Day favorite: The Lorax! While many were familiar with the 2012 movie, I was shocked to learn that many had never heard the original Dr. Seuss tale!
The story's last line...

gave us a lot to think about for the week!

After hearing the story, students had a great time thinking about how they would help the Earth if they were the Lorax (although they quickly realized they needn't BE the Lorax in order to help our Earth :) ). They had an even greater time creating their very own Lorax mustaches!

With the mantra, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" playing in our heads, we decided to explore the concept of reusing to create beautiful torn-paper hearts. Using only unwanted paper scraps from our bin, students carefully tore and covered their earths creating a lovely craft. These heart earths made a beautiful addition to our Earth Day display!

 A favorite activity of the week happened on April 22nd, the official Earth Day. While reading A River Ran Wild, Lynne Cherry's recount of how pollution affected the Nashua River, we created a simulation to learn more about how our actions can affect our environment. Ask your child about this activity and what role they played.

All set up! Book, tinted blue, clear water, and simulated materials.

At the start of our story, fish swam freely and happily in the clear waters.

As people began settling on the river, waste began to enter the water.

Everything from factory runoff, road salt, hazardous waste, sewage, litter, and soil erosion enter the water.

The fish had such a hard time living in such waste, they could no longer live in the river's water.

After we had affected the water in such a way, it was up to our cleaners to try and reverse the mess.

 As you can imagine, we quickly realized how some of our damage can be irreversible and why it is so important to take care of our Earth the first time around. At the end of the story, they were happy to learn that when the people along the river realized the damage they caused, they decided to change their ways. Years and years later, the Nashua River now flows much more cleanly. 

 I think I can speak for everyone when I say how much fun we had celebrating Earth Day. Our students are motivated and energized to do their part as they reduce, reuse, and recycle!