On this page we are collecting links to lesson plans, materials and resources that celebrate Earth Day (International Mother Earth Day), but that are also useful at any time of year. The resources were collected on Facebook and Twitter under the #50for50 hashtag, celebrating the 50th anniversary for Earth Day. If you’d like to add suggestions for further links, please reply to this page, or post your links on our Facebook group, or on Twitter using the hashtags #50for50 and/or #eltfootprintchallenge. Thank you!
Earth Day official website: you can download images, icons and banners. You can find and share news stories and links to global campaigns.
British Council Learn English magazine: an interactive article on the history of Earth Day and International Mother Earth Day. Suitable for teens and adults from B1 up. Perfect for self-assessment and online teaching.
A lesson from ELT Sustainable: an online lesson by Stefanie Ritch for her assignment in the online course ‘Language Teaching for the Planet’. Ideal for teenagers and adults B1 above and designed for online teaching. Students will:
- learn about Earth Day
- engage with a poem by spoken word artist Prince Ea
- discuss ways to celebrate Earth Day during lock-down
Earth Day Teacher Resources from Teacher Vision (currently all resources are free during the Covcid-19 crisis): A varied selection of cross-curricular materials focusing on the environment from Early Years to Upper Second.
Planet of the humans: Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. Possibly more for personal consumption, or as a resource to suggest to any of your students who might be interested. Warning: Michael Moore does not pull his political punches and the documentary can make for depressing viewing.
WebEnglish.se collection of links for Earth Day: a curated selection of links to classroom material for young learners and teens. Shared by Outi Frisk.
Seven things we’ve learned about planet earth since the last earth day: An article from the online magazine, Vox. Accessible to higher level students. Could be appropriate as independent reading, or as preparation for discussion in a flipped classroom context, especially if you’re working online. It’s a great callout not to forget the huge environmental battles ahead.
Friends of the Earth in the UK’s campaign Plank for the Planet: For Earth Day 2020, FOE asked people to take photos of themselves doing a plank and donate five pounds to the UK fund. Students might like to hear about the campaign and come up with other ideas for raising money or awareness. Click on the link to see a short video.
How about sharing a rainbow song with your very young learners? Thanks to Carmen Plazza for sharing the link and the idea.
Another great idea for very young learners from the British Council Learn Engish Kids site: Our colourful world. Shared by Carmen Plaza with the following note: This simple is a lovely way to celebrate what makes our planet special and different. I¨ll use this today with my VYLs and then they can do a lovely drawing too
The IATEFL Global Issues Special Interest Group’s publication, 12 Months of Social Issues, includes a a lesson plan on the topic of Planet Earth and environmental issues on pp. 21-24
Helbling Languages share reading lists and teacher resources to celebrate Earth Day. Thanks to Maria Cleary from sharing the link.
TED Ed share 30 Quests for students around the world to celebrate, explore and connect with nature– a month’s worth of materials to share with your classes.
This article from Time, 50 Years After the first Earth Day, a Planet Still in Danger, looking back at the history of environmental protest is an interesting read on Earth Day, for personal interest or as suggested independent reading for students who might be interested.
On Earth Day it’s good to remember that all of our planet’s ecosystems are interconnected. This article from The Guardian explores the connections between animal and human health: We have to wake up: factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics. And this recording of a webinar introducing a new global campaign to end pandemics by ending the exploitation of the wild. It comes highly recommended by a number of members of the group.
Lesson plans and teaching resources from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – set up as a consequence of the first Earth Day in 1970.
A series of 8 paperless homework ideas shared by ELT blogger Olivia Price-Bates on her blog, Learning Lessons from TEFL.
Save the Earth quiz from National Geogrpaphic. As one of our moderators, Charlotte Giller, pointed out, this can be easily adapted acc to age and turned into a Zoom poll if you’re teaching online.