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On Earth Day — which is celebrated every year on April 22nd — we honor our home planet, and reflect on how we can protect the Earth. This day can be a timely opportunity to introduce environmental science to students and discuss how they can be good stewards of the Earth through sustainable practices, such as recycling. From Earth Day science experiments to creative writing prompts, here are a few different activities you could add to your lesson plans to inspire your students.
Earth Day Activities for Elementary Students and Middle School Students
Honor our beautiful planet in your classroom with these fun Earth Day activities for students in elementary and middle school.
Introduce students to environmental science.
As an educator, you have the opportunity to spark a passion in students about the environment, and inspire them to do their part to take care of the Earth — no matter what subject you teach. Get your students excited about Earth Day with these interactive activities and mini-units that’ll introduce them to broader concepts about the environment.
Earth Day Mini-Unit for Pre-K and Kindergarten by Intentional Momma
Grades: PreK-K | Math
This Earth Day mini-unit is great for morning work or classroom centers during the month of April.
Earth Day Mini Unit: Activities and Printables by Curriculum Castle
Grades: K-2 | Environmental Science
Use these fun activities to engage your students as you explore environmental awareness.
Engage students in science activities and experiments about pollution.
Exploring and raising awareness around the concept of pollution is an essential part of any Earth Day lesson. With these Earth Day science experiments and activities, motivate your students to keep our planet clean and green.
Lava Lamp | An Oil And Water Experiment | Earth Day Approved For Oil Spills by Kimberly Scott Science
Grades: 4-7 | Environmental Science
This is a fun Earth Day science experiment, designed to help students discover that oil and water are immiscible. It’s a great introductory activity to talk about oil spills and pollution.
Earth Day Activity – Pollution Control Committee Cooperative Learning by HappyEdugator
Grades: 4-7 | Environmental Science
In this Earth Day cooperative learning activity, students take on the role of being on a committee to reduce environmental pollution. They’ll meet in groups to analyze several different scenarios and to determine which polluter is the most destructive to the environment. Then, they’ll compare their results with other groups in the class.
MS-ESS3-3 Air Pollution Lab Stations Activity | Printable, Digital & Editable by Stephanie Elkowitz
Grades: 5-9 | Earth Science
In four different lab stations, students will learn to Identify examples of air pollution, analyze data to understand air quality, evaluate the harm air pollution causes to the biosphere, and assess the practicality, cost and effectiveness of methods and tools that help us reduce air pollution.
Learn about recycling.
Recycling is a small step that kids can take to make an impact on the environment. Through these recycling crafts, teach kids about the importance of recycling and reusing materials
Earth Day Recycling Craft | Earth Day Bulletin Board with Writing by The Pawsitive Teacher
Grades: K-3rd | English Language Arts
Students will organize things that both help and harm the Earth in this craftivity.
Earth Day Recycling Logic Puzzles for Critical Thinking Skills Development by The Science Vault
Grades: 6-8 | Math
These brain teasers ask students to determine the number of recycled items to solve a “secret message” about the environment.
Begin a discussion around climate change.
Introduce students to the aspects of climate change such as what it is, the effects, and actions they can take.
Climate Change Activity Gallery walk Earth Day by Education with DocRunning
Grades: 5-9 | Environmental Science
This ready-to-use gallery walk is ideal for Earth Day or as an introduction to a climate change unit.
Climate Change Project – Effects of Climate Change – Middle School by Aloha Monday Teaching
Grades: 6-8 | Environmental Science
This resource is an engaging way to get kids researching and creating a project about climate change, its effects, and how to mitigate the effects!
Build connections to the topics through some fun.
Games, creative writing, art projects, and math review stations are a fun way to connect students to topics around the environment and help them imagine a better world to live in.
Earth Day Activities (Reading, Writing, Text Features, Snack) by Hollie Griffith
Grades: 1-2 | English Language Arts (Reading)
Celebrate Earth Day in style with this non-fiction unit that teaches students all about the history and importance of Earth Day, while reinforcing their non-fiction reading and writing skills.
Earth Day Art Project, Roll a Dice Game, Writing Prompts Art Integration Lesson by Glitter Meets Glue
Grades: 1-5 | English Language Arts
Need a creative bulletin board for Earth Day? Have students color in Earth-shaped hearts and complete one of the two included writing prompts.
Earth Day Skip Counting Puzzles for Primary Students by Teach Me T
Grades: PreK-1 | Math
These Earth-Day theme picture puzzles are a fun way for primary students to actively practice counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s and learn how they make our planet a healthier place to live.
Creative Writing: Change the Narrator! Earth Day Themed by Real Native Learning
Grades: 3-5 | English Language Arts (Creative Writing)
Celebrate Earth Day with these fun passages that touch on protecting the environment, ecosystems, recycling, raising awareness, and more!
7th Grade Math Review Earth Day by Free to Discover
Grades: 7-8
In this activity, students will review Earth Day-themed word problems involving rational numbers, simplifying algebraic expressions using the Distributive Property and combining like terms, solving inequalities, scale and similar figures, measures of spread, perimeter and circumference, and surface area.
Discover more Earth Day classroom activities and lesson plans on TPT.
This blog post, originally published in 2022, has been updated for 2024.
