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The Earth Book by Todd Parr is a powerful tool for kids intent on “going green.” With its colorful array of primary pictures, this hardcover offers 10 suggestions, complemented by explanations to validate the tips, about how kids can help the earth.
While they may all seem very elementary, there’s a wealth of opportunity for exploration and curricular integration beyond the pages once the cover is closed. For example, after reading “I throw garbage in the trash can and recycle glass, aluminum, paper, and plastic because . . . I love to walk barefoot in the grass and I don’t want to move to Mars!,” ask students what they think about moving to Mars, then leap into outer space to research what it would take to build a human habitat on the Red Planet. Which other planets are inhabitable? Have students figure out why scientists might even consider living on another planet in the first place.
The Earth Book is, of course, printed on recycled paper with non-toxic soy inks and includes a GO GREEN poster that its readers can detach and hang in their rooms as a visual reminder of the earth-saving strategies. Ask students to brainstorm what other things they could do to conserve our resources and encourage them to create posters with eco-friendly tips of their own to hang around school as they campaign for conservation, celebrate Earth Day, and work to make a BIG difference in our world.
If you’re looking for additional resources for the younger conservationists in the crowd, check out 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh. If your green team students are a bit older, then travel with Ms. Frizzle on The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole. And if they’re somewhere in the middle, don’t miss We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers by Lauren Child.
Want a creative service-learning idea that encourages recycling? Westwood alumni currently in the Recycling Club at Bales Intermediate are creating fun new products out of stuff they no longer need, selling their recycled goods at school, and using the proceeds to support the local animal shelter.
For a sneak peek at this innovative project, watch the video on YouTube.
