This week, we wanted to make environmental literacy activities accessible to all who wish to promote environmental education at home and throughout their communities!
The easiest way to advance environmental literacy at home is by simply going outside! By exploring the outdoors and encouraging green practices at home, families can spark conversations that advance environmental literacy and help families better understand their connection to the natural world around them – one of the core goals of environmental literacy!
If you are looking to incorporate environmentally literate activities at home in your community, look no further! Read this week’s article to get started today!
Relevant Links
Calculate your Carbon Footprint with Global Footprint Network
Humans use as many ecological resources as if we lived on 1.6 Earths. The Ecological Footprint is the only metric that compares the resource demand of individuals, governments, and businesses against Earth’s capacity for biological regeneration. Calculate your Carbon Footprint today!
Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. iNaturalist shares your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe.
Online Activity Guides | National Parks Service
With scavenger hunts, word games, matching pictures, and more, you can find Junior Ranger activities online. The National Park Service is building this page with more fun stuff, so check back often to see which parks add more activities to this page.
Monarch Waystations are places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration. Without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer breeding areas in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration each fall.
Find a National Park in Your Community
The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.
California parks include California State Parks, National Parks, and local community-operated city and community parks. There’s lots of “parking” going on at these natural assets that locals need for healthy living and tourists come to see their amazing attractions such as the world’s tallest trees, the world’s oldest tree, the world’s biggest tree, and much more.
TerraCycle® is a social enterprise Eliminating the Idea of Waste®. In 21 countries, they tackle the issue from many angles. They have found that nearly everything we touch can be recycled and collect typically non-recyclable items through national, first-of-their-kind recycling platforms.
News and Events
Environmental Education Webinars – Deepening Sense of Place: First People
May 12, 2021 Humboldt County Office of Education
This series of monthly PD webinars for teachers combine presentations from expert scientists conducting research in our own “backyards” with grade-level teaching resources to help students better understand WHERE they live — to Deepen their Sense of Place.
The Environmental Justice Exchange: Planning the Future of Little Village.
May 14, 2021 Chicago Sun-Times
Join us for an in-depth look at the planning and development of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side following the recent one-year anniversary of the Crawford smokestack implosion debacle.
Annual Spring Statewide Conference 2021
May 14-15, 2021 AEOE
The spring statewide 2021 conference includes workshops on a wide variety of topics, keynote address, evening entertainment, plenary session, presentations by our Environmental Educator Certification Program participants, and an awards ceremony celebrating the Environmental Education Organization of the Year and the Howard Bell lifetime award.
The Recycling Industry in America Is Broken
Apr. 20, 2021 EcoWatch
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. According to The National Museum of American History, this popular slogan, with its iconic three arrows forming a triangle, embodied a national call to action to save the environment in the 1970s.
Environmental Racism Is Everybody’s Problem — Here Are 5 Ways to Fight It Right Now
Apr. 22, 2021 Apartment Therapy
Natural resources, such as water and even the very air we breathe in this country are a matter of inequality — and this has become a matter of life and death.
Brenda Mallory to take environmental policy in a new direction
Apr. 22, 2021 Roll Call
The former general counsel of the White House Council on Environmental Quality becomes the first African American to lead the agency.
For young climate activists, the pandemic is the defining moment for action
Apr. 23, 2021 National Geographic
Can the urgent global response to COVID-19 be repeated to address climate change? Youth activists think it can.
The Leaders’ Summit on Climate 2021: A Summary
Apr. 26, 2021 Earth.org
On April 22 and 23, US President Joe Biden brought together 40 world leaders in a virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate to rally the world in tackling the climate crisis. The US announced that it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by the end of the decade.
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro Pledges to End Deforestation — Then Cuts Environmental Budget
Apr. 26, 2021 Green Matters
On Earth Day (April 22, 2021), President Joe Biden held a historical climate summit, where he vowed to cut the country’s emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030. This inspired a handful of leaders from other countries…
Two Cheers for California’s Fracking Ban
Apr. 28, 2021 Sierra
Last Friday, when California governor Gavin Newsom directed state regulators to begin a process of ending new permits for hydrofracturing in 2024, it seemed like a reason for environmentalists to celebrate.
