Environmental Action Projects list
Environmental Action Project Choices for Kindergarten – Eighth Grade Classes:
Reducing Plastic Marine Debris – School Campus Clean-Up (kindergarten – fifth grades)
Learn about the harmful impacts of plastic debris on the local watershed and on marine organisms living hundreds of miles away. Discover how the storm drain system carries local trash all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Complete a school neighborhood pollution survey and clean-up project. Analyze the trash collected and the sources of this trash. Create colorful posters to display around the school to educate others about reducing plastic marine debris. Take home a Watershed Pollution Interview and make a pledge with a family member to reduce plastic pollution.
Reducing Plastic Marine Debris – No Waste Lunches (first – fifth grades)
Learn about the harmful impacts of plastic debris on the local watershed and on marine organisms living hundreds of miles away. Discover how the storm drain system carries local trash all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Dissect albatross boluses to discover the amount of plastic present in the stomachs of seabirds. Analyze a school lunch to determine how to reduce plastic packaging and the no-waste alternatives. Plan a No Waste Lunch Day for the class or for the entire school community.
Our Watershed and Water Conservation (third – eighth grades)
Discover the name of the watershed you live in and how it connects with the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. Experiment with water flowing through a watershed and how the water cycle operates. Learn about the importance of the fresh water in this ecosystem, why all living things need water to survive and the percentage by volume of water present in various living organisms. Discover how much of the water on earth is actually fresh water. Complete water use logs and make pledges to conserve water at home and at school. Create colorful posters to display around the school to educate others about the importance of saving water.
Environmentally Safe Pesticides (third – sixth grades)
Learn how harmful pesticides affect the environment and conduct an experiment to see how pesticides impact the local watershed. Learn how the work of Cesar Chavez helped to protect farm workers from the harmful effects of pesticides on human health. Make environmentally safe pesticides and bottle them for use at home or in the school garden. Create Environmentally Safe Pesticide Recipe Cards to take home and share with family members.
Safe Bay Food Consumption (third – eighth grades)
Discover the sources of pollution impacting the San Francisco Bay that introduce toxins to bay food chains. Study bay food chains and how biomagnification of pollution affects humans as top predators. Learn about the health concerns associated with eating bay fish and the safety procedures that reduce these health risks. Discover how to safely prepare and cook bay fish, cook a fish in the classroom and share a snack of fish and crackers. Create colorful brochures to take home and teach family members safety procedures for catching, cooking and eating bay fish.
Ocean Acidification and Energy Conservation (fourth – eighth grades)
Learn about the problems of energy consumption, increased carbon dioxide emissions causing ocean acidification and how this is affecting marine organisms. Conduct experiments to determine the pH of a test solution and discover that carbon dioxide increases the acidity of this solution. Conduct an eggsperiment to determine the effects of acidic solutions on eggshells which, like shelled marine organisms, are made of calcium carbonate. Log everyday actions that conserve energy, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the volume of carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean. Make pledges to conserve energy at home and at school.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot (kindergarten – eighth grades)
Learn about the Four Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot) and why using the Four Rs is so important for the environment. Discover the truth about landfills and how to reduce waste at its source. Investigate red wriggler worms and set up a worm compost bin in your classroom to reduce food waste OR learn about recycling, make recycled paper and set up a paper recycling system in your classroom.