I usually start getting my students excited about Earth Day a good month in advance, but since this time that coincided with my honeymoon, I started the Earth Day buzz about 2 months ago, introducing a 2 month unit on the nature of New York City. This is my absolute favorite time to be a teacher. I have the children collect leaves and dirt and branches and flowers and we decorate the room with signs of springtime. We do school-wide recycling projects that the kids get really enthusiastic about. We go for nature walks in Central Park and field trips to botanical gardens. We’re going to The New York Botanical Gardens next week and I guarantee that the kids will be able to give a tour themselves by the end of the afternoon.
We have another half day field trip planned to Riverbank State Park. With a great view of the Hudson and the Palisades, and with plenty of room to picnic, it provides the perfect atmosphere for discussing the high and low places of the earth, the water and sky, and the grass and the buildings that make up our home planet. I just need to get over to the Kings Plaza Mall to pick up a big sheet for our picnic—obviously we wouldn’t use something disposable… (I think I left my picnic blanket in Hawaii.)
The school’s got something planned for the actual day of Earth Day (April 22). On the Sunday before (20th), I will DEFINITELY be at the Green Apple Festival in Central Park.
Do your part for the environment and sign this petition to help stop global warming.
Happy Earth Day!
P.S. Banana Republic gives 1% of sales during Earth Week to The Trust for the Public Land.
Filed under: Events/Misc, New York, NY, State Parks & National Parks | Tagged: Central Park Zoo, Environment & Wildlife, Environment Energy, Environment General, Environmental Issue, Fun In New York City, Green Apple, Helping The Environment, I Love NY, Just Like, Learning Environments, New York Botanical Gardens, Overheard In New York, Palisades, Riverbank, Shopping Center, Wonderful Time
