Earth Day Read Alouds and STEM Challenges
The following is a guest post from Dr. Jacie Maslyk.
Earth Day is a great time to help students make connections to real-world problems happening around the world. It presents the opportunity to increase student awareness about the need for pollution, water scarcity, and recycling.
This post will share some of our favorite read aloud selections for Earth Day. Each book will also include a STEM challenge that students can complete with a partner or a small group. STEM challenge to engage students in the engineering design process.
One Plastic Bag
On her morning walk, Isatou is distraught by the useless, torn plastic bags that she finds on her way. The bags seem to multiple as more and more accumulate in her village. The women in the Gambian village begin to wash the bags and discover ways to reuse them. They roll the plastic into threads and crochet them into recycled purses. By reducing the amount of trash in the village and recycling the plastic into something productive
Challenge
In this challenge, students will learn about recycling, reducing, and reusing! Students design and build their very own Upcycled Plastic Bag Bracelet! After making their bracelets, students use the STEAM process to think of another way plastic bags can be repurposed. Finally, students write about ways they can recycle, reduce, and reuse in their own school and community.
The Water Princess
Living in Burkina Faso, Georgie had to walk many miles each day just to collect water for her family. She and the other girls made this trek from their village to a water source every morning. This engaging book shares the struggle for fresh water that continues all over the world today. You students will gain an appreciation for their access to clean drinking water when they learn about the challenges of those living in other countries.
Challenge
Students will explore water filtration with this Earth Day STEM Activity. Reading about the water crisis and how water pollution affects nearly 1 billion people around the world, students will explore how water filters and other solutions can help.
This activity engages students by connecting them to kids of another culture, and educating them on a current world crisis. While many STEM activities are designed with 'fun' in mind, this one requires a certain level of seriousness. It is created with elementary students in mind, and we believe we can inspire them through this.
Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea
A young boy named Iqbal lives in Bangladesh. During monsoon season, the weather is too wild for families to cook outside. Iqbal’s mother must cook the family’s meals indoors, over an open fire, but the smoke from the fire makes breathing difficult for his mother and baby sister. Iqbal worries that it is making them sick. For his school’s upcoming science fair, Iqbal comes up with the perfect idea. He designs a stove that doesn’t produce smoke. He learns all about solar energy cooking and he creates a way to cook using heat from the sun.
Challenge
This Solar Oven STEM Challenge works as an amazing companion activity to this book. Students will use everyday materials to build their own over using heat from the sun.
Students can test their oven to see how much solar power it generates. Better yet, students can use their solar oven to melt marshmallows or make s’mores or some other simple treat, cooked in their very own oven.
Wangari's Trees of Peace
As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. She is fascinated by things that grow. She leaves her village to study biology. (She goes on to become the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.) Years later when Wangari returns home, she is shocked to see forests being cut down. She worries that soon all the trees will be destroyed, so Wangari decides to take action. She starts by planting seedlings in her own backyard.
Challenge
In this challenge, students learn about Wangari and the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. They create their own Tree of Peace, and write about how they can promote peace themselves. This is an excellent resource to use on Earth Day or Arbor Day.
Spring-themed Books and Activities
With Earth Day right around the corner, you may be looking for more books to share with your students. Our Earth Day Bundle offers some additional book titles along with activities that will get students thinking about making positive choices to keep our Earth thriving.
These April Earth Day STEM Activities are more than just “craftivities”. Each STEM challenge takes students through a process where they develop critical thinking and engineering skills. Students plan, design, and execute their own ideas. Students will enjoy celebrating Earth Day and learning about ways that people make a difference in the world through engineering and design.
If you need even more ideas for spring read aloud selections, consider our STEM Teacher’s Club Membership. When you join, you will gain access to plenty of teacher resources and ready-to-go lessons for any time of year!
Have more questions or need additional resources?
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An educator for the last 23 years, Dr. Jacie Maslyk, has served as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, elementary principal, and assistant superintendent. She is the author of STEAM Makers: Fostering Creativity and Innovation in the Elementary Classroom, Connect to Lead: Power Up Your Learning Network to Move Your School Forward (ISTE), Remaking Literacy: Innovative Instructional Strategies for Maker Learning and Unlock Creativity: Opening a World of Imagination With Your Students. You can read more on her blog, Creativity in the Making, at www.jaciemaslyk.blogspot.com. Connect with Jacie on Twitter @DrJacieMaslyk or email her at jaciemaslyk@gmail.com .