Earth Day

Resource type: Event

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5

Region(s): All of UK

Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22nd to raise awareness of the environmental issues facing our planet and to encourage individuals, schools, businesses and governments around the world to take action to protect the world we live in. The theme for Earth Day 2024 is ‘Planet vs Plastics’.

The EarthDay website has a range of resources on its website that can be used in schools, including:

Fact sheets, quizzes, advice and templates to help students interested in advocating for change in their community.
A timeline of Environmental History.
Free Earth Day posters to download.

Schools can also sign up as an Earth Day School to connect to a global network of educators and access further exclusive resources.

Cost: Free.

About EarthDay.Org: EarthDay.Org grew out of the first Earth Day in 1970. Its mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. It creates and runs programmes with more than 150,000 partners in over 192 countries to tackle environmental challenges and drive positive action for the planet.

Further resources:

Sign up for a free Mr Dilly Earth Day online author event on Monday 22nd April at 11.00am. Learn more about climate change, the wonders of our planet and how to look after the environment with a host of children’s fiction and non-fiction authors in an inspirational event for pupils aged 7-11.
Explore the 2024 Earth Day resources from the National Literacy Trust. There is a booklist and teaching resources with activities to promote writing and speaking and listening for pupils in KS1-KS3 (ages 4-14). Available with free NLT membership.
Topical Talk provides free resources to stimulate discussion and engagement with current affairs. Download a selection of environment-related teaching resources to help learners aged 10+ develop key communication and critical-literacy skills.
Register for Build the Change Tuesday, a free, weekly sustainability news worksheet from The Day and the LEGO Group that provides a news story and ready-to-go activities to prompt classroom debate and inspire young people aged 8-13 to create innovative solutions to the problems affecting our planet.
Ensure your pupils can keep up to date with climate change issues by taking out a school subscription to a junior newspaper or nature magazine. Find a selection here.
Discover Usborne’s Quicklinks to carefully selected websites that provide tips on how you and your pupils can help wildlife and planet Earth.
Talk for Writing have a selection of English booklets with an environmental theme available for free.
Book recommendation site Books for Topics have an Awesome Planet Earth booklist as well as recommendations to cover plastic pollution and environmental sustainability for primary pupils.
Find themed booklists featuring climate fiction and facts for pupils of all ages from Scottish Book Trust.
The Climate Fiction Writers League is a group of writers from around the world whose work aims to raise awareness of climate change. Their books include pictures books, middle grade and young adult fiction. You can find them here.
Listen to recordings of authors Vashti Hardy, Gill Lewis and Hannah Gold talking about their environmentally-themed books in the ReadingZone Bookclub archive.
Find more recordings of author events on an environmental theme in the Authors Live library from Scottish Book Trust.
Download free curriculum-linked resources designed to help primary and secondary pupils explore environmental issues in engaging ways from WWW-UK.
Explore the different resources available from The Regenerators initiative from BBC Bitesize.