Earth Day is observed on April 22 each year by more than 500 million people and several national governments in 175 countries. Earth Day is a day on which people are promoted to realize Mother Nature, learn about environmental issues affecting our planet and reflect on how we can be a part of global stewardship efforts. In current year 2010, Earth Day will celebrate its 40th anniversary.Celebrate the Earth Day with a vast array of green activities and events.

History of Earth Day:

In September 1969, Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin, the founder of earth day has proposed the nation to set a day—April 22, 1970, to focus on the environment. But, actually the idea for the earth day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. To start the movement, a series of books helped. Silent Spring in 1962, The Population Bomb in 1968. Also, some events had a brunt, such as oil spills near England in 1967 and Santa Barbara, California in 1968. The growing concern about the environment was also fed by the nuclear fall out from above ground testing. After that, the nelson had toured the coastal area of Santa Barbara and saw first hand the destruction that had happened. While flying to the San Francisco, one newspaper was read by him that accounts about campus activism for the environment. The campuses were previous to Washington DC and the idea for Earth Day came to him. Because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level, the earth day worked. In responding to the widespread environmental degradation, Gaylord Nelson called for an environmental teach-in, or Earth Day, to be held on April 22, 1970. It organized itself because they have neither the time nor the resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. This was the notable thing about Earth Day.

Classroom Activities:

To begin to reverse the effects of global warming and continue to clean up our air, how the energy is used by us is the only way for receiving smarter. Also, one key way is to protect fragile wild places, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Below into the fertile garden, intersperse a few of the Earth Day seeds. With the help of your students, tend to these ideas, and watch them grow. There are thousands of ideas out there, some are here.

Recycling: Recycling will bring up by students. This recycling inventiveness is popular in schools for a reason that they are a perfect and age-appropriate topic to study. Kids can do these initiatives themselves and have real impact at school and at home. The activities which can be involved are collection of paper waste, collection of bottles and cans, and collection of other waste materials. So, recycling ends with the collection of large quantities of bottles, cans, paper, and cardboard.

Build: After starting a recycling program, you will be ended with large quantities of recyclable materials. Then, challenge your students to build something by these materials that fit into their curriculum. They can build Egyptian pyramids and montage map of Colonial America and other countries from bottle caps.

Cancel Sales Catalogs: It is a cute straightforward idea that kids really enjoy. In this, students have to cancel unwanted sales catalogs. It saves trees, water, energy, and our climate. Most importantly this activity empowers children to know they can make difference. It is a fun earth day project.

Take a Walk: Take your class outside. Visit some nearby forest to get inspiration for poetry or to sit and read books that are set in the woods. Kids spend so much more time indoors; many are never given the opportunities to connect with nature. It's easy if your school campus is pastoral, if not, visit a park. When outdoors, kids can adopt trees, study insects or birds, help with landscaping, pick up litter, and other such activities.

The Greenhouse Effect In A Jar: For the introduction to the greenhouse effect, this simple experiment serves as an excellent tool. Students can see for themselves the effects of a greenhouse, and relate this understanding to what occurs in our atmosphere.

Cleaning Up for Earth Day: During the week prior to Earth Day, you can introduce the concept of Earth Day, why and when we celebrate it, and engage the students in a fun, helping the environment activity.

Actions:

On earth day, commit to at least five actions to protect the environment.

• Use less water: Take showers instead of baths, fix leaks, and turn off the tap when brushing your teeth. And buy efficient fixtures by looking for the WaterSense label.
• Save electricity: Do a home energy audit, get programmable thermostats, turn stuff off when you’re done, buy Energy Star products, and change your bulbs to compact fluorescents.
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle: Try to find products with less packaging, take reusable bags on shopping trips, creatively reuse other products, and recycle what's left.
• Test your home for radon: Radon is a naturally occurring, odorless gas that can seep into your home and cause lung cancer.
• Commute without polluting: Use public transportation, carpool, walk, or bike whenever possible to reduce air pollution and save on fuel costs.Use chemicals safely: Read pesticide labels carefully. Lock up pesticides, paints, and cleaners where kids can't reach them.
• Check your local air quality: When you exercise outdoors, use your local air quality forecast to help plan the best time for a workout or run.
• eCycle: Take your old computer, DVD player, or other electronics to a recycling center. This helps keep hazardous substances out of the landfill.
• Spread the word: Teach others where you work or go to school. Encourage people to Pick 5 for the Environment!
• Enjoy the outdoors safely! Find out the quality of beach water from your state office and get the UV Index to protect yourself from the sun.

Earth day 2010 events:

Earth Day 2010 Celebrated With Native American Events April 22-24:
Native American events April 22-24 will celebrate Earth Day 2010 at Bill Shores Frames & Gallery, 307 Manufacturers Road, and at UTC. These events are free and the public is invited to attend. For more information visit this website chattanoogan.com.

Tallahassee Celebrates Earth Week 2010:
The City of Tallahassee will extend that celebration to an entire week, April 17-24, as a nationally recognized leader in environmentally positive and sustainable initiatives. The emphasize of the week will be Alternative Transportation Day at Kleman Plaza on Friday, April 23, featuring live music, free refreshments, StarMetro’s new electric/diesel hybrid bus and Tallahassee’s Idle Free and more. For further info go to wctv.tv

Museum to observe Earth Day:
Stepping Stones Museum Norwalk will be the site for Children earth day celebration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 17. Activities includes "Biscuit's Earth Day Celebration at 11 a.m, making an energy saver door hanger at noon and 3 p.m., a going green performance with Sirius Coyote at 1 p.m., making a picture out of recyclable materials at 2 p.m.; Iggy and Me Saving Energy Storytime at 3:15 p.m.and Rosa & Effy's Adventure Storytime at 4 p.m. An earth day art contest will also hold by museum. For more information visit thehour.com

How to celebrate Earth Day?

It is a perfect time to reflect about what you are doing to help protect the environment by celebrating the Earth Day. Earth Day will come on 22nd April. Now, Earth Day is celebrated in most countries of the world. There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day alone and with others.

• Plant trees which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cleans pollution, secures soil in place to prevent erosion, and provides homes for a lot of biodiversity.
• Teachers, professionals, students, in fact anyone who cares about the environment and is willing to teach others, can all provide environmental lessons for others. Everyone has environmental knowledge they can share with others.
• Leave your car at home and walk every chance you get. As you go along, pay attention to the life around you - birds, insects, trees, flowers, even the plants we call weeds.
• Wear a green and/or brown dress, environmental colors for the day.
• Join an environmental group. Nearly all the national organizations publish informative newsletters and magazines, offer discounted admission to parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and organize guided tours of natural places near and far.
• Rid litter from our roadways. Many groups use the weekend of Earth Day to clear roadways, highways and neighborhood streets of litter that has accumulated since the last clean-up day.
• Earth Day is a good time to make a commitment to learning more about the environment and how you can help to protect it. Borrow some library books and read up on an issue such as pollution, endangered species, water shortages, recycling, and climate change.
• Get together with your family and build a birdhouse or make a bird feeder to encourage the local bird population, which plays an important role in every ecosystem.

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