We are interdependent on this planet.This is no surprise that they are finding that the pollution in China and India are affecting the climate elsewhere - like here in the US. When I went to Beijing last year, I came home and my hair started falling out. I wasn’t sure if it was related but I did find the correlation suspicious.

We’ve seen this for years - we would outlaw chemicals that my Dad could use on his US based farm only for grocery stores to start buying produce and crops grown in other countries with that very same chemical used on the crops. This inconsistency not only hurts the US economy but in the long run hurts the world. We need to be responsible stewards of our planet.

June 5 is “World Environment Day” - a day when you encourage and help students take action to promote a sustainable planet. Here are some lesson plans if you don’t know what to do. This is an important topic. With summer coming up in the northern hemisphere - taking time to review recycling guidelines and ways students can help the environment is a great idea.

Earth Day is April 22. Here are lesson plans for Earth Day that you can then use to tie into Arbor Day the next week. Environment, sustainability are both important topics that should be discussed in every school.

Arbor Day is April 27. Take the time to celebrate at your school. Here is an arbor day guidebook to use for your classroom along with group and individual celebration ideas.

Here’s an earth hour game for kids to play.

The students are talking about this - are you? On March 31 - earth hour day is the “largest environmental event in history.” Can you switch off for an hour? Can your students? This is a great thing to do with your students but also to have as a writing prompt. Did you participate? Why or why not? What did you do with your hour? Here are lessonplans to share and use to discuss this. It is Saturday. Prepare now.

But Earth Hour Day (31 March), the largest environmental event in history, reminds us that switching off can be a good thing. Make a stand in 2012 and teach students about climate issues – prepare them to take responsibility for change in the future with this hand-picked selection of lesson plans and activities.

The official Earth Hour Day website http://www.earthhour.org/

These thought starters from Future Scapes are bound to have many people talking. I do sense some political overtones in these thoughts, however, they are worth discussing and reviewing, particularly if you’re a futurist or think tank type person. 

The four scenarios or thought starters for predicting the year 2025 include: Hyper Innovation, Shared Ownership, Centralized Survival, and redefining prosperity.