This Earth Day unit plan for 5th grade has the objective of teaching students about the significance of Earth Day. It is a 5 day plan where students will first watch a video about the history of Earth Day, then research in groups how their state celebrates Earth Day and present their findings. The remaining days include activities like making a compost bin, learning their carbon footprint, and cleaning up the school for Earth Day. By the end of the unit, students will understand the importance of environmental protection.

1. Earth Day Unit Plan
Jessica James

2. Analyze the learner:
• There are ten girls and twelve boys in my class of 5th graders with a
total of twenty-two students. None of my students have disabilities but
they are all culturally diverse. My 5th grade students have previous
knowledge in researching material and working in groups. They know
how to organize information and present it in a clear and concise
manner. Most of my students prefer to work in groups and collaborate
together. My 5th graders prefer hand on activities but they do not have
trouble with assigned readings.

3. Main objective:
• My 5th grade students will illustrate the significance of Earth Day by
the end of the five day unit. The class as a whole will watch a video on
how Earth Day was created. They will then be divided into groups of
four to research how their chosen state celebrates Earth Day and
present their findings to the class. The remaining three days will be
spent doing various group activities such as making a compost bin for
the school, learning their carbon footprint, and teaming with a local
greenhouse to plant flowers and clean up the school grounds. By the
end of the unit, my 5th graders will know the importance of keeping
our earth clean with 100 percent accuracy.

4. Day by day breakdown:
• Monday- Earth Day history
• Tuesday- Group research and presentation
• Wednesday- Composting lesson and activity
• Thursday- Carbon footprint lesson and after Earth
art activity
• Friday- Earth Day school clean up and individual
lesson

5. Technology:
• T.V and DVD player- to be used during the video
lesson on the history of Earth Day
• Class commuters- to be used for group research
and carbon footprint activity
• ELMO- to project the student’s after Earth art
lesson

6. Work cited:
• http://michigan.gov/kids/0,4600,7-247-49067-62499--,00.html
• http://www.epa.gov/compost/benefits.htm
• http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement
• http://meetthegreens.pbskids.org/features/carbon-calculator.html