Green Team Gazette Season 3, Issue 7 Mar. 2011

1. Earth Hour Education
Part2: View the Video
A picture is worth 1000 words, and a
video is worth more! Go online and find the Earth Hour
2010 fun facts and this year’s challenge to try to turn out
the lights for more than 1 hour: http://www.earthhour.org/
as well as http://www.earthhourkids.org/. Follow up your
viewing by brainstorming a list of things you could do minus
lights for your 60+ minutes of eco- activism/“lights out!”
Marvy, Meaningful Multiplication
Math always means more when you tie it in
with something “real world.” Take the Earth
Hour opportunity to tie the event not only to
the concept of time, but also to multiplication. Write some
word problems…or better yet, invite your youngsters to try
their hand at writing a few of their own. Pose questions
such as “ If every house on the street turns off 5 lights,
and there are 12 houses on our street, how many lights are
saving energy?” Or, you could pose similar questions based
on the class population or that of the whole school.
Earth Hour Brainstorm
Tie in the information of Earth Hour and
the informative video with your writing
program. Duplicate a copy of page 2 of
this month’s Green Team Gazette so that each student can
have a web. Watch the video at the Earth Hour site above,
once to share the information with your students, then a
second time for them to soak in the details and begin filling
out the web using the Earth Hour Facts. Then, have
students take it the next step by turning their
brainstorming pre-writing activity into both an expository
rough draft and final paragraph. Go the extra mile by
having students “enlighten” other students in other classes
by giving them the opportunity to share their paragraphs
with others in your school.
A variation to this activity would be to share the video
before Earth Hour, then have the students write up a web/
paragraph about what they each did to celebrate Earth
Hour.
The Green Team Gazette
Volume 3, Issue 7, page 1 March 2011
Lights Out: A Month
of Bright Ideas
February’s GTG got the ball rolling with
the invitation to do a “Lights Out” audit
in your home or classroom. This activity paved the way for
this month’s Earth Hour. Use some of these ideas to give
greater meaning to your Earth Hour!
Earth Hour Education
What: A global event now in it’s 5th
year!
What began in 2007 in Sydney,
Australia has been a growing eco-event ever since.
Who: You…and everyone else on the planet!
Where: Right in the comfort of your own home…or go out &
create an event in your neighborhood, church,
school, community, or even city!
When: Saturday night, March 26th
from 8:30--9:30 pm
in your time zone. In the dark.
Why: Turn out those lights to make your message seen &
heard! By turning off your lights, you are voting to
speak out & silently shout out about climate change…
and to show that small individual actions can and DO
make a statement!!
Where to find out more: http://www.earthhour.us/,
http://www.earthhour.org/, or
http://www.earthhourus.org/. To find interactive
games for kids, go to http://www.earthhourkids.org/.
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.php?Benchmark
ID=8&DocID=417
www.aboxlife.com
The Green Team Gazette is a publication
co-sponsored by the founders of CynerGreen
CGKidz, and Eagle Cove School (formerly
“Gibson Island Country School”), a Green
School in Pasadena, Maryland. Our mission is
to educate and share ways to “go green”—both big & small--
and be environ-mentally-proactive at home, in school, and
beyond. It is written by Vicki Dabrowka, 3rd grade teacher
& co-Green Team Leader at Eagle Cove School. To learn
more visit www.cynergreen.com, www.cgkidz.com, and
www.eaglecoveschool.org. You can also follow us at
http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/ or find us at “Green
Team Gazette” on Facebook or on Twitter,
Please print on recycled paper. Copyright © 2011 Vicki Dabrowka

2. Name _________________ Date __________________
Earth Hour
Main Idea: Make it a “grabber!”
_____________________________________________________________________
Be sure to include:
 What is it?
 When is it?
 Who is taking part?
 Why is it important?
 Are you planning to be involved? If so, how?
 Anything else you know or feel about it!
 Where can you go to find out more?
The Green Team Gazette
Volume 3, Issue 7 , page 2 March 2011
Powerful Wrap Up Sentence:
___________________________________
_____________________________
Copyright ©
2011 Vicki
Dabrowka