ECOLOGIST 'S ACTIVITIES

OBJECTIVES

Activity #1      Biome Diorama

Materials

• A shoebox

• Scissors

• Glue

• Magazines or other resource for pictures

• string

• paper, cardboard                                               

Instructions

1. Choose a biome you want to construct.

2. Draw or glue pictures of the background of your biome on the inside parts of the shoebox. The shoebox will stand on one side, so the bottom of the box will be your main background.

3. Cut out or draw plants, animals and other things found in that biome. 

4.  Paste those pictures on cardboard and you can stand them on the side part of the box.  Place them in different places around the box to make it look like the biome. You can also use string and hang some from top side.

  ACTIVITY # 2   Bird Feeder        Enchanted Learning

• A large, open pine cone
• Vegetable shortening, lard or suet
• Oats or corn meal
• Bird seed
• A few feet of string

Make a pine cone bird feeder go to this website and click on the printable version follow instructions.

Hang your bird feeders outside on the trees and watch the birds as they come to feast.

ACTIVITY #3  Water Pollution Experiment      The Kids Ecology Corps

Water is one of the most important things on Earth. Nothing that is alive can live without water. We drink water. It's in our food. It's in our air. It is vital (that means VERY important) that we have water that we can drink safely and use safely to water our crops. If our water is polluted, it can make us sick and kill plants and animals. This activity shows how easily pollution can get into water, our food, and us!

Materials

• A glass

• Tap water

• Red or blue food coloring.

• A knife (get your parents or teacher to help you use the knife)

• A stick of fresh celery with the leaves still on it                                                

 Instructions

1. Fill the glass with tap water.

2. Add two or three drops of food coloring. Notice how it spreads through the water. Pollution spreads through water just like the food coloring does.

3. Wash the piece of celery. Leave the leaves on.

4. Be very careful, do not use the knife ( get your parents or teacher to do this) and cut off the bottom of the celery.

5. Put the celery in the glass filled with colored water.

6. Let the celery stalk sit there for at least three or four hours; you can even leave it overnight.

7. When the time has passed, take the celery stalk out of the water.

8. Use the knife (remember to get help from your parents or teacher) and cut a slice off the bottom of the stalk.

9. Do this several times.

Questions to Answer:  

• How long did you leave the celery stalk in the water?

• Before you took the celery stalk out of the water, what did it look like?

• When you sliced off pieces from the celery stalk, what did you find?

• The food coloring is like pollution that gets into the water. If the food coloring moved all the way up into the celery stalk, what would happen if there was pollution in the water instead of food coloring?

• What does this tell you about polluted water?

• How can we change what we do with packaging and trash to make things better for the Earth?

ACTIVITY #4   How Nature Recycles  The Kids Ecology Corps

Some trash breaks down and goes back to the Earth. It turns into soil. That means it is biodegradable. But the most important thing to know about trash is that some of it stays around forever. How do you know which trash is biodegradable and which isn't? This activity will help you learn.

Materials

• A tool to dig with.
• 4 flat sticks you can write on; Popsicle sticks will be okay.
• A marker.
• A pear or apple core
• A leaf from a green leafy vegetable like spinach or lettuce
• A piece of plastic packaging; a plastic bag will do just fine.
• A piece of Styrofoam

 Instructions

1. Use the marker to write the names of the four pieces of trash on the flat sticks.
2. Take the sticks, the tool you are going to dig with, and the four pieces of trash outside into your backyard or schoolyard. Find a spot to dig a few holes. Try to find a spot that has warm, moist soil. Warm, moist soils breaks down biodegradable trash faster. Be sure to ask your parents or teachers if it's okay to dig there.
3. Dig four holes that are wide and deep enough to put something in
4. Put each of the four pieces of trash in a separate hole. The fruit core goes in one hole; the vegetable leaf in the second hole; the plastic packaging in the third hole; the styrofoam in the last hole.
5. Fill the holes back up with dirt.
6. Mark each hole with the stick that matches what you buried in the hole.
7. Mark the date you buried the four pieces of trash on the calendar; mark a day a month later to go back and dig them up.
8. On the date marked, go back and dig up the four pieces of trash.

Questions to Answer

• Did you find all the pieces of trash?
• Which pieces were not there or almost all gone?
• Which pieces of trash were still there?
• Which types of trash are biodegradable?
• Which aren't?
• Which kinds of trash are better for the Earth?
• How can we change what we do with packaging and trash to make things better for the Earth?

ACTIVITY # 5     Earth Pendant   Kids Domain Crafts 

A craft to make with reusable or recyclable materials

Make an earth pendent and sell them.  The money you collect can be sent to an organization of your choice to help with our environment.  Or just wear it to remind you that you must take care of the earth.

Earth Day Craft printable version

• A piece of acetate (or any piece of flat, flexible, transparent plastic or waxed paper)
• A printer
• White glue
• Blue and green food coloring
• A stick for stirring the glue and spreading it
• Disposable containers for mixing the glue (old jar lids work well)
• A paper clip
• String or yarn