April 2004

Earth Day
On April 22, join teachers and students around the world in celebration of the Earth! This year marks the 34th Earth Day, an annual event commemorating this planet and our shared responsibility in conserving it. Read on for some great new Earth Day activities, fundraising ideas and more!
Rainforest Theme Day
Celebrate Earth Day with a rainforest theme day.
Need ideas for Earth Day? Take a look at the Rafael Cordero School of Jersey City, NJ’s Rainforest Theme Day activities. On April 8th, as an early celebration of Earth Day, pre-kindergarten through eighth-graders at Rafael Cordero will jump into the jungle, guided by Rainforest Alliance activities and games.

The school's kindergarten, first and second graders spent the fall learning about rainforests with the education resources on the Rainforest Alliance Learning Site. Barbara Henderson, Rafael Cordero’s science lab teacher explains, “The primary grades’ positive response to the Rainforest Alliance's Web pages, materials and activities convinced us that the entire school would benefit from a Rainforest Awareness day.” Students throughout the school will create arts & crafts rainforest animals, perform skits about the importance of rainforest conservation and compare the biodiversity of a nearby Jersey City park to that of a rainforest in the tropics.

The students will tap into the education resources on the Rainforest Alliance Learning Site to learn more about tropical forests in Colombia, Belize, Brazil, Ecuador and El Salvador and how their lives in Jersey City are connected to these beautiful but rapidly vanishing ecosystems. Classmates will choose a tropical forest to “adopt” and hold a fundraiser. The funds they raise will be channeled to conservation groups in Latin America through the Rainforest Alliance’s Adopt-A-Rainforest program.

Fundraising for Earth Day
A great way your class can celebrate Earth Day is by raising money to conserve rainforests! Through our Adopt-A-Rainforest program, your students can raise funds that go directly to the purchase of rainforest land or toward the management costs of protected areas. We have plenty of great fundraising ideas that are perfect for Earth Day. Here are just a few:

  • Offer a rainforest tour: Build a rainforest in your classroom and give tours to other classes in the school.
  • Raise money by selling snacks donated by parents.
  • Hold a rainforest bake sale.
  • Have a bottle and can refund drive. A great way to recycle and raise money!
  • Hold a Spell-a-thon, bird-a-thon, fauna-thon or any other contest where you can solicit pledges from prospective Adopt-A-Rainforest donors.
  • Have a pancake breakfast. You can even mix in ingredients that originated in the rainforest.
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    Visit our Web site for more fundraising ideas!
    Spread the Word
    Print out an overview of the Rainforest Alliance curriculum.

    Do you need an effective and easy way to tell your colleagues about the resources on the Rainforest Alliance Learning Site? An informative overview of the Rainforest Alliance curriculum is now available on the Learning Site in an easy-to-print format.

    We want to hear your Earth Day plans!
    Share your class’s activities, artwork and photos with us. We’ll be happy to highlight your students’ work in the next issue of Eco-Education Matters! Email us at education@ra.org.
    Get creative on Earth Day.

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