Earth Day Lesson Plans, Printables & Worksheets

Earth Day Videos

This collection of videos and accompanying Earth Day activities provides helpful teaching tools and is suitable for a range of grade levels.

• Recycling & Waste Management Educational Videos & Activities

Earth Day Lesson Plans

Discover more about planet Earth with these lesson plans that cover earth science, art, and more. Combine recycling activities with Earth Day crafts or get hands-on with building volcanoes and creating weather stations.

• Earth Day Recycling Lesson Plan
• Water Cycle Lesson Plan
• Recycled Art
• Build a Volcano
• Recycled Poetry
• Plants of the Rainforest
• Rachel Carson: The Coming of a Silent Spring
• Weather Station
• We Care About the Earth: Writing a PSA
• More Earth Day Lesson Plans

Earth Day Printables for Grades K-5

These printable worksheets cover important topics for Earth Day like climate change, preserving animal habits, and reducing, reusing, and recycling waste, and include fun activities like Earth Day word searches and Dr. Seuss-themed activities.

• "Light the Bulbs" Recycling & Pollution Worksheet
• Earth Day Word Search
• Soil Erosion Word Search
• Recycling Word Problems 
• Renewable and Non-renewable Energy
• Save Our Earth! Alternative Uses for Common Trash
• Trash & Climate Change
• Home, Sweet, Home: Animal Habitats
• Dr. Seuss and Resource Use: Featuring The Lorax
• More Earth Day Printables

Earth Day Printables for Grades 6-12

These printable activities will introduce your students to earth science and help them learn more about the history of Earth Day.

• Environment & Pollution: Matching Worksheet
• Activity: Classifying Natural Resources
• History of Earth Day
• Earth Day Activities
• Our Growing Planet
• Acrostic Poem: Earth Day
• What Are Some Alternate Energy Sources?
• More Earth Day Printables

STEM Activities for Earth Day

Get hands-on with learning about the environment this Earth Day with these STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities, including choice boards, recycling activities, and math problems.

• Earth Day STEM Choice Board for Elementary Grades
• Earth Day STEM Choice Board for Middle School
• How Can You Make a Thermometer?
• Which Package Is Better?
• Composting Process
• Animal Apartments
• Making a Wind Vane
• How Can You Make a Thermometer?
• What Can You Reuse and Recycle?
• Recycling Word Problems
• More Science Activities for Earth Day

Earth Day References

These encyclopedia-style reference pages cover Earth Day themes such as global warming and other environmental issues and make great starting points for research or reading comprehension activities.

• Global Warming: A Glossary of Terms
• Global Warming: So, What's the Big Deal?
• The Uncertainties of Global Warming
• Global Warming: We CAN Make a Difference!
• Global Warming: Greenhouse Effect
• The Global Environment Outlook: An Overview
• Photosynthesis
• More Earth Day References

Earth Day Craft & Art Activities

Learn about reusing, recycling, and reducing waste while getting creative with these Earth Day crafts, art projects, and coloring pages.

• Earth Day Coloring Pages Packet (Pre-K to 2nd Grade)
• Recycled Art
• Recycled Art Projects Gallery
• Collecting Cans
• Recycling Craft Project: Make a Birdhouse
• More Earth Day Art Activities

Reading & Language Arts Resources for Earth Day

Combine learning about the environment and planet Earth with these reading activities, writing prompts, and poetry activities.

• History of Earth Day Reading Passage and Quiz
• Earth Day ELA Choice Board for Elementary Grades
• Earth Day ELA Choice Board for Middle School
• Dig Deeper Project-Based Learning Earth Day Unit
• Littering Reading Warm-Up
• Maisy's Nature Walk Reading Activity Kit
• Recycled Poetry
• A Teacher's Guide to An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
• Taking Care of Our Earth With Katie Kazoo
• Extinct, Endangered, and Threatened Animals Activity
• More Language Arts Resources for Earth Day

Earth Day Activity Packs & Choice Boards

These choice boards and printable packs include ELA and STEM activities and are perfect for Earth Day-themed learning centers, extension, or early finisher activities.

• Earth Day STEM Choice Board for Elementary Grades
• Earth Day STEM Choice Board for Middle School
• Earth Day ELA Choice Board for Elementary Grades
• Earth Day ELA Choice Board for Middle School
• History of Earth Day Reading Passage and Quiz
• Dig Deeper Project-Based Learning Earth Day Unit
• Earth Day Quotes and Facts Crossword Puzzle
• Earth Day Coloring Pages Packet
• Earth Day Activity Packet

Weather Activities for Earth Day

Learn more about the weather and environment this Earth Day with air quality and weather printable activities, including making thermometers and weather stations.

• How Can You Make a Thermometer?
• Weather Station
• Air Quality and the Weather -- Student Worksheet
• Analyzing Air Quality
• Air Quality and the Weather -- Teacher Section
• Air Quality and the Weather -- Student Section
• More Weather Activities for Earth Day

Recycling Activities and Lessons

These printable worksheets and lesson plans focus on the importance of reusing and recycling materials to preserve and protect the environment, an important message for Earth Day.

• Recycling & Waste Management Educational Videos & Activities
• Environment & Pollution: Matching Worksheet
• Recycled Art
• Favorite Classroom Activities for Going Green
• Recycling Word Problems
• The "Three Rs": Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle
• Composting Process
• More Recycling Resources

Environmental Science Activities

Learn about the importance of sustainability and protecting the environment with these environmental science activities, worksheets, and printables.

• Environment & Pollution: Matching Worksheet
• Green Classroom Practices That Save Money
• Save Our Environment Printable Book (K-12)
• Waste Reduction Unit: Activities on Solid & Hazardous Waste
• Recycling Study Guide
• Landfill & Combustion Unit: Environment Activities for the Classroom
• Human Disasters: A Timeline of Earth-Altering Accidents
• More Environmental Science Teacher Resources

Botany & Animal Resources for Earth Day

Plants and animals play a crucial role in our environment. Learn more about the plants and animals that live on planet Earth and help make it so special.

• Plants of the Rainforest Rubric
• "My Garden Song"
• What Is the Carbon Cycle?
• Pests, Pesticides, and the Environment Activity
• Time to Bloom!
• Animal and Insect Pictures
• What Is Balance in an Ecosystem?
• Animal Apartments -- Student Worksheet
• Mystery of the Malformed Frogs Lesson Plan
• How Many Shrimp?
• What Is Wildlife Conservation?
• More Animals Teacher Resources
• More Plants (Botany) Teacher Resources

Social Studies Activities for Earth Day

Incorporate Earth Day into your social studies lessons with these printable worksheets, activities, and lessons, including a school litter patrol, and population and soil science activities.

• Our Growing Planet
• The School Litter Patrol
• Soil Scientists
• Second-Grade Soil Scientists
• Earth, Moon, Sun, and Seasons -- Lecture Notes and Facts
• Geographical Highs, Lows, and Boundaries of the U.S.
• Science, Technology, and Society: Clean Machine
• More Social Studies Activities for Earth Day

More Earth Day Resources

• "Green" Activities & Classroom Resources
• Wildlife Teacher Resources
• Rain Forests: Teacher Resources
• Oceans Teacher Resources
• Earth Science Teacher Resources

More Spring Holidays

If you liked these Earth Day printables and activities, explore our resource collections for other spring holidays to get holiday-themed inspiration and ideas.

• St. Patrick’s Day Teacher Resources
• Easter Teacher Resources
• Passover Teacher Resources
• Women’s History Month Resources