Identify and explain sources of electricity as renewable or…

Earth Day Investigations: Make Your School Better Grades 4–6

Four hands-on investigations into the school's own garbage, shade, water and electricity. Each one ends with students taking a real, evidence-based recommendation to the principal or caretaker.

• What's in our garbage? 50–60 min

  Teams wear gloves to sort one day of classroom waste into landfill, recycling and compost, weigh each pile and graph the results. They use the numbers to recommend one change to the principal or caretaker.

• Where would a new tree help most? 50–60 min

  Teams measure air and ground temperature in sun and shade, on grass and on pavement, to see how much shade cools the schoolyard. They use their numbers to recommend where the school should plant a new tree.

• How much water does a dripping tap waste? 45–60 min

  The class counts drips per minute from a slow-dripping tap, catches and measures the water, then scales it up to a day and a year. Students use the math to recommend how the school should report and fix drips.

• Is our classroom wasting electricity? 45–60 min

  Students audit their classroom's lights and devices, check which are left on when nobody needs them, and read wattage labels to estimate the energy wasted in a school year. They finish with a poster or letter recommending one easy change.