3 Fun Earth Day Activities for Middle School Students

The saying goes that we are more alike than we are different. Of the ways that we are alike, our greatest commonality is that we all occupy the same planet: Earth. This Earth Day on Monday, April 22, 2024, it’s more incumbent upon us than ever to celebrate the home we all share with our students while also exchanging ideas and information on how we can be better global citizens and neighbors.

Here’s a list of fun Earth Day activities for middle school students that educators can incorporate into their instruction this spring.

3 Fun Earth Day Activities for Middle School Students

Activity 1: How to Save the Planet

Download PDF of teacher instruction sheet.

This Earth Day activity for middle school is intended to get students to engage with how their lives impact the environment, and to get them to determine steps they can take to be kinder and more aware of how their habits contribute to the general health of the planet. This is the inspiration needed to make changes that will have long-lasting positive effects.

What You Need:

• Access to a library or other research sources
• Poster board (optional)
• Markers or crayons (to design a booklet cover)
• Recyclable paper

What to Do:

1. Tell students they are going to put together a class booklet of ways people can help save the planet.
2. Write the title “___ Ways to Save the Environment” on the poster board (or another surface visible to the students). Ask students to come up with a target number to complete the title.
3. Divide the class into groups.
4. Divide the number of tips by the number of groups. The result is the target number of tips each group should look for. You may want to can give each group a specific area to investigate, such as water or waste management, oceans and streams, or wildlife.
5. Give the groups time to research their tips using the internet and other resources.
6. Have a member of each group present their tips to the class. Keep a running total on the board to see if the class meets its goal.
7. Then assemble the tips into a class booklet. If you would like, you can have a student design the cover, and/or they can each write one page! Place the booklet somewhere that's easily accessible.

Activity 2: Observation—It’s a Natural

Download PDF of teacher instruction sheet.

Students are curious about what they see and hear happening around them in nature. What better way to channel that curiosity than a writing exercise?

In 1845, Henry David Thoreau left behind modern comforts for time in a cabin at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. While there, he journaled his observations on nature, how it fit into his own life, and the obligation he felt to protect it. His writings were published in what we know of as Walden. This Earth Day middle school activity is designed to get students to take in the natural world around them, to observe the beauty of it, and to reflect on how their lives interact with nature.

What You Need:

• Binoculars
• Magnifying glasses
• Copies of student-generated observation form
• Photo and/or video equipment (optional)
• Tape recorder (optional)

What to Do:

1. Write the following quotation on the blackboard. "I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as a chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up." —Henry David Thoreau (If necessary, preview these words: ode, dejection, lustily, chanticleer.)
2. Ask students what they think this quote from Thoreau's book Walden means. Share with them some of the details of Thoreau's life and experiences. Then read the quote again as a statement of purpose for his writing. How would his work be viewed if he were writing it today? Do you know any examples of people who are trying to "wake their neighbors up"?
3. Suggest that students become naturalists in their own communities. Initiate a discussion about what they might look for—natural phenomena or situations where man has had a positive or negative effect on the environment. (Examples: signs of animal and plant life, air and water quality, waste or trash, signs of energy waste or conservation, evidence of recycling, etc.) Discuss possible sites where information may be gathered. (Examples: home, school, neighborhood, park, conservation area, arboretum, business area, recycling center, dump, etc.)
4. Ask students to consider how they will record in words and drawings what they see. Have them (safely) work in teams to develop a useful observation form. Bring the class together to create the final model, which may include: observer's name, date of the observation, description of the observation site, description of the item or action observed, space to draw, space for a reflection or conclusion, space for improvement, or protection recommendations.
5. When the class has developed a model form, duplicate it so that everyone has a copy. Allow time for students to visit a variety of sites in their community. When the observations are complete, have students share their findings with the class and classify them according to site or topic. Bind the forms together to make a Community Ecology Journal. Work together to write a statement of purpose, similar to that of Thoreau, for the journal's title page.

Activity 3: Upcycle a Garden

Help Earth in two ways at once with a reused items garden.

What You Need:

• Space at school for a garden
• Objects that can hold plants such as tires, buckets, milk jugs, even old shoes
• Soil
• Seeds or young plants
• Gardening tools
• Optional: fertilizer
• Optional: raised planter or landscaping bricks

What to Do:

1. Find an outdoor space on school campus that would support a garden.
2. Have the class research plants that would grow in that space and within your growing zone. If space is limited, students should plan which materials will allow them to grow vertically.
   Safety Tip: Have two sections for your garden if students want to grow edible plants. Recycled materials should only be used for non-edible flowering plants in a raised garden.
3. Gather recycled objects that can hold plants, as well as additional potting soil, plants, and seeds.
4. Plant the garden.
   Safety Tip: Be sure to consult with families prior to conducting outdoor activities. Have students wear gloves while handling plants and soil. Soil that is not purchased from a garden center can contain microbes, fungus, and other organisms that can cause allergies. Always wash hands after working in the garden.
5. Have students water and maintain the garden throughout the school year. Maintenance should include weeding, watering, fertilizing, and pruning.
6. Use the garden in your math and science lessons throughout the year.

More Earth Day Ideas for School

Have more ideas for Earth Day activities? We'd love to hear them. Email us at shaped@hmhco.com or tweet us at @HMHCo.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.

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This blog, originally published in 2020, has been updated for 2023.