Tackling Plastic Pollution

Scientific report published by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas as part of its Science4Policy collection. This series of reports aims to translate scientific knowledge into clear information that can help governments, institutions, and society make better decisions about important global challenges.

The report focuses on the growing problem of plastic pollution and explains how plastics affect the environment, ecosystems, and human health. It describes how the massive production of plastics and the spread of microplastics and chemical additives have become a major environmental concern worldwide. The document summarizes current scientific knowledge about the issue and highlights the research being carried out by scientists to better understand and address it.

https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/361335/1/S4P_PLASTICOS_DIGITAL_INGLES.pdf

Educational resource to celebrate Earth Hour

Started in 2007 in Sidney, Australia, Earth Hour is a global environmental movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It takes place on the last Saturday of March each year, encouraging individuals, businesses, and governments to turn off non-essential lights for one hour (8:30 - 9:30 PM local time) as a symbolic gesture to raise awareness about climate change and energy conservation.

You can learn more or participate by visiting the official website:

https://www.earthhour.org/

This Schools Sustainability Guide, edited by the WWF gives loads of tips on how to take action for climate, nature and sustainability in your school.

Find it on:

https://www.wwf.org.uk/get-involved/schools/sustainability-guide

Climate and education: strategies for adaptation, learning and play

This document is a discussion paper published by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) in collaboration with Learning Through Landscapes (LtL) in December 2024.

The paper explores the intersection of climate change and education, focusing on two primary areas:

- Climate and the curriculum. It emphasizes the importance of integrating climate education across various subjects and educational phases. The discussion includes current placements of climate topics within curricula, identifies barriers to effective implementation, and proposes strategies to embed comprehensive climate education. 

- Future-proofing the education estate. The paper examines how school infrastructures can be adapted to enhance learning experiences, promote play, and build resilience against climate-related challenges. It highlights the potential of school grounds to improve children's physical health, mental well-being, and educational outcomes by providing enriched natural environments. 

The report draws on findings from a series of roundtable discussions and a public webinar held on November 12, 2024, which brought together experts to deliberate on embedding climate education and utilizing school grounds for climate resilience.

You can access the full report here:

https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Climate-and-education_strategies-for-adaptation-learning-and-play_Discussion-paper_EPI_LTL_Dec24.pdf

Ecosocial Calendar School Year 2024/ 2025 by Teachers for Future Spain

The Ecosocial School Year Calendar 2024/2025 by Teachers for Future Spain is a resource designed to incorporate environmental and social sustainability themes into education. 

This calendar highlights important ecological and social dates, such as international days related to climate action, biodiversity, and human rights. It encourages educators to use these dates as opportunities to integrate discussions on climate change, sustainable practices, and social justice into their lessons.

One key feature of the calendar is its inclusion of QR codes, which link to educational resources, activities, and materials to help teachers engage students in topics related to the environment and sustainability. The calendar highlights the birthdays of notable environmental figures to inspire students and provide role models.

https://teachersforfuturespain.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Copia-de-Calendario-2425-para-ingles.pdf 

Worldwide Recycling Day. Wastebuster

Wastebuster is an environmental education organization focused on promoting waste reduction and sustainable practices among children, schools, and communities. 

The organization develops programs and resources to educate and engage young people in environmental stewardship, encouraging them to adopt behaviors that reduce waste, recycle more effectively, and minimize their ecological footprint.

Wastebuster's initiatives often include educational campaigns, competitions, and partnerships with schools to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. They provide a variety of tools and materials, such as lesson plans, activity guides, and interactive content, to help teachers and students learn about the importance of waste management and sustainability.

Find them on:

https://www.wastebuster.co.uk/resources

10 Must Knows from Biodiversity Science 2024

In the 10 Must Knows from Biodiversity Science 2024, 64 scientists have built upon their previous findings and recommendations from the 10MustKnows22. They have added new information from relevant publications in 2022 and 2023 and connected it to the 23 global goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) from December 2022. 

The authors understand that the next six years until 2030 are crucial for achieving a sustainable and fair life on our planet. With the 10MustKnows24, they aim to help speed up the transformation by offering solid recommendations for politics and society.

https://zenodo.org/records/10837769/files/10MustKnows24_EN_digital%20version_final.pdf?download=1

My Ocean

Using information from both satellite and in-situ observations, the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS provides state-of-the-art analyses and forecasts daily, which offer the capability to observe, understand and anticipate marine environment events. 

(Source: https://myocean.marine.copernicus.eu/data?view=about)

Link

Our Planet Educator Guides

The world’s leading conservation organization WWF offers these guides to help shape supplementary discussions and activities within your 5th-12th grade learning environment.

You can sign up to receive the toolkit and updates about WWF’s Wild Classroom resources.

Visit:

https://www.worldwildlife.org/teaching-resources/toolkits/our-planet-educator-guides

#breakfreefromplastic

#breakfreefromplastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution.

Since its launch in September 2016, nearly 1,500 organizations from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis.

It offers many resources focused on solutions to plastic pollution: news, podcast, reports…

Find it on:

https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/

On Twitter

https://twitter.com/brkfreeplastic

On Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/breakfreefromplastic/

Remembering Chernobyl

April 26 marks the 33rd anniversary of the 1986 radiation disaster at Chernobyl reactor Number 4 in Ukraine. 

The Chernobyl disaster is considered the most disastrous nuclear power plant accident in history, both in terms of costs and casualties. Large areas of Europe were affected by the accident At the end of 1986, the destroyed reactor was covered with a special “sarcophagus” to prevent the spread of radiation.

The following is a list with educational resources on the Chernobyl disaster:

http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/the-chernobyl-disaster/

https://www.simpleenglishnews.com/archives/stories/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-53111445

https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.matter.chernobyl/chernobyl-what-really-happened/

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:chernobyl%20activities

https://cnduk.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Activity-C-The-Chernobyl-Disaster.pdf

World Water Day. Educational Resources

World Water Day is an annual UN observance day (always on 22 March) that highlights the importance of freshwater. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

A collection of stories on World Water Day

https://www.worldwaterday.org/theme/stories/

World Water Day on Teacher Planet (educational resources)

http://www.teacherplanet.com/content/water-day

Some resources on Pinterest

https://www.pinterest.es/pin/259590365991499492/

Resources on World Water Day. Larry Ferlazzo

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/03/23/the-best-resources-for-teaching-learning-about-world-water-day/

World Water Day on Kidworldcitizen.org (games and activities)

https://kidworldcitizen.org/celebrate-world-water-day-with-games-and-activities-for-all-ages/

World Water Day website

https://www.worldwaterday.org/

Interactive Map. Atlas of Our Changing Environment

Hosted by the United Nations Environment Program, this interactive map displays more than one hundred examples of environmental change around the world.

It also illustrates how humans have altered their surroundings and underscores the importance of developing measures that help provide understanding of the dynamics of environmental change.

Visit it on:

https://na.unep.net/atlas/google.php

#WorldOceansDay

World Oceans Day takes place every 8 June. It has been celebrated unofficially since its original proposal in 1992 by Canada's International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The conservation action theme for World Oceans Day 2018 has been "Preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean".

Some interesting educational resources in English language to celebrate World Oceans Day

http://www.worldoceansday.org/resources

https://www.twinkl.es/event/world-oceans-day-2018

https://www.tes.com/articles/world-oceans-day

http://www.worldoceansday.ca/education-resources/15-solutions-to-help-our-oceans

http://plasticoceans.uk/

#WorldEnvironmentDay #BeatPlasticPollution

First held in 1974, World Environment Day (WED) occurs on the 5th of June every year. WED is the UN's most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. It is widely celebrated in over 100 countries.

Each World Environment Day is organized around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental concern. The theme for 2018 is beating plastic pollution. #BeatPlasticPollution.

Visit:

http://worldenvironmentday.global/en/

EcoKids

Every January 26th we celebrate the World Environmental Education Day. This has its origin date from 1972 with the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972.

Started in 1994, EcoKids offers free learning activities and resources for Canadian teachers, students, parents and communities to engage in environmental action. EcoKids is designed to inspire children to become life-long environmental stewards through nature connection and play. (Source EcoKids)

EcoKids also provides activities and interactive games to help make the planet a little greener.

https://ecokids.ca/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/earthdaycanada/

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthDayCanada/

On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EarthDayCan/

Climate change and education

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Paris from 30 November to 12 December. The conference reached its objective, to for the first time achieve a global agreement on reduction of climate change in the Paris Agreement, which was adopted with acclamation by nearly all states. This agreement was the culmination of decades of international attempts under the UN to forge collective action on this problem.

Education is an essential element of the global response to climate change. In fact, education for sustainable development, both formal and non-formal, was afforded an entire thematic day as part of the conference on December 4.

(Source Wikipedia and UNESCO)

The following list includes some student and educators resources related to global climate change. Don't forget that sustainability starts in school!

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001901/190101E.pdf

http://climate.nasa.gov/resources/education/

http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/CFS_Climate_E_web.pdf

http://www.education.noaa.gov/Climate/Climate_Change_Impacts.html

http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/school.html

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIJk74xZtFZut1rJVHVVXeA