By Lola Olvera, ENC Communications Intern
Learning doesn’t have to be boring. Whether you’re a teacher looking for a way to make the classroom more engaging or a parent wanting to show your children how they can help the environment, this toolkit is for you.
The World Forum Foundation is focused on providing quality services, including education, for young children through the exploration and promotion of ideas from worldwide sources.
Their online Connection Center allows participants to join in on discussions, hear about new projects, and access reading material and other resources. This toolkit, available in English, Spanish and Arabic, was put together with the help of educational and environmental groups across the globe.
Here are just a few tips from the toolkit! For more fun activities and tips, visit the World Forum Foundation Connection Center.
Learning About Light
Go outside and allow students to talk about the sun and its light. Hand out mirrors or light-reflecting materials such as aluminum. Let children play hide-and-seek type games by letting the light bounce off different materials.
Next, have them learn what types of materials block out the sun’s light and which one’s don’t. Engage in shadow play and try to see if they can create rainbows.
Take two small plants outside that are very similar. Cover one in a towel and wait a few days. When you uncover it, it should look much less healthy than the plant exposed to sunlight. Discuss why that is so.
Create a Rain Catcher
According to the EPA, pollutants carried by rainwater runoff account for 70% of all water pollution. Talk about the water cycle and the journey that water takes from the clouds, through your community, to larger bodies of water, and back up into the clouds again. Suggest that you create a rain catching device to save rooftop runoff that can be used later.
All you need is a container or basin with some way to direct the runoff into it, such as a rain chain. You can also attach a rain gutter to a barrel beneath it.
Talk about the importance of conserving water and point out how in some areas of the world, clean water is not as readily accessible.