Connect!A Guide to Earth Month Online

WWW.EARTHSHARE.ORG

Celebrate Earth Month 2020 online and connect with others who are invested in our planet’s health.

EarthShare thanks its valued corporate partners for sponsoring the development of this guide, enabling us to share it broadly to inspire and empower people to celebrate our environment during Earth Day’s historic 50th anniversary.

CONNECT! A GUIDE TO EARTH MONTH ONLINE

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EARTH MONTH ONLINE INTRODUCTION & CONTENTS

IntroductionApril 22, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a historical and international day of celebration, activism, education, and volunteerism on behalf of our planet’s health — and our own.

To protect our communities during the current public health crisis, the global celebration has gone digital! Connect virtually from the safety and comfort of your own home with this toolkit of online resources and activities for the entire family — including curriculum to help busy parents engage kids in environmental stewardship activities.

What’s InsideNationwide Online Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Citizen Science: Activities for your Backyard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Adventures from Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Learning Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Explore More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

CONNECT! A GUIDE TO EARTH MONTH ONLINE

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EARTH MONTH ONLINE NATIONWIDE ONLINE OPPORTUNIES

Earth Day Network has announced that their theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. Find out how you can participate this year.

Earth Day Initiative NY is also promising a rich online experience to show what activism can look like in the 21st century, and how we can empower one another to move things in a positive direction. Join them for a day of activity, including a virtual stage of speakers, virtual workshop space, and virtual exhibitors.

The Sierra Club has hundreds of chapters across the country and is offering opportunities that do not require an in-person presence. Check it out to find out how you can create sustainable change in your community.

While we can’t show our love for America’s national park system in person during this year’s National Park Week, you can get involved on social media and stay caught up on news. You can also share photos and stories of your favorite National Park through the National Parks Conservation Association’s Share Your Story project!

The Environmental Protection Agency offers lots of great resources for Earth Day activities you can use from the comfort of your own home.

Join Carbonfund.org to calculate your carbon footprint and plant trees around the world – all while sitting on your living room couch!

DCEFF (DC Environmental Film Festival) online is offering hundreds of environmental films for streaming. Explore their collection of festival films here.

EarthX will host its Earthx2020 Conferences and EarthxFilm Festival virtually this year. Visit them to find out how you can plug in.

Click these cities below for regional online events to celebrate Earth Month 2020.

Go Online. Go Local.

New York City Dallas

Fort Collins Omaha

St. Louis

Online Opportunities Across the NationEarth Day is going virtual across the country — check out national e-happenings as well as virtual opportunities in your own region.

CONNECT! A GUIDE TO EARTH MONTH ONLINE

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EARTH MONTH ONLINE CITIZEN SCIENCE

Citizen Science: Activities for Your Own Backyard Enjoy the outdoors safely and responsibly with some of these opportunities from EarthShare member organizations.

Find out how to design a garden space to create a natural landscape and habitat for local species. Visit National Wildlife Federation for tips. You can also explore their Native Plant Finder to find plant species local to your area. Check out NWF’s guide on pollinator gardening to help ensure that our critical pollinators have hospitable habitat!

Design a Wildlife GardenNational Wildlife Federation

Build a Bat HouseBat Conservation International

Bats are often misunderstood — you can learn the facts here about the essential role they play in keeping our natural systems healthy. Did you know bats help keep away mosquitos? Reason enough to give them a home in your own backyard. Find out how to build a single chamber bat house and check out BCI’s Kidz Cave for coloring pages and activity ideas, too!

Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection. Help to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. Check out more community science projects from Xerces Society.

Bumble Bee WatchXerces Society

For the BirdsNational Audubon Society

Download the Audubon Bird Guide app to inform your backyard bird counts. You can learn more about the Great Backyard Bird Count here.

CONNECT! A GUIDE TO EARTH MONTH ONLINE

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EARTH MONTH ONLINE ADVENTURES FROM HOME

Adventures from Home Explore the wonders of nature with unique virtual visits of sites across the United States.

Take a virtual tour of U.S. National Parks, including a detailed look at the natural wonders of Yellowstone National Park. Don’t miss the world-famous bear cams at Katmai National Park, part of a collaboration with the website Explore.org to stream the complex (and often entertaining) lives of bears right into your home.

Visit a National ParkU.S. National Park Service

Say Hi to Some Animal FriendsSmithsonian’s National Zoo

Check in on your favorite critters at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, with these fun animal cams. Be sure to download the supplemental packet, Educational Activities You Can Do at Home.

Go Under the WavesNational Aquarium

Explore life underwater with webcams from the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Check out their At Home Aquatic Activities online portal, which includes word searches, coloring pages, and other activity ideas.

Check out online exhibits about butterflies and bonsai trees from the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, Ohio.

Stroll a Botanical Garden Franklin Park Conservatory

Watch an animated tour of New England’s Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.

Tour an Underwater Monument Natural Resources Defense Council

CONNECT! A GUIDE TO EARTH MONTH ONLINE

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EARTH MONTH ONLINE LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS & ADULTS

Learning Activities for Kids and Adults Take a deep dive into the natural world with these virtual activities and programs.

Catch the National Zoo’s online series, Other Duties As Assigned: the Secret World of Zoo Jobs — four playful videos that show you what it really means when you say, “I want to work at a zoo.” In each video, a different zoo staff member takes you behind the scenes of his or her job and answers questions from curious students.

Wildlife Career Video Smithsonian’s National Zoo

ZooCrew Family GuideSmithsonian’s National Zoo

This educational activity booklet will engage children and adults together in learning about the different animals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo with games, activities, animal facts, and stories about zoo scientists at work. These guides are intended for adults and children to share, and are available in both English and Spanish.

Wildlife Toolkits World Wildlife Fund

Check out information guides and activities that will help you understand how your actions shape the future of our planet. Explore these toolkits from World Wildlife Fund. The kids will enjoy their Wild Classroom Daily Activity too!

Explore natural environments without leaving your house! Visit NatureLab from the Nature Conservancy, a series of online virtual field trips for the whole family. Each virtual tour contains a detailed video as well as a teaching guide.

Virtual Field Trip The Nature Conservancy

CONNECT! A GUIDE TO EARTH MONTH ONLINE

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EARTH MONTH ONLINE EXPLORE MORE

Explore More Discover more about the world outside your door, and how we can meet critical environmental challenges as a society.

Take a four-century journey up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany to assess the past, present, and future of the legendary waterway.

400 Years on the Hudson RiverRiverkeeper

Farming Success StoriesAmerican Farmland Trust

Read about how farmers are protecting and preserving America’s irreplaceable farmland and the communities and economies it supports.

Buffalo Parks Documentary Olmstead Parks Conservancy

The Best Planned City in the World: Olmsted, Vaux and the Buffalo Park System examines the development of the nation’s first park system in 1868.

Explore how we can make our world healthier and more sustainable by looking at solutions for climate change, communities, energy, food, and water.

Learn how products with the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal support farms that safeguard soils, waterways, and farmworker well-being.

Sustainable Placemaking Natural Resources Defense Council

Follow the Frog! Rainforest Alliance

Virtual Treehouse | Explore the rainforest wonders in the Rainforest Alliance’s vitual treehouse.*

Animal Trivia | How well do you know your favorite animals? Take World Wildlife Fund’s quiz to find out!

*REQUIRES ABODE FLASH, which may be blocked on some browsers.

Games for kids and adults!