Earth Day is Today. Celebrate and take care of the Earth each day....

Wednesday, Earth Day. 

The Earth Day Song, has been Translated into all the 102 languages spoken at the United Nations.

https://youtu.be/kQz8jxJLNOA

• 10 Facts about Earth Day.
  https://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/earth-day-facts?did=515657-20200422&utm_campaign=rs-daily-finds_newsletter&utm_source=realsimple.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=042220&cid=515657&mid=32685132761
  
  
  
  
  The granddaddy of Earth Day events is a coalition of hundreds of activist organizations convening for Earth Day Live 2020. Originally planned to be the largest climate strike in history, organizers are now hosting three days of programming sunup to sundown and an extremely long list of celebrity participants. I don’t often use this word, but if you care about climate change, this event is gonna be lit. Take a look at the programming yourself and RSVP.
• Earth Day, the organization that originally created the event, will host a 24-hour live event on Wednesday, featuring, among others, Al Gore, whose name will pop up just about everywhere this week. It is also organizing hundreds of digital events around the world, for example, a dolphin meetup in Hawaii.
• The Earth Day Initiative kicked the week off on Sunday, April 19, with a 6-hour (!) live event that featured several panels on climate issues (Green New Deal, infectious disease, etc). What, you don’t like binge-watching environmental activism? Guests included Al Gore, Elizabeth Warren, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, among others, and you can still watch the entire thing.
• Climate Collective NYC is hosting a week of climate-related events in celebration of Earth Day 2020, including an online play.
• Speaking of Al Gore, his climate change initiative World War Zero is hosting a series of virtual town halls during the days preceding Earth Day Live, of which he is taking part. The digital town halls take place Monday through Wednesday of this week. Check World War Zero for replays.

Cover image courtesy of Sony Alpha.

Jonathan StullAdmin
I build content for @theoutbound. You can find me elsewhere on the internet at 

@jonathandstull
 and at jonathanstull.co.

https://theoutbound.com/explore/adventures/faeroe-island/fuglafjrur?latitude=62.24398&longitude=-6.81395&limit=30&page=1&type=Adventure

Audubon Field Guides. Cardinal below
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-cardinal

More than half a century ago, conservationist Rachel Carson sounded an alarm about human impacts on the natural world with her book Silent Spring. Its title alluded to the loss of twittering birds from natural habitats because of indiscriminate pesticide use, and the treatise spawned the modern conservation movement. But new research published Thursday in Science shows bird populations have continued to plummet in the past five decades, dropping by nearly three billion across North America—an overall decline of 29 percent from 1970.

Ken Rosenberg, the study’s lead author and a senior scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the nonprofit American Bird Conservancy, says the magnitude of the decline could significantly affect the continent’s food webs and ecosystems. “We’re talking about pest control, we’re talking about pollination [and] seed dispersal,” he says, referring to the roles birds play in ecosystems. Because it is relatively easy to monitor birds, he adds, their presence or absence in a habitat can be a useful indicator of other environmental trends. Based on the paper’s results, he says, “we can be pretty sure that other parts of the ecosystem are also in decline and degradation.”

Credit: Amanda Montañez; Source: “Decline of the North American Avifauna,” by Kenneth V. Rosenberg et al., in Science. Published online September 19, 2019

Rosenberg and his colleagues used data from citizen-science bird-population assessments, including the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, to estimate changes since 1970. In these yearly projects, thousands of volunteers perform “point counts,” tallying all the birds they can see and hear in a short time period at locations along designated routes. This method “is the gold standard in the field of ornithology to survey birds,” says Valerie Steen, an ecologist at the University of Rhode Island, who was not involved in the new study. The researchers say that because they estimated losses only in breeding populations, their results are conservative—meaning total bird losses could be even higher than they reported.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-cardinal

The Science of it. 

Habitat. 

Climate, change

Loss of Habitat

Results

Recycling looks.

Batteries, 

Fundraiser to recycle Electronics

How can I recycle?

Why?

Where?

I am guilty of wishcycling. Today I will find sources to recycle all we can.

https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/green-living/wishcycling?did=512201-20200414&utm_campaign=rs-home_newsletter&utm_source=realsimple.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=041420&cid=512201&mid=32306886049

Recycling & Waste Solutions

Largest Recycler in the USA, check out their resources.

https://recyclingsimplified.com/for-educators/

https://www.republicservices.com

https://theoutbound.com/jasonhatfield/a-new-short-aerial-film-of-public-lands

https://vimeo.com/406396066

Recycling Simplified Education Program | Grades 6-8 | An Inside Look at a Recycling Center

Students will learn about the recycling process that begins after material is collected and brought to a recycling center. They will take a video tour of a recycling center, see how various types of recyclable materials are handled, and learn about the problems that may occur when items are not recycled correctly. Students will develop questions related to the recycling process and the facility, and will work in small groups to find information addressing their questions from credible online sources.

Lesson Prep
1. WatchRecyclingSimplifiedTeacherOverview|Grades 6-8 if you haven’t yet seen it.
2. Print or copy as many as needed of the following materials:

Optional Materials
• Poster
• Student certificate• Teacher’s Reference Guide
All printed materials available online at RecyclingSimplified.com

• Lesson plan
• Lesson handout

• Take-home handout

3. Download or stream Recycling Simplified Student Video | Grades 6-8, Recycling Center Video Tour | Grades 6-8, and the presentation slides for this lesson, and set up technology to show them to students.
   The slides provide age-appropriate images and text to reinforce key content in the lesson. You can extract them from the PDF to show on-screen or print and distribute them as you see fit.
4. Gather visual aid materials and sticky notes.

Vocabulary

Bales Contaminants Conveyor belt Eddy current separator Ferrous metals Materials recovery facility (MRF, pronounced “murf”) Non-ferrous metals Optical sensor Recyclable and non-recyclable Recycling Recycling center Single-stream recycling

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Recycling Simplified Education Program | Grades 6-8 | An Inside Look at a Recycling Center The Lesson If it hasn’t been shown before, have students watch Recycling Simplified Student Video | Grades 6-8. Through guided discussion, assess and broaden students’ understanding of how recycled materials are handled after they are collected. When we talk about recycling, what do we mean? How are recyclables collected where you live? What do you think happens to recycled items once they are brought to a recycling center? How would you picture that being done – By hand? Machinery? How could machinery recognize and sort different kinds of items? Explain to students that today they are going to “tour” a recycling center to see what happens there and why it is important for us to recycle properly. Show Recycling Center Video Tour | Grades 6-8 and discuss with students. Did the recycling center look like you had imagined? Larger or smaller than you expected? What are some things you learned from the video that you didn’t know before? Was there anything that surprised you? Distribute the How Recycling Centers Work handout to students. Use slides to highlight and discuss the following: Many different types of sorting mechanisms, such as fans, filters, screens, and optical scanners Contamination sources and consequences Biggest problem items for centers (plastic bags, garden hoses, batteries, light bulbs) 1 2 3 4 4

You can use the age-appropriate presentation slides throughout your lesson to reinforce key learning content and objectives. The Teacher’s Reference Guide contains a wealth of information on recycling and landfills, as well as fun facts to share with students.

Recycling Simplified Education Program | Grades 6-8 | An Inside Look at a Recycling Center Distribute sticky notes to students. Ask them what else they would like to know about recycling centers and to write three questions, one per note. Example questions: How much material (weight) does the average center handle on an average day? What kinds of knowledge and skills does someone need to manage a center? Are there subject areas that would be especially helpful? Collect the notes and have the students help you create categories for the questions as you read them aloud. Write the categories on the board and place each note under the appropriate heading, eliminating duplicate questions. The categories used will, of course, depend upon the questions submitted, but you may want to broaden or narrow categories. When the sorting is done, create student teams and assign categories to each team, making adjustments as needed to keep the number of questions per team as equal as possible. Explain that they will be doing online research to findanswers to their assigned questions and that each will present its findings to the class. Have each team present its findings to the class, and encourage students to ask questions and/or contribute information related to each team’s reports. 5 6 7 8 5

Some categories might be: • Technical questions • Facility questions • Career questions • Statistical questions Before students begin their research, discuss with them how to evaluate the credibility of internet sources. You may wish to provide some suggestions to get them started, such as the EPA website, the local solid waste management agency or department website, national recycling organizations and coalitions, and information websites like Wonderopolis.org andHowStuffWorks.com.

 

Recycling Simplified Education Program | Grades 6-8 | An Inside Look at a Recycling Center

Takeaways

Discuss the key information presented by student teams. Point out that when we buy products made from or packaged in recycled materials, we are “closing the recycling loop.” If you prepared student certificates, distribute them along with the take-home handout. Tell students they can help teach their families about recycling.

Curriculum & Standards Connections

Science – Next Generation Science
Standards (NGSS)
MS-ESS3-3: Earth and Human ActivityApply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
Disciplinary Core Idea ESS3.A: Natural Resources Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited,
and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes.
Disciplinary Core Idea ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Typically, as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise.
Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science:
All human activity draws on natural resources and has both short- and long-term consequences, positive as well as negative, for the health of people and the natural environment.

Social Studies – National Council
for the Social Studies (NCSS)
NCSS Theme: People, Places, and EnvironmentsThe study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
NCSS Theme: Science, Technology, and Society Science, and its practical application, technology, have had a major influence on social and culturalchange, and on the ways people interact with
the world.
English Language Arts/ Literacy – Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
Reading Informational Text • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.1
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI.8.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferences drawn from the text.

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Recycling Simplified Education Program | Grades 6-8 | An Inside Look at a Recycling Center

Curriculum & Standards Connections

Speaking & Listening

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.1
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.1
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1
  Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, groups, and teacher-led)
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.5
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.5
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5
  Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.

Science & Technical Subjects
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart,diagram, model, graph, or table).
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.9
Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing
on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues
of exploration.

Recycling Simplified is brought to you by Republic Services®, Inc. We’re working hard every day, without fail, to preserve and protect our earth; to develop and implement our BLUE PLANET® sustainable solutions — not just for today, but for generations to come. We Work For Earth®.

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Recycling Simplified Education Program | Lesson Handout

How Do Recycling Centers Work?

What Is Recycling?
Recycling is a series of activities that includes the collection
of used, reused, or unused items that would otherwise be considered waste; sorting and processing those items into raw materials; and remanufacturing the recycled raw materials into new products. Consumers provide the last link in recycling – sometimes referred to as “closing the recycling loop” – by purchasing products made from recycled content.

Almost anything can be recycled, but certain things are more common and more cost-effective. These are the materials handled by most recycling centers. There are also specialized recycling facilities that handle less common materials, items that require specific safety measures, etc.

The Recycling Process

If your community allows you to place all your recyclable materials in the same container, that is called “single-stream recycling.” Single-stream recycling means that you don’t need to separate different materials such as paper and plastic into separate bins. That sorting process takes place at the recycling center.

At the recycling center, materials typically begin their journey on a conveyor belt where pre-sorting takes place. As the items pass by, employees at stations along the belt work quickly to weed out non-recyclable items that will cause problems in the center’s machinery. From there on, most of the sorting is done mechanically using various types of machinery.

   

As the conveyor belt continues, screens are used to pull out newspaper, cardboard, and other paper items, while heavier items continue on.
Metals are recovered next. Ferrous metals, such as iron, steel, and tin, are pulled out by powerful magnets. Aluminum, which is non-ferrous and therefore not attracted to magnets, is usually separated out by a large spinning drum called an eddy current separator. Eddy currents create strong fields of energy that do the opposite of magnets – they push hard on aluminum items like cans, forcing them off the conveyor belt and into a different collection area.
Next to be sorted are plastics. Some plastics, such as beverage bottles, are easy to recycle, while others, like polystyrene, are typically thrown away. As the plastics continue along the belt, sophistical optical sensors recognize and sort the different types of recyclable plastics.
When the sorting process is completed, each type of material is compressed
and made into bales. For quality control, the bales are inspected to make sure
the materials have been properly sorted and that contaminants – non-recyclables – have been removed. Recyclables are bought and sold, just like other materials used in the manufacturing process. The baled recyclables are sold and turned into new products.

        

Here are some cool things to know about recycling centers:
• They can process as much as 350 tons of recyclables each day.
• A typical recycling truck can hold up to 12,000 pounds of material in one load, the contents from about 700 full recycling containers collected from homes.
• Special optical sensors are used to sort plastic bottles, jugs, and other containers. They use light to “see” color, density, and other characteristics of these items.

                           

ALWAYS recycle these items:

NEVER recycle these items:

Paper

Flattened Cardboard

Metal Cans

Plastic Bottles & Jugs

Batteries & Electronics

Yard Waste

Toys

Recycling Simplified Education Program | Grades 6-12 | Take-Home Handout

Recycling: Simple as 1-2-3 1

Know what to throw

23

Plastic Bags

Soiled Paper

Clothes & Shoes

Polystyrene

Greasy Pizza Boxes

Food

Empty. Clean. Dry.® Don’t bag itMake sure your recyclables Never bag or bundle your recyclables. are empty, clean, and dry.

                           

Expert Tips

Some things can’t be recycled in your bin at home, but they can be recycled or reused with proper handling:

Learn to avoid common mistakes, tell the difference between what’s recyclable and what’s not, and use best practices for keeping your recycling clean and simple. You can really make a difference.

TSP

Plastic Bags

If your recycling container smells, it’s contaminatedIf your recycling container stinks, it’s contaminated with non- recyclable waste. Remove the waste and rinse out the bin.

If you can poke your finger through it, don’t recycle itIf you can push your finger through it, the plastic is too soft and flimsy to be recycled. It would get tangled in the sorting machinery and jam up the operation.

Never recycle anything smaller than an ID cardIf the material is too small to go through the sorting equipment, it could get jammed and shut down the whole operation.

Pizza Boxes

Contact your local recycling program to learn more about specific recyclables and non-recyclables in your city.

Separate combined materials

Keep your recyclables dry – less than a teaspoon of liquid Don’t allow any more than a teaspoon of liquid to collect in cans, bottles, packages or jugs. Recyclables should always be empty, clean and dry.

Clothing, Shoes & Toys

Keep materials in separate categories — hard plastics, metal cans, paper and cardboard.

While these items can’t be recycled, they can be reused. Consider donating them to your local thrift store where they can be loved again by someone new!

Plastic bags can often be taken to the supermarket to be recycled with their specialized equipment. Ask your grocery store manager for more details.

Food Waste

Contact your local municipality to see if they have a composting program. If not, you can learn about creating your own compost online.

Batteries & More

Batteries, electronics and light bulbs cannot go into your recycling container and require special handling. Check local programs for disposal options.

If you pull the greasy bottom apart from the clean top, you can recycle the top – and trash the rest!

Recycling: Simple as 1-2-3 1
Know what to throw

Always recycle these things:
Paper
Metal Cans

Flattened Cardboard
Plastic Bottles & Jugs

   

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Empty. Clean. Dry.® Make sure your recyclables are
empty, clean, and dry.

Don’t bag it Never bag or bundle
your recyclables.

       

Contact your local recycling program to learn more about specific recyclables and non-recyclables in your city.

Recycling Simplified Education Program | Grades 6-12 | Poster

Virtual gardens

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g31746949/gardens-you-can-virtually-tour/

https://www.popsci.com/story/diy/edible-weeds/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email

National Parks.

https://www.afar.com/magazine/you-can-take-a-virtual-tour-of-the-national-parks-heres-how

The Future, thoughts on yours?

Google Mars.

How would life somewhere else look?

How?

Why?

When?

Who?

What?

Where?

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/earth-day-5050-looking-back-moving-forward-tickets-102689577290

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/five-ways-you-can-heal/register?utm_campaign=Dragontree%20Newsletter%2001.29.20%20(NrCgzw)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=All&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJlbnZpc2FnZXN0YXJAeWFob28uY29tIiwgImtsX2NvbXBhbnlfaWQiOiAiTkJlRURhIn0%3D

https://www.litterati.org/#home

Learn more live more….It’s Earth Day. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Be Kind.

Virtual scavenger hunt

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/family/2020/04/neighborhood-safari/

Animal coloring pages

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/coloring-book-animals-a-to-i/

https://www.cotopaxi.com/products/questival-quaranteam $10. To opt into 

https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/dunn-ranch-prairie/?tab_q=tab_container-tab_element_508737767&vu=dunnranchlive

https://www.capecodmuseumtrail.com/museum-directory/cape-cod-canal-visitor-center/?fbclid=IwAR2hAKC83wMIeITvDUt-Gn5h9ctPsy5ChF11ZxNT6F9BDPMZtXUG7PBSFKc

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Get permission from a trusted Adult.

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, we’re asking you to use your creativity to connect to nature and people around the world. From April 20 to April 26, we invite you to create pieces of art that show your passion for nature. Our natural world provides us with fresh air for breathing, clean water for drinking, food for eating, and so much more.

Whether you’re a long-time artist, or just someone looking for a creative outlet, we invite you to join this movement of creative self-expression. During the week of April 20, share your art! We’re looking for pieces that show the importance of nature, the ways in which it inspires us all, and what it personally means to you!

Share your art on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with #ArtForEarth and be sure to tag us, as we will be looking to share some of our favorite pieces! 🐼 You can also post your artwork here in the event.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/worldwildlifefund

Twitter: www.twitter.com/world_wildlife

Instagram: www.instagram.com/world_wildlife

Each day of the week, we’ll be focusing on a different theme and will include a few ideas to help spark your creativity. Here are the daily themes: 

Monday, April 20: Wildlife

Tuesday, April 21: Freshwater

Wednesday (Earth Day), April 22: One Planet

Thursday, April 23: Food

Friday, April 24: Forests

Saturday, April 25: Climate

Sunday, April 26: Oceans

Still have questions? Check out our FAQ page: https://wwf.to/34zbUrA

https://www.facebook.com/events/232422857829985/