how Earth Day started?
You can find the answer to that question and more in The History of Earth Day by Gaylord Nelson. For instance, it might surprise your students to learn that there has not always been an Earth Day. The first Earth Day occurred in 1970. Your own perception of Earth Day might need some updating too. It’s no longer just about being aware of what stresses our environment, refraining from littering and picking up trash, or planting a tree. There now exists, for example, a Green Schools initiative consisting of four programs: healthy foods, curriculum, policy and civics, and green facilities. Consider how you and your students might get involved with one of these programs in order to promote environmentally friendly schools. EarthDay.gov is a treasure-trove for the classroom teacher. Scroll down the page for a list of linked topics, including acid rain, climate change, drinking water, endangered species, estuaries, ground water, invasive species, National Youth Service Day (April 20-22), and
The idea evolved for seven years, starting in 1962, when the day’s founder, former senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin, proposed the concept of putting the environment in the national spotlight by having President John F. Kennedy go on a national conservation tour. The tour took flight in September of the next year but was unsuccessful in its quest of starting a national political conversation on the movement. It did, however, get the ball rolling in the Earth Day direction. Six years passed before Nelson got the idea of having a specific day designated, a concept spurred by the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations of the day. Why not organize a similar grassroots protest over what was happening to the environment to put it in the national political consciousness? At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, Nelson announced a spring 1970 environmental demonstration in which he invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. Earth Day
