It is expected that 6 million Canadians will join more than a billion people from 170 countries to participate in Earth Day 2012.  Since 1970, Earth Day organizers around the world have celebrated April 22 by staging events and projects that encourage citizens to address local environmental issues.  Schools have played an increasingly significant role in promoting Earth Day and it is hoped that every child in Canada will have the opportunity to participate in Earth Day activities this year. 

Why Celebrate Earth Day?

• Earth Day draws attention to the planet and our dependence on it for survival.
• Earth Day can raise awareness of key environmental problems that threaten earth’s ability to support life.
• Earth Day can highlight the importance of sustainable development and promote the necessary changes in human practice to achieve its results.
• Earth Day can provide the motivation and opportunity for participants to take action to improve the environment of their local communities.
• Earth Day presents an excellent interdisciplinary theme for schools to celebrate.
• Earth Day celebrations give schools a great opportunity to model environmental stewardship.

Resources 4 Rethinking encourages students and teachers to participate in Earth Day

2012. Top R4R Picks will connect you to some excellent resources to support these

efforts.

For more information and activities be sure to check out the Earth Day Canada website at: http://www.earthday.ca/pub/

May 22^nd is recognized around the world as the International Day for Biodiversity.   In 1993 the United Nations proclaimed this annual celebration to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and to encourage the protection of all species.  The theme for this year’s event is Marine Biodiversity.

The International Day for Biological Diversity provides an excellent opportunity for students and teachers to explore biodiversity issues within their own communities.

Why Care About Biological Diversity?

• The more biodiverse an ecosystem, the greater its ability to withstand disturbance.
• Even the smallest and most obscure species play vital roles in sustaining the web of life in all ecosystems.
• The extinction of each additional species brings the irreversible loss of unique genetic codes which are often linked to development of medicines, crops, and jobs.
• Of the top 150 prescription drugs, 118 originally have come from living creatures. Cures for existing and future diseases may well be found in nature’s inventory of species. The potential pharmaceutical value of marine ecosystems is estimated at more than five trillion dollars.
• Not since the disappearance of the dinosaurs has the rate of species extinction been greater than today. Virtually all of this loss is being caused by human activities.
• The current extinction rate is between 100 and 1,000 times greater than what it was before 1800. (E.O. Wilson)
• Marine species are currently under threat from climate change, pollution, overfishing and the introduction of invasive species.
• Fifty percent of the Earth’s oxygen is generated by marine phytoplankton.
• In addition to accounting for 15% of the animal protein in our diet, marine biodiversity provides services valued at more than 26 billion dollars annually.
• The loss of biodiversity is perhaps the only truly irreversible global environmental change the Earth faces today.

Resources 4 Rethinking encourages students and teachers to participate in the International Day for Biological Diversity. Top R4R Picks will connect you to some excellent resources to support these efforts.

Other Resource:

• Explore resources offered by the Biodiversity Education and Awareness Network (BEAN), on teaching biodiversity in the classroom:

     http://biodiversityeducation.ca/resources/bean-education-materials/

• For more information and activities be sure to check out the International Day for Biological Diversity website at: http://www.cbd.int/idb/