2025 Earth Day Activities for Middle School

Lesson Plans

Grades6, 7, 8Earth and Space Sciences, Geography, English Language Arts

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by Population Education

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What it is

Celebrate Earth Day with your middle school students using one of these four lesson plans that focus on how we produce, use, waste, and need energy.
Students analyze information and source bias in data about fracking in order to write an argument for or against fracking, develop a model to measure important factors to a sustainable community, interpret data to identify relationships between population growth, greenhouse gas emissions, temperature rise, land ice melt, and sea level rise, and use current event articles to perform a news telecast about what their futures might look like.

Teaching tips

Positives

The lesson plans include graphic organizers and scaffolded worksheets for students to use.
Each lesson includes an assessment to measure what students have learned.

Prerequisites

Teachers need to submit a short questionnaire to download the packet. The download is free.
Students will need some background in climate change. This resource can be used if needed.
Students will also need to be able to identify opinion words and know the meaning of the term bias.
In the Fracked or Fiction lesson, the map for Artifact #2 is not interactive, as the directions suggest. Because of this, a tablet or computer for this artifact isn't necessary.
The link for the video Rain Falls at Greenland Ice Summit for the First Time in the lesson People and Climate Change: The Data is In will take students to an article rather than a video. Students may not be able to answer Question 2 with this article.
Learning about the effects of climate change can be emotionally charged for students. This educator's guide on climate emotions can help you have these conversations with your students.

Differentiation & Implementation

Follow-up extension activities are provided for each lesson.
Lessons include alternative procedures that can be used to further scaffold the lessons.
Check out our Earth Month Calendar and our Earth Day teacher's guide for middle school for more ideas on what to teach around Earth Day.

From the scientist review

This resource engages students with various sources focused on sustainability and climate change, focusing on assessing bias in the source material. While generally well-sourced, there are several items which are over ten years old and a few figures in lesson three lack proper citation. Despite these issues, this resource is strongly rooted in sustainability science and is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Geography, English Language Arts
Other types: Articles/Websites, Data, Graphs, and Maps, Activity - Classroom, Worksheets
Format: PDF
Language: English
Location: North America > United States, North America > United States > New Mexico
Provider: Population Education
Authors: Population Education
Published: April 4, 2025
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · 6R6: + 17 more

New York Climate Education Hub

English Language Arts

6R6:In literary texts, identify the point of view and explain how it is developed and conveys meaning. (RL) In informational texts, explain how an author’s geographic location or culture affects his or her perspective. (RI)
6R7:Compare and contrast how different formats, including print and digital media, contribute to the understanding of a subject. (RI&RL)
6SL2:Interpret information presented in diverse formats (e.g., including visual, quantitative, and oral) and explain how it relates to a topic, text, or issue under study.
6W2:Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
7R1:Cite textual evidence to support an analysis of what the text says explicitly/implicitly and make logical inferences. (RI&RL)
7W5:Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Apply the grade 7 Reading Standards to both literary and informational text, where applicable.
7W6:Conduct research to answer questions, including self-generated questions, drawing on multiple sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate. Generate additional related questions for further research and investigation.
8R8:Trace and evaluate the development of an argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient and recognizing when irrelevant evidence is introduced. (RI&RL)
8SL4:Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear enunciation.
8SL6:Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
8W1:Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
8W7:Gather relevant information from multiple sources; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others; avoid plagiarism and follow a standard format for citation.

Mathematics

NY-6.SP.5Summarize quantitative data sets in relation to their context.
NY-8.SP.1Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities. Describe patterns such as clustering, outliers, positive or negative association, linear association, and nonlinear association.

Science

MS-ESS3-3.Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Social Studies

CRC.8.1.Articulate how events are related chronologically to one another in time, and explain the ways in which earlier ideas and events may influence subsequent ideas and events.
GR.8.1.Use location terms and geographic representations, such as maps, photographs, satellite images, and models to describe where places are in relation to each other and connections between places; evaluate the benefits of particular places for purposeful activities.
EES.8.1.Explain how economic decisions affect the well-being of individuals, businesses, and society; evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups of people.

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