Fresh, Clean and Green in 2015 Earth Day

Celebration
Grade 8
Mrs. Steeles 8th grade science class will be having a Green exhibit to celebrate
Earth Day this year. We will be focusing on Earth, Earths precious recources, and
ways to be more sustainable. Being green or sustainable is important because our
choices and actions that we make today will affect everything in the future. We
need to make good decisions now in order to avoid limiting the choices of
generations to come. This is your chance to educate others in the importance of
sustainability.
You will be participating in a poster session, also known as an exhibit. Students
from Cherry Knoll Elementary will be participating in our exhibit. This is an activity
that will not be graded. However, please remember you are providing a service to
our community and future generations. Please make a positive contribution and be
positive role models.
A successful exhibit is not created overnight. Preparing a well-organized, visuallypleasing exhibit requires you to plan well in advance. First, consider your audience
and what type of exhibit/psoter you'll create. Next, gather your supplies and
decide what information to include. From this point, create the text and graphics.
Remember to consider how these work together and then format your exhibit
accordingly.
An effective exhibit will combine text, graphics, and an activity to provide a
visually pleasing presentation. Remember your audience!!!! Children will be a wide
age range, please take this into consideration so that your exhibit is age
appropriate. Students will walk by your exhibit, it should quickly and efficiently
communicate your research. Unlike the fast pace of a slide show or verbal
presentation, an exhibit allows viewers to study and restudy your information and
discuss it with you one on one. You will be required to give short presentations on
your exhibit every 5 minutes.
Part of having an engaging exhibit is providing an activity for students. The activity
should be quick and simple. This can be a range of things such as a quiz at the end,
a questionnaire during the presentation, making something, guessing, playing a
game, hands on activity, etc. Remember however you have a 5 minute time limit.

Topic Choices:
1. History of Earth Day
2. The causes of Day and Night
3. Causes of the seasons
4. Our solar system- Life on another planet/moon
5. Global warming Impacts
6. Plastic Bags
7. Going green in your home
8. Going green transportation
9. Edible gardening- eating less meat
10. Carbon footprint
11. REDUCE- Buying used (garage sales, Goodwill)
12. Pedometer (Walking more)
13. Shower timers (facts about shower water use)
14. Our Traverse City watershed
15. Plastic bottles
16. Water pollution
17. Recycling (identifying #1 and #2)
18. Landfills- degrade time
19. Saving the Rainforest
20. Petitions
21. Your idea- MUST be approved by Mrs. Steele

Poster Planning:
Which topic did you choose?

Why are you choosing your topic for this project?

What do you think is the need for this project?

What are your project goals? Educational (e.g., to inform others about an issue) or
about environmental impact (e.g., to change the issues) or both?

Who are your group members and what are their roles for both the poster and the
exhibit? (Be specific)

How are you going to make your presentation engaging in addition to your poster?
(Handouts, quizzes, game, etc.)

How will you keep yourselves focused and productive? (You have 1 week)

Rubric:
Purpose

Student
Involvement

Innovation
and
Creativity

Education

Environmental
Consideration

What is the
need for this
project?

In what ways
were students
actively involved
in your exhibit?

Did the project

offer a new
way to address
an
environmental
issue?

Did the
project help
educate
others
outside of the
project
members?

Were
environmentally
friendly materials
(reusable,
recyclable,
bio-degradable,
organic, etc.)
stressed in
presentation

Are the
project goals
educational
(e.g., to
inform
others about
an
issue) or
about
environmenta
l
impact (e.g.,
to change the
issues) or
both?

How did this

project improve
upon or enhance
student
learning?

Did the project

display
creativity?

Will students
be able to
implement
these changes
within their
own lives or
be able to
teach others
what they
learned?

---AND/OR--Were environmental
measures stressed?

Layout &
Design

Accuracy &
Professionalis
m

Is all the

Are all facts

information

accurate and

on the

research-based?

poster in
focus,

The presentation

engaging,

was the

and easily

appropriate

viewed and

length. It did not

identified

seem hurried or

from 6 ft.

too slow. The

away?

presenters spoke
clearly and
distinctly and
established eye
contact with the
audience.