Seeds of ChangeOn Earth Day, it’s important toremember what happened toSquirrel. That’s right, Squirrel,a neighbor of yours with a story to tell.Here’s a short play for Earth Day, aplay to be read aloud by your entireclass. Divide the class into five groups:Squirrel, Water, Soil, Air and Sunlight.Choose a Narrator and an Acorn. Havethe characters read the parts aloud.So, get ready on the set. And, ACTION!Narrator: Once upon a time, there wasa forest filled with trees: dogwoodsthat bloomed beautifully, spicebushthat smelled sweetly, pines that grewstraight and tall, oaks laden withacorns.Water: As the rains fell on the forest;Air: As the winds blew across the forest;Sunlight: And as the sun shone brightlyupon the forest;Soil: Seeds sprouted from the richbrown earth, growing wildflowers andweeds, shrubs and trees of all colors,shapes, and sizes.Narrator: And the trees and plantsprovided homes, food and shelter for abewildering variety of animals.Water: Trout lived in the forest'sstreams, eating the mayflies and themosquito babies that lived underwater.Raccoons came to its water searchingfor crayfish and frogs, birds calledkingfishers dove into the water tospear their prey.Air: Hummingbirds hovered in thesummer air, blue jays squawkedthrough its branches, butterfliesfluttered among the flowers, batsskimmed the night air in search ofmoths.Soil: Turtles laid eggs deep in theearth, moles tunneled underground insearch of earthworms, foxes raisedpups in burrows stolen from the woodchucksthey devoured, chipmunksslept underground during the coldwinters.Sunlight: And the sun shined on it all,fueling the life that lived in the forest.Narrator: Everything in the forest wasused wisely and used forever. Nothingwas wasted.12Air: Animals breathed air, inhalingoxygen into their lungs,burning the oxygen, and takingit from the air.Narrator: But plants alwaysmade new oxygen, and thecycle continued.Soil: Plants took nutrients from thesoil, growing taller and taller, buildingthemselves out of the very earth itself.Narrator: But trees shed their leavesin the fall, and wildflowers witheredand died. Their decaying leaves andbodies made new soil, more soil, fornew trees and new flowers.Water: Animals drank the water,removing it from creeks and streams.Plants pulled water from the soil, theirthirsty roots continuously drinkingfrom the soil.Narrator: But the rains always came,bringing new water to the forest.Sunlight: And when the sun’s energywaned in the winter, no one worried.They all knew that spring would come,that the sun's fierce rays would oneday return, and grow the forest again.Narrator: And so the world worked,flowing in cycles, air, water, soil andenergy all renewed in the circle of theseasons.Squirrel: Until the squirrels came.Now, there’s one thing you shouldknow about squirrels.Air, Wind, Water, Sunlight (together):What that?!Squirrel: Squirrels are hungry, veryhungry. We just LOVE to eat. In a forest,we’ll eat just about anything: budsand flowers, walnuts and hickory nuts,sumac seeds and maple seeds, leavesand twigs. But squirrels love one thingmore than anything else.Acorns: Acorns for breakfast. Acornsfor lunch. Acorns for afternoon snack,and for dinner, and at bedtime.Narrator: Ah, acorns, the fruit of theoak tree. Oak trees, one of the mightiesttrees in the forest, big of limb andstrong of build, all begin life as acorns.Squirrel: And all acorns end up in mystomach. Why, this forest has so manyacorns, I simply must call all mybrothers and uncles and aunts andcousins and invite them to move intothis forest.Narrator: So the forest was soon filledwith squirrels, all happily eatingseeds, fruits, leaves and branches.Water: And when the rain fell, noacorns sprouted, for they all had beeneaten.Air: And when the wind blew, noacorns grew, for they were gone.Sunlight: And when the sun shined,nothing sprouted from earth, for therewere no seeds.Soil: And as fewer seeds grew, the soillost its richness, and became lifelessand barren.Narrator: As oak trees died, fewer oaktrees grew to replace them, feweracorns sprouted to become new oaks.Air, Wind, Water, Sunlight (together):The squirrel had eaten its future.Narrator: So the squirrels began tohoard their acorns, and hide themfrom each other.Squirrel: I’ll make sure the othersquirrels don’t find these acorns. I’llbury them in the ground, hide theminside holes in trees, place themunderneath stumps, any place theother squirrels won’t look.Air: Luckily, the squirrel buried moreacorns than it really needed.Water: So when springtime arrived inthe forest,Sunlight: And the sun rays warmedthe frozen, lifeless earth,Soil: The acorns the squirrel had hiddenin the ground began to sprout.Narrator: The squirrel noticed newoak trees growing from the earth.Squirrel: So that’s where those acornswere.Narrator: And the squirrel consideredeating the newly sprouted oaks.Squirrel: They would taste great, but ifI let these grow, perhaps there will bemore acorns a few years from now.Narrator: Which is what the squirreldid. The squirrel struck a deal withthe oak trees. The oak would producelots of acorns, millions of acorns.Air: And the squirrel would eat a lot ofthem.Sunlight: But not all of them.Water: No, for the squirrel needed oaktrees to produce acorns, its favoritefood.Soil: And the oak trees needed squirrelsin return, for it became the squirrel'sjob to grow oak trees.Squirrel: So every fall, I bury lots ofacorns, some for me, but some for theforest.Narrator: And that’s the way the forestcame back. The squirrel took what itneeded to stay alive.Squirrel: But I made sure to give backto the forest that sustained me.Narrator: So should we all live, givingback to the Earth that keeps us aliveWater: We all drink water, use water,consume water. But how do we giveback to the water we need?Air: We all breathe air, burn oxygen.But how do we give back to the air weneed?Sunlight: We all use sunlight energyfor power, light and heat. How do wegive back to the energy that sustainsus?Soil: We all eat food grown from thesoil, use trees cut from soil. How dowe give back to the soil that nurturesall life?Squirrel: Like me, everyone can plantacorns.Narrator: Acorns: good works. Seedsof change. Small deeds that protect amighty planet.Air, Wind, Water, Sunlight (together):What acorns have you planted today?Now plant an acorn!Things to Do!1. Write the word “ACORNS“ on thechalkboard. Below the word, brainstorma list of good deeds that helpthe environment. Any good environmentalact is an acorn.2. Brainstorm a list of good deedsthat help other people, and mighthave little to do about nature, ecologyand the environment. Are good deedsimportant? Which good deeds havestudents in your class done?3. Draw a large picture of an acorn.Inside the acorn, write the followingstatement: “This Earth Day, to helpimprove the planet, I am going to....”Complete the sentence any way you’dlike. Choose any acorn, any good deed,you think you’d like to do.4. Share your acorn with one otherstudent.5. Make sure you perform your acornact on Earth Day.Check Out The Newspaper!Learning standard: providing solutions toenvironmental problems◆ Search today’s newspaper for astory about a good deed-- somethinggood someone did to help other people,animals, plants, or the environment.What is the story about? Whatdid the person do?
DRIVE POLLUTIONAWAY!During the first Earth Day, peopleprotested about cars. They said carscreated too much pollution, that carexhaust choked the air. Highways builtonly for cars were ruining too manyhabitats like forests and fields. Toomany resources were used for producingcars.With time, cars have changed.Before the first Earth Daylead was an additive ingasoline. And whilelead helped cars runsmoothly, it poisonedthe air, because it isa very dangerouschemical forpeople tobreathe. Now,most cars run onunleaded gasolineand more hybridcars, using alternativefuels, are beingbuilt. Cars run cleaner, moreefficiently, producing less pollution,using less gas. Some car manufacturersare even experimenting withrecycled and re-used parts.Still, few things affect the environmentquite like a car. People are nowdriving more cars than ever and longerdistances than ever, adding to urbansmog. Check out the drawing to findall the different ways a car causespollution.Here’s your job.In groups of 3-4, invent the car of thefuture, a car that creates little or nopollution. How does it run? What is itsfuel? Of what materials is it made?Use the worksheet on this page tohelp you and your group design yourcar. Then give your car a name.Draw large poster-sized ads foryour cars, and display them in yourschool’s hallway.Or create TV ads, and performthem for each other as skits.Cars kill billions of flying insects, includingimportant pollinators like butterflies and bees.Cars run over thousands of wild animals,including skunks and snakes, raccoons andrabbits.WORKSHEET:Car’s Name:Year it’s produced:Your car company’s name:Your ad slogan:List five ways your car helps improve the environment:1.2.3.4.Air conditioners often use chemicalsthat, if they leak, assist in harmingthe atmosphere's ozone layer.Cars are made from metal, requiring tons ofore to be mined from the ground, harminghabitats worldwide.Cars must be parked somewhere,requiring millions of acres of landfor paved-over parking lots.Wait a Minute!Car exhaust createssmog and releasesgreenhouse gases thatmight be warming theworld.Cars run on gasoline, andthe production of gas emitspollution into air, water, andsoil. Gas stations and theirunderground storage tanksleak tremendous amountsof gas into the soil, whichpollutes drinking water.Mountains of car tires are tossed into landfills orburned each year. Burning tires emit massiveamounts of air pollution.◆ If cars do all these things – dirtythe water, warm the climate, kill animals– why do we drive them? Is thereanything useful that cars do? Write astatement below about one good thingthat cars do. Share your statements inyour group. What's the best thingabout cars?Check Out The Newspaper!Learning standard: developing marketing strategies1. Look through the car ads in thenewspaper and create an ad for yourcar based on the ones you read.2. Search through the newspaper’sadvertising. Seek out ads that promoteproducts that help improve the environment.Clip out and create a bulletinboard collage. As a class, vote for themost environmentally friendly product.5.13
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