Kathleen M. Reilly - Planet Earth: Finding Balance on the Blue Marble with Environmental Science Activities for Kids

Titles in the Environmental Science book set

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2000 BCE: The Chinese first use coal as an energy source.

1543 CE: Nicolaus Copernicus explains that the sun is at the center of our solar system and the earth orbits the sun.

1609: Johannes Kepler describes the motion of planets.

1750: Carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere is 279 ppm (parts per million).

1820: The term greenhouse effect is first used by Joseph Fourier.

1882: The first hydroelectric dam is built by Thomas Edison near Niagara Falls in New York.

1890: The mass production of automobiles begins, creating a larger demand for gasoline.

1970: The first Earth Day is held in the United States on April 22.

1970: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is created to implement federal laws that protect the environment.

1979: The first solar panels are installed on the White House.

1998: Carbon dioxide measurements in the atmosphere pass 350 ppm for the first time in human history.

2010: The largest oil spill in the United States, from Deepwater Horizon , occurs in the Gulf of Mexico.

2011: The worlds population reaches 7 billion people.

2013: Solar Impulse , the first airplane powered by solar energy, flies across the United States.

2016: The Paris Agreement is signed by 195 countries that pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

2016: The earth experiences its hottest year on record.

2017: The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere stands at 405 ppm, the highest level in at least 800,000 years.

2017: U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

How long will it take to biodegrade?

paper towel: about three weeks

apple: about two months

plastic bag: about 20 years

tin can: about 50 years

disposable diaper: more than 400 years

glass bottle: about 1 million years!

Whats the world like outside your window? A grassy backyard full of trees? Maybe you have swaying palm trees or bending birches brushing gently against your window at night. Or maybe there arent any trees, but dry, desert air drifts in through your screen door. Maybe pigeons gather on your window ledge, far above the urban streets below.

Whatever you see out your windowthats the environment. Everything natural thats out there, living and nonliving, is what people are talking about when they say the environment. The grass, trees, birds, bugs, bears, falling rain, shining suneven you! Youre part of the environment, too.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What type of environment do you live in? Desert, tundra, forest, grassland?

WORDS TO KNOW

urban: relating to a city or large town.

environment: everything in natureliving or nonlivingincluding plants, animals, rocks, and water.

tundra: a treeless Arctic region that is permanently frozen below the top layer of soil.

industry: the large-scale production of goods, especially in factories.

climate change: a change in long-term weather patterns, which happens through both natural and man-made processes.

The environment is the things you can see, such as animals, rocks, and water, plus all of the things you cant see, including earthworms pushing through the ground under your feet and the air thats touching your skin right now.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Wherever you are on Planet Earth, youll find the environment. And a thing as enormous as a planet must stay pretty healthy, right? After all, what could have enough strength to hurt an entire planet?

A beautiful mountainous environment here on Earth

In fact, many people are very worried about the health of the planet. For decades, scientists have been studying the impact people and industry have on the environment and how our habits, behaviors, and inventions affect the natural world.

It turns out that the planet is warming up. More than 97 percent of scientists around the world have found that climate change is real and at least partly caused by humans.

That means theres a direct link between human activity and rising temperatures.

Take a look at an animated infographic that shows the progression of global temperatures for the last 116 years.

temperature circle climate

Not everyone agrees with the scientists who are finding evidence of climate change. Some people believe that the warming is part of a natural cycle that humans have very little control over. Others dont believe that climate change is a very big problem. Others are suspicious of things they dont experience themselves. They think that if they live in a region that gets lots of snow, why should they believe that the overall temperature of the globe is rising?