Going Green

April may be the month of mixing dry roots and memories, but it is also the time to celebrate the Earth. Earth Day takes places on 22nd April this year and I'd like to dedicate a short entry to raising green awareness. 

My world is a delicate balance between sands and urban areas; a constant negotiation between pristine wilderness and the need of human survival and technological development. 

Despite the existence of oases, underground water levels are dropping dramatically every year due to urban and touristic developments. A fine balance between human interest and respect for the natural environment is constantly maintained so that future generations may enjoy and experience this country's natural inheritance. 

With that in mind, my suggestions today are activities to continue raising learners' awareness and respect for their natural environment and the need to protect the planet from pollution. 

CEO2 is a challenging game where players are given choices and decisions to make. As they choose their choice of industry, they will also learn more about it and its role in the environment. 

Are You a Green Leader? is another choice, where learners can select a topic and then be directed to a panel of different games on sustainability.  Pulse of the Planet has daily and monthly features and is a great place for learners to find out more about different issues related to the natural world and the environment.  For young learners, why not choose a character with The Great Green Web Game and test your environmental knowledge? Students could work in pairs and there could be small recycled tokens as prizes.

Learners don't necessarily need to play only games; they can create a Voicethread, a digital poster with Glogster, even a digital wall with Wallwisher, showing how they participate in protecting the environment. Another great activity would be to have students using their mobile phones to carry out short interviews, thus using one of the favourite mobile devices for learning purposes. These interviews could be uploaded to podcasts and shared later in the classroom. 

How are you going to celebrate Earth Day in 2012?

Further reference:

A Worldly Wish for 2012

Biodiversity

Diving into the Blu

VoiceThread App 

If you would like more games and interactive activities for the Environment, please browse through my LiveBinder which you can find on the side of this blog.