These Learning Links provide ten quick-and-easy, five-minute mini-lessons to promote student thought and dialogue about service and civic engagement. You may use as many of them as you wish, and in whatever order best meets your needs and the interest of your students. The purpose of these mini-lessons is to provide a deeper understanding of philanthropy (the giving of time, talent, and treasure for the common good) and to reinforce the lesson focus. These Learning Links also promote the development of character traits, civic engagement, and student leadership. As appropriate to your grade level, it is recommended that students play an active leadership role in presenting these mini-lessons to their classmates.

1. Read: When someone easily field baseballs that have been solidly hit and effortlessly toss the runner out at 1st base, this is called having soft hands. To be worry-free because you are confident that if something unexpected happens you are insured. This is what it means to be in good hands. To know who you are and what you are capable of is called having your feet firmly planted on the ground. To minimize environmental impact, conserve natural resources, and be ecologically friendly is what it means to walk softly on the Earth.
   
   Discuss: As we anticipate our Earth Day event, in what ways are we planning to walk softly on the Earth? In what ways will having our feet firmly planted on the ground help us identify our role? If challenges arise, how might having soft hands be an asset? How might knowing that everything is in good hands ensure a successful Earth Day event?
   
    
2. Read: Water! Water! Water! It seems to be everywhere and yet…it’s not. You may recall from science class that water can be found in three forms: liquid, solid, and gas. It’s a fact that 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. It’s also a fact that 97% of the Earth’s water is found in salt water oceans and that only 1% of the world’s water is drinkable. That’s right, 1% and 75% of that 1% is locked up solid in the polar ice caps at the north and south poles. If those ice caps were to all melt, the water in our seas would raise to a height of 200 feet! When you consider that each day the sun causes 1 trillion tons of water to evaporate into gas, it certainly doesn’t seem to leave much to come through our faucets. A human can live almost one month without food, but only a week without water. The human body is 66% water and needs 2 ½ quarts of water a day to survive. The average American uses over 100 gallons of water a day mostly in the shower, the kitchen, on the lawn and washing the cars. Scientists estimate that 500 years ago the average human used about 5 gallons of water a day. Today not only are we using more water than ever before, there are more of us using it. As incredible as it may sound, in some parts of the world rain is so uncommon that the people who live there have no word for rain in their vocabulary.
   
   Discuss: Of all these facts and figures is there one that stands out for you? If so which one? Considering that we are looking at better ways to take care of our Earth, how might our use of water be a consideration? What other resources provided by our Earth should we be concerned about? How is our Earth Day event addressing these concerns?
    
3. Read: Zen master, poet, and peace advocate, Thich Nhat Hanh strongly believes that the real miracle is not to walk on water. “The miracle,” he says, “is to walk on the green earth in present moment awareness and to appreciate its peace and beauty.”
   
   Discuss:  Why do think Thich Nhat Hanh believes walking on the green earth in awareness is more of a miracle than walking on water? Do you agree with him? Why or why not? In what ways might our Earth Day event reflect our appreciation for the peace and beauty the Earth provides? How can we make others aware of our event? How can we impress upon them the miracle of walking on a green earth?
   
    
4. Read: In computer speak Garbage In, Garbage Out (abbreviated GIGO) means that if you put silly information into your computer, it won’t work as it is supposed to work. It will only give you silly information back. Our environment operates the same way. If we put a lot of trash into our environment our environment won’t work as it is supposed to work. It will be clogged up with junk. If we recycle or reuse our trash, we will be helping keep the bad stuff out of our environment. Then it will keep working as it should. Trash is something we all produce. If we recycle or reuse our trash there will be less garbage-in and less garbage-out (LGILGO). This will really help keep things working as they should.
   
   Discuss: In what ways is our Earth Day event helping keep things working in our environment as they should? In what ways can we recycle and reuse things at home to keep junk out of our environment? Why is it important that our environment works as it should?
   
    
5. Read: In the story about the blind men and the elephant, each man tries to describe the elephant by the single part of the elephant that he happens to be touching. Each is confident that he understands what the entire beast is. The blind man who touches the elephant's leg is sure it is a tree. The one who grabs the trunk claims with certainty it is a snake. And so it goes: the ear is a fan, and the tail is a rope with a brush on the end. The each blind man studied the elephant but each was limited to their single point of contact. They based what they thought an elephant was like on their individual experience, not on the object as a whole. As a result, they were all wrong. Some would say that this story is a fitting tale of the attitude many of us take toward our Earth. We might see evidence of melting icebergs, but not of deforestation. We might see evidence of air pollution but not of pesticide use. We might see evidence of smog but not of water contamination. We might see evidence of forest fires but not of animal cruelty. We might see evidence of graffiti but not of soil depletion. We come to conclude that things aren’t really as bad as people say they are. Our conclusions are based only on what is right in front of us.
   
   Discuss: How can we avoid being all wrong about our Earth? Why is it important that we not ignore the environmental challenges of our world?  How might our Earth Day event be an effort to see our Earth as it truly is--an interconnected living whole? How can we share with others our need to “see” as well as and “be in touch” with what our event is hoping to accomplish?
   
    
6. Read:  The Dead Sea or “Sea of Salt" is located about 15 miles east of Jerusalem, Israel. It is considered the lowest point on Earth. It is 1,378 ft below sea level. The Dead Sea is also the deepest salty lake in the world. Experts say it is nine times saltier than the Mediterranean Sea. In spite of its saltiness, it has attracted visitors for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts. The Dead Sea continues to be the supplier of a wide variety of products; mummification products and potash for fertilizers to mention a couple. While almost everyone can float in the Dead Sea, it is completely without life. No plants or animals can survive in the Dead Sea. Poets and philosophers draw analogies between the Dead Sea and those who might choose to live like the Dead Sea. The reason the Dead Sea is so dead is that it does not have any rivers flowing in out or of it. Scientists refer to this phenomenon as “stagnant” meaning unable to receive or give. Those who study human behavior describe the “Dead Sea” phenomenon as a preoccupation with self and not of others; selfish rather than selfless.
   
   Discuss: While the Dead Sea is a sea, it is also dead. As we approach our Earth Day event how might we try to encourage those who seem preoccupied to join us in our event? What might be some ways we can add more “life” to our event so it does not appear to be boring and stagnant? What opportunities will we have during or Earth Day event to give and receive?
   
    
7. Read:  We all know about recycling and how important it is. Every time we put our unwanted items into a recycling bin, we save energy, money, and our environment. That is a good thing! But did you know there are two things we can do even BEFORE recycling that will help our environment? These two things also begin with the letter “R”. They are Reduce and Reuse. First we can Reduce. This means we can stop garbage before it's made. To do that we can avoid purchasing needless items, especially those that are considered “throw-aways” after limited use. Second, we can Reuse products. That means if we no longer have a need for something we have purchased we can give it to someone else or to a cause. That way useful products get a second chance to be used. We need to remember that one person's trash is another person's treasure. And of course if neither of these alternatives will work, we can Recycle, which means that we return the product (bottles, paper, tires, etc) to be reprocessed and reproduced as recycled products. The three Rs’ (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) should be a part of everyone's environment-saving strategy.
   
   Discuss: In 1990, it was estimated that in the U.S.A. 418,000 tons of bulk mail were thrown away unopened. I think that we could all agree that this is being wasteful. Can you think of other ways that we are being wasteful as a nation? How do we plan to help avoid wasting our Earth’s natural and man-made resources during our Earth Day event? Will Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle play a role in our plans for our Earth Day event? If so, how? If not, is there a way it can be?
   
    
8. Read: The phrase the “Red Zone” has a variety of usages. In music it’s the name of a band from London. For one manufacturer, it’s the name of a deodorant spray. In video, it’s the name of a popular computer game. In the military the phrase is often used to designate a “dangerous area”. In football the phrase is used to identify the distance between the opponent’s 20 yard line and the opponent’s goal line. It is a “dangerous area” for the defensive team to have their opponent in. But it is an area of great opportunity and potential for the offensive team.
   
   Discuss: In what ways might our Earth Day event be similar to that of an offensive team in the “Red Zone”? What might be some of the “dangers” we could encounter while trying to reach our goal? In what ways are we hoping our Earth-day game plan will benefit our school and community? How could we encourage more students to join our team?
   
    
9. Read: When the batteries wore out in Jamie’s hand-held video game, he replaced them with two new batteries. Then he threw the two worn old ones into a vacant lot behind his house. In school later that week Carmen, one of Jamie’s classmates, gave her science report on conservation and recycling. She told the class about how one tiny battery may not seem like it could do much harm to the environment. But she told the class that each year over 125,000 tons of batteries (or the total weight of 81,000 cars piled on top of each other) are thrown away! These old batteries are not good for the environment. Carelessly dropped on the ground, they can give off poisons that get into our ground water. A single battery can pollute the same amount of ground water that a person will use in a life time. If burned, the smoke can cause breathing problems and even cancer. After school that day, Jamie went back to the lot where he had thrown the old batteries. When he found them he took them home and asked his mother to help him find out how to recycle batteries.
   
   Discuss: What do you think Jamie was thinking when he threw the old batteries into the vacant lot? What lesson did Jamie learn from Carmen’s report? In  what ways might our Earth Day event help show others about ways to take care of our Earth?
   www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=75&articleID=1079
   
    
10. Read: The following is a Native American Sioux Prayer translated by Chief  Yellow Lark in 1887
    
    Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds
    Whose breath gives life to the world, hear me
    I come to you as one of your many children
    I am small and weak
    I need your strength and wisdom
    May I walk in beauty
    Make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
    Make my hands respect the things you have made
    And my ears sharp to your voice.
    Make me wise so that I may know the things you have taught your children.
    The lessons you have written in every leaf and rock
    Make me strong!
    Not to be superior to my brothers, but to fight my greatest enemy....myself
    Make me ever ready to come to you with straight eyes,
    So that when life fades as the fading sunset,
    May my spirit come to you without shame.
    
    Discuss: The dictionary defines a “prayer” as any action or practice of communicating to a deity or spirit. Prayers typically are used for the purpose of worshiping, requesting guidance, confessing weaknesses or to express thoughts and emotions. The words of a prayer may take the form of a song, a chant, or a conversation. In this native prayer what do you think is meant by the words Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to your voice? How might our Earth Day event be seen as listening to the Earth and respecting it? In what ways will doing this help make us strong?

Reflection plays a very important role in promoting student learning. The following suggested activities are ways to help students reflect on their learning after they have participated in a service event.  Choose one or more of the activities most appropriate to the service event and your students.

ACTIVITY ONE:
Have the students complete the following prompt:
“My experience during this service activity was like____________because_________________”
Have each student share his/her writing with the class. Challenge the class to listen for commonalities and differences in relation to their own writing.

ACTIVITY TWO: Assign the students to groups of two or three.  Provide each group with a handful of construction blocks or similar manipulative-like construction toys, molding clay, straws, paper, etc. Instruct the groups to talk among themselves about what they did, how they felt, and what impact they think their involvement in this service project might have had.  Explain that each group is to create a structure from the materials that represents/symbolizes their experiences.  When completed, give each group an opportunity to explain their structure to the rest of the class and how it is intended to represent/symbolize their experiences.

ACTIVITY THREE: Ask the students to consider their favorite sport. Give each student some old newspapers, a pair of scissors, a glue stick/paste, and a sheet of construction paper. On the construction paper, have each of them draw and cut out a piece of sport’s equipment that represents their favorite sport.  On their cutout “piece of sport’s equipment” have them add words and phrases cut from their newspapers that will help someone looking at their “piece of sport’s equipment” understand the connections that they are trying to make between their participation in this service project and their participation in their favorite sport.  Display the students’ final products and be sure that they are given ample time to do a walk down “The Hall of Famous Sports Equipment” to read what others have written.

ACTIVITY FOUR: From a single piece of large white construction paper, cut out a variety of jig-saw puzzle shapes. Be sure that each student in the classroom gets at least one of these puzzle pieces. Have each student write on their puzzle piece a response to one of these prompts:

What I did in this service project.
How I felt as I was participating in this service project.
What difference did this service project make?
 

Have the students, using a colored pencil or crayon, lightly color their puzzle piece so as not to cover up what is written on it.  Then working as a group, have each student properly place his/her piece into the puzzle as one might put a jigsaw puzzle together.  Once the puzzle has been completed, have a couple of students paste/glue the pieces onto a larger piece of paper and display the complete puzzle under the heading, “Working Together to Solve the Puzzle”, or some similar appropriate heading.