PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
25 MARCH 2017, 8.30PM
JOIN IN TO SUPPORT
ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
#EarthHourUK
wwf.org.uk/earthhour
MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
BE PART OF EARTH HOUR 2017 –
THE WORLD’S LARGEST DISPLAY OF
SUPPORT FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE.
Join in WWF’s Earth Hour as millions of people around the world
come together to call for action to protect our brilliant planet.
By taking part your pupils will join the world’s largest grassroots
movement for the environment. Earth Hour is a time to shine a light
on the things we love about our world and remind ourselves that we
can all play a role in protecting it for future generations.
At 8.30pm on Saturday 25 March 2017 millions of people around
the globe will turn out their lights for Earth Hour. Last year a record
5,380 schools across the UK took part in activities in the days and
weeks before the big event. It was a massive demonstration of just
how much young people care about their planet.
This year, in the biggest ever Earth Hour, we’re asking schools to
turn out their lights and use the activity ideas given in this pack, one
of which is to create some magical theatre with shadow puppets. By
telling others about climate change, they will be sending a crystalclear message to our leaders that we care about our planet and that
the time for action is now.
Make your Earth Hour matter and join us for Earth Hour 2017.
Together we can make a difference – wwf.org.uk/earthhour
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MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
THE HIGHLIGHTS
2007
In 2007, Sydney, Australia launched the first Earth Hour with
2.2 million people turning off their lights to call for action on
climate change.
© WWF/SEWELL
2016
In 2016, a record 178 countries and territories across the globe
took part. Iconic landmarks from the Eiffel Tower to the Sydney
Opera House, from the Tokyo Tower to the Empire State
Building, switched off their lights to celebrate Earth Hour.
© WWF/MARTIN LEERS
UK
In the UK over 6 million people took part. The lights went
out in key buildings including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace,
Brighton Pier and Manchester’s Old Trafford. In Wales, over
30 landmarks went dark, including Caerphilly Castle and
Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum, and in Scotland
just under 200 local and national landmarks switched off,
including The Kelpies and Edinburgh Castle.
© GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWF
Earth Hour is a spectacular symbolic action that inspires
millions to marvel at our amazing planet and shines a
spotlight on the challenges that it faces. Over 80% of people
who took part last year felt inspired to do more to protect our
brilliant planet. Earth Hour is also about change. This year
will be even bigger as more people show that they are taking
action for our planet.
© NASA
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MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
WHY SHOULD
WE CARE ABOUT
CLIMATE CHANGE?
Your pupils are inheriting an amazing
world. But today it faces some of its biggest
challenges ever. Climate change threatens
everything we love about our planet. We
might not be able to see it changing with
each passing hour, but the irreversible
effects of climate change are growing.
The Earth’s atmosphere is warming, faster
than it probably ever has. In some cases
weather patterns, climates and natural
environments are changing quicker
than wildlife or people can adapt.
Oceans are becoming more acidic, crop
yields are disrupted and we’re seeing
more extremes in weather conditions
and threats to people, wildlife and their
natural habitats. Nearly 1 in 6 species are at
risk of extinction due to climate change.
© GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWF
© GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWF
NEARLY 1 IN 6
SPECIES ARE AT
RISK OF EXTINCTION
DUE TO CLIMATE
CHANGE.
© GLOBAL WARMING IMAGES / WWF
Nowhere is left untouched by climate change. Your pupils will probably
be aware of the threats posed to polar bears by the shrinking of the
Arctic ice cap, but closer to home, some of our best loved species such
as puffins are threatened by climate change due to sea temperature rise,
extreme weather events and a change to where their prey is located.
© FLORIAN SCHULZ/VISIONSOFTHEWILD.COM
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MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
WHAT DOES CLIMATE CHANGE
MEAN AROUND THE WORLD?
THE ARCTIC
Species that depend on
the ice such as narwhals,
polar bears, and some seal
species, are at increasing
risk with shrinking sea
ice cover.
AFRICA
Elephants can drink up to
225 litres of fresh water a
day. As rainfall patterns
change, humans and
wildlife are competing
for diminishing sources
of water.
SUDAN
PHILIPPINES
The Sahara Desert is
expanding, eating into
farmland. The increased
pressure for food and
land is fuelling conflict
in the area.
Communities are facing
more frequent, stronger
storms as the ocean’s
surface temperature
increases.
LET’S MAKE EARTH
HOUR MATTER!
USA
As you turn out the lights
in your school, encourage
your pupils to think how
they will choose to change.
There are lots of ideas
given in lesson 3 of our
Shaping our Future:
The climate challenge
resource, register here
to download this free
resource.
As winters get warmer
and shorter, moose
populations in the
northern United States
are declining due to tick
infestations, helped by
warmer weather.
THE OCEANS
Marine turtles are very
sensitive to temperature
changes at all life stages
- the sex of turtles is
determined by the
temperature of the sand
the eggs are laid in, so
hotter temperatures can
skew sex ratios. Rising sea
levels also threaten turtle
nesting areas.
IMAGES – THE ARCTIC: © STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / WWF
THE OCEANS: © JÜRGEN FREUND / WWF
ANTARCTICA
The Antarctic ice sheet is
the largest single mass of
ice on the planet. It plays
a vital role in regulating
the Earth’s temperatures
by deflecting some of the
sun’s rays away from the
Earth. Almost 90% of
glaciers in the Antarctic
Peninsula have retreated
since the 1960s.
AFRICA: © JEFF FOOTT / WWF
ANTARCTICA: © FRITZ PÖLKING / WWF
BANGLADESH
AUSTRALIA
More glaciers in the
Himalayas are melting,
carrying more water down
to the flood plains. Rising
sea levels also make
communities in low lying
countries like Bangladesh
more vulnerable to
flooding and threaten
tiger habitats. The number
of cyclones likely to hit the
country is growing.
Scientists believe the
increased intensity and
frequency of forest fires is
linked to climate change.
In March 2016, higher
ocean temperatures and
acidity destroyed almost
half the corals in the
pristine northern third
of the Great Barrier Reef
through coral bleaching.
SUDAN: © MARTIN HARVEY / WWF
AUSTRALIA: © PABLO SANCHEZ / WWF
PHILIPPINES: © PABLO SANCHEZ / WWF
USA: © ANTHONY B. RATH / WWF
BANGLADESH: © ALBRECHT G. SCHAEFER / WWF
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MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
OVER TO YOU!
Climate change is a huge challenge that faces us all, but there are
plenty of ways that you can help your pupils to learn more about it
and feel part of the huge positive force for change in our world. Here
are some ideas to try out in your class around Earth Hour 2017.
These activities could be run for an hour, a day, or a week. There are
also some that go beyond ‘the hour’ to encourage your pupils to stay
engaged with protecting our planet.
ASSEMBLY
Come together as a whole school for an assembly by candlelight or torch light.
Watch the film or use the Earth Hour PowerPoint to inspire your pupils to get
involved. wwf.org.uk/earthhour/school-resources
To get everybody in the local community on board why not organise a poster
competition to remind everyone of the event and date: Saturday 25 March 2017
at 8.30pm. Share your stories and posters with us, we’d love to see them; email
to [email protected]
GLOBE TROTTING
Earth Hour starts in the Pacific Island of Samoa and sweeps westwards across the
world, reaching Tahiti 24 hours later.
From the countries given on the timeline (download at wwf.org.uk/
earthhour/school-resources), prepare a list of 10 places and using a range
of maps, atlases and globes, ask pupils to work out the order in which Earth
Hour passes through these places and at what time, using a time zone converter
such as thetimezoneconverter.com. You could choose countries that have
connections to pupils in your school or some which are particularly affected by
climate change. For reference, you might also like to refer to the Earth Hour
Tracker 2016 at earthhour.org/tracker.
As a further activity, ask pupils how travellers could journey from one place to
another and the type of transport they would employ to use the least fossil fuel
reliant energy, or look at what foods come from these places and explore issues
of food and sustainability using WWF’s Plant2Plate resources at
wwf.org.uk/plant2plate.
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MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
GO THE DISTANCE FOR EARTH HOUR
Earth Hour travels a distance of 24,901 miles around the Earth. Why not
fundraise this Earth Hour and set your class or school a challenge to complete
an epic Earth Hour marathon over a week, fortnight or term? They could cover
the same distance using only ‘green’ transport that does not harm our planet.
Walking, cycling, running or using a scooter or even skipping will also help them
keep fit, concentrate better in school, and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature as
they move.
TIME FOR A QUIZ
Get your pupils to team up and find out how much they know about climate
change. For Earth Hour, you could do the quiz by torchlight. After pupils have
completed the quiz go through the answers and discuss what they have learnt.
What has surprised them most? You can download the quiz at wwf.org.uk/
earthhour/school-resources.
BUILD A STORY DEN
Children love stories and dens so this is a great combination for Earth Hour.
Gather blankets, cushions and mats to build a large den in the school hall and use
it for storytelling and reading by torchlight through the day. Perhaps older pupils
in the school could come along to share a book with younger ones. The following
books for younger children all deal with environmental issues:
• Dinosaurs and All that Rubbish by Michael Foreman
• Where’s the Elephant? by Barroux
• The Trouble with Dragons by Debi Gliori
• George Saves the World by Lunchtime by Jo Readman and Ley Honor Roberts
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MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
SPREAD THE MESSAGE WITH SHADOW PUPPETS
Earth Hour is a great way to get people together to think about our planet in
the warm glow of candles or lanterns. Making shadow puppets with your pupils
will bring the dark to life. They will have fun creating stories and making the
characters and, at the same time, they will be reflecting on climate change and
what they can do about it. This project can be carried out over a couple of lessons,
or even a whole week.
As a whole class, ask your pupils to consider the different animals affected by
climate change – visit wwf.org.uk/wildlife for more information. After finding
out about where they live and what threats they face, ask pupils to develop a story
around the theme of climate change.
How to make the puppets
To make the puppets you will need black card, scissors, fine straight sticks
(dowelling, straws or lollipop sticks will also work), sticking tape, and split pins
for jointed puppets. Pupils should draw their puppets onto the cardboard. They
will find that the puppets work better if they are drawn large. However, they don’t
need too much detail, as this can weaken the shape. Adults may wish to help with
some detail by cutting out shapes such as eyes, using a scalpel blade.
If older pupils are making puppets that move, then they will need to cut the
puppet at the joint such as the elbow, knee or shoulder and overlap the two
sections, attaching them with a split pin. A stick will need to be attached to the
end of the limb, as well as the central body, so that it can move.
On the big day of the performance put up a large white sheet to make a screen.
You will need a light source on the same side of the sheet as the puppets and, for
Earth Hour, a large torch or camping lamp is ideal. You may find that two torches
produce better shadows. When performing, the puppets will be seen best if
they just touch the sheet – parts that are not touching will not be so visible to
the audience.
Your pupils could put their shows on to the whole school in the days before Earth
Hour as a way of encouraging others to take part. Afterwards they could take their
shadow puppets home, together with a message to parents and carers about Earth
Hour. Alternatively, you could use the puppets to create a display about Earth
Hour and the climate change message in school.
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MAKE YOUR EARTH HOUR MATTER – PRIMARY SCHOOL TOOLKIT
AT HOME
GOING BEYOND THE HOUR
Encourage your pupils to get their families involved
and turn the lights out at home for Earth Hour.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy the time together.
Going for a nature walk in the dark can feel very
special, and even in a city environment pupils may
be lucky enough to see mammals such as foxes.
Earth Hour will pass very quickly but it doesn’t have
to end when the lights come on again. Talk about
what you can do over the next year to change the way
we live. Each one of us can make a difference. There
is no time to stand still on action for climate change.
It can also be fun to encourage children to turn off
their torches for part of the walk and, as their eyes
become used to the dark, they will be amazed by how
much they can see. Try playing a listening game. Sit
in silence for five minutes and listen to the sounds
of the night. Then give everyone the chance to talk
about what they have heard.
STAR GAZING
Spend some time star gazing, preferably somewhere
away from polluting lights. If you have a pair
of binoculars you might get a better view of the
constellations or even see the surface of the moon.
Why not download the Forestry Commission’s
stargazing guide at forestry.gov.uk/stargazingguide, also see wwf.org.uk/earthhour. There
are also lots of good, free stargazing apps for
mobile phones.
wwf.org.uk/shapingourfuture
wwf.org.uk/greenambassadors
wwf.org.uk/plant2plate
TELL US ABOUT IT!
Share your Earth Hour stories with us, we’d love to
hear them. Email them to [email protected] or
@wwf_uk and #EarthHourUK
@WWFScotland and #EarthHourUK
@WWFCymru and #EarthHourUK
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©GREG ARMFIELD/WWF
NEED MORE HELP?
If you have any questions, ideas or want to share your plans,
we’d love to hear from you. Contact the schools and youth team:
[email protected]
#EarthHourUK
For a future where people and nature thrive | wwf.org.uk
© 1986 panda symbol and ® “WWF” Registered Trademark of WWF. WWF-UK registered
charity (1081247) and in Scotland (SC039593). A company limited by guarantee (4016725)
For a future where people and nature thrive | wwf.org.uk
© 1986 panda symbol and ® “WWF” Registered Trademark of WWF. WWF-UK registered
charity (1081247) and in Scotland (SC039593). A company limited by guarantee (4016725)
25 MARCH 2017, 8.30PM
JOIN IN TO SUPPORT
ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
wwf.org.uk/earthhour