Today, over 1.5 billion children are unable to go to school. Beyond public health and the economy, coronavirus is disrupting how we engage and educate younger generations — and a group of global environmental education experts has started a program to help.
TED Education, the U.N. Environment Programme and many other partners have launched the Earth School, targeting the time between Earth Day (April 22) and World Environment Day (June 5).
Earth School gives kids, parents, teachers and lifelong learners 30 days of “quests” to help them learn about and connect with nature. Each quest includes a variety of educational videos, quizzes and activities, as well a section of resources for students to go deeper into topics they find most interesting. The most popular quest to date, on The Nature of Transport, has been viewed over 5.8 million times.
Earth School and Citizen Science
Earth School includes COVID-19-appropriate, globally relevant citizen science activities. Citizen science engages the public in scientific research that needs their help — by taking pictures of the night sky to measure light pollution, submitting observations of air quality, observing different types of local plants and animals, and more.
This Citizen Science Quest (No. 26 in Earth School), launched May 27 and features a range of global citizen science projects and additional resources like educator materials, access to open data maps and a SciStarter Earth School page.
