Earth Buddy 365: A Guide To Making Every Day Earth Day!

Earth Buddy 365 Program

The Earth Buddy 365 Program seeks to foster good stewardship behaviors and responsible environmental practices every day. How? Through environmental literacy. The more we know, the more we understand and the more we can appreciate our responsibility to helping maintain a healthy planet.

EB-365 card sets incorporate a wide range of differentiated Science, Math, Art and Technology (SMART) activities and projects designed to increase our awareness, understanding and appreciation of the world around us. EB-365 Card Sets focus on promoting the development of process skills and application of creative and critical thinking and reasoning skills. Projects and activities are designed to complement individual learning styles, and provide educators and parents with flexible tools to enhance learning experiences for all types of learners: Verbal/Linguistic, Visual Spatial, Logical/Mathematical, Body Kinesthetic, Musical/Rhythmic, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal.

The Earth Buddy 365 program challenges individuals, families, communities, schools and larger enterprises to take responsibility in lessening their negative impact on the planet by thinking about what they are doing to protect the environment, what they can do better and maybe what they shouldn't be doing! Every little bit helps and we can do our part are the foundational cornerstones of the Earth Buddy 365 program...one less light burning, one less trip in the car, or just one more question you might ask yourself about what more you can do!

With Earth Buddy 365, every day is Earth Day!

The Great Outdoors Card Set: (Observation; Evaluation-Qualitative and Quantitative Attributes; Communication)
Exploring Plants from Near and Far. Take a nature walk; better yet, take several nature walks throughout the year. How many different types of trees do you see? How do recognize and distinguish between different types of trees? What criteria do you use to make your observations and classifications? What do you observe in and around the trees?	Be Inspired! Find a beautiful nature vista and snap a photo, draw or paint a picture. But don't stop there! Claude Monet grabbed his easel and palette, and headed out to the French countryside to paint haystacks. He sat for hours and days painting haystacks at different times of the day, in daylight and twilight, at dusk and dawn to capture the ever-changing scene.	How do you say tree? Grab an adult and take a nature walk around your neighborhood, backyard or nearby park. Observe and explore the flora and fauna in your neighborhood. How many different types of trees did you find? How would you describe the differences? Do any of the trees have flowers, fruits or other types of seeds pods?
Look & Listen. Spend a little time outdoors and watch the Nature Channel. You may find an industrious squirrel scampering between two trees, a colony of ants hot on the trail of tasty morsels, or recently hatched baby ducks or goslings taking their first dip in the local pond. You never know what might be "playing" on the Nature Channel, which really is half the fun.	What'dya Find...? Collect materials (fallen leaves, stripped bark, seeds, seed pods, etc.). Inspect your collection for little creatures. Use your materials to make a diorama, nature collage or place materials inside a see-through container or a container with a see-through window.	Always be respectful of nature. Think about it. Why shouldn't you pull leaves off of trees? Why do trees and other plants have leaves? What does a leaf do? What happens to leaves when they are no longer on the tree? What happens to the tree when you pull a leaf from its branches? Compare the live leaves on a tree to those you find on the ground.
Always be respectful of nature, even the little guys. Think about it. Why shouldn't you squish bugs under your shoe? What do insects do? What role do they play in nature? Why are insects and spiders important to the environment? Can you think of at least three important jobs insects perform in the garden?	To everything there is a season... Experience the seasons by monitoring changes in a tree, bush or any other type of plant. Your choice. Include observations associated with growing periods, fruits, seeds, and of course, the temperature and weather. Record and communicate your nature observations in a journal, for an art project, or share your observations with friends in school during a class discussion.	Pick a Tree...Any Tree Can you identify what type of tree it is? Some trees are more familiar than others. Some common evergreens are pine, blue spruce and cedar. Some familiar deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves en masse in the fall and grow new ones in the spring) are maple, ash, oak, and honey locust. A tree can be recognized and classified based on certain characteristics: leaf shape, type of flowers or fruit it produces, twigs and buds, bark and its general appearance or shape.
Diversity. It is important to remember that there isn't just one type of maple, pine or apple tree. You can discern some of the subtle differences by looking at the trees leaves and its fruit. Check out a pine tree and its cones. Cones are classified as hard or soft depending on whether they have sharp protrusions on the underside of the cone. Be very careful of the hard cones whenever you go collecting!	Seed Dispersal. Seeds are dispersed using a variety of different mechanisms: by air, water, propulsion and animals. In the South American rainforests, the resplendent quetzal (keh-sahl) eats wild avocados, but can’t digest the seed. The bird deposits the seed sometime later, someplace else, as it moves through the rainforest. Can you think of any other rainforest animals that help disperse seeds after eating the fruit and depositing the undigested seeds? Besides eating fruit and later depositing the seed, can you think of another way animals might help disperse seeds?	Spot the Pattern. A tree without any leaves has its own kind of beauty, a branching pattern that can be used to distinguish one type of tree from another. Next time the deciduous trees in your neighborhood lose their leaves, look at the branching pattern both at the trunk and on its branches.
Follow that Seed! Trees and other plants use a variety of different mechanisms to disperse their seeds. One of those mechanisms relies on the wind. Find one or more trees that produce winged seeds. Study the seed (fruit) on the tree and once it has fallen. Measure the distances the winged seeds travel away from the parent tree. What is the farthest distance? Map the seed distribution pattern. What factors might influence how far a winged seed might travel? If you are comparing two different types of winged seeds, can you conclude some winged seeds are better travelers than others?	Prepare for Lift Off! Collect a variety of different types of winged seeds (ash, maple, whirling nut, tree of heaven) and compare the "wing" design. What do each of the seeds have in common? (Hint: Where is the seed's center of gravity?) Test how each spins, flutters or moves. Design your own winged seed based on your observations of winged seeds in nature.	Please Bend & Fold. Make a twirling mini-helicopter using templates HT1-HT3. Cut and fold according to the instructions. Test your helicopters by throwing them up and or dropping them down. Does size matter? Does the extra weight make the helicopter spin differently, better or worse?
Look up in the tree...it's a bird, it's a plane (?)...no, it's a bird's nest! A perfect time to spot a bird nests is when trees lose their leaves. Look up and count how many nests you can find. Some trees will have several nests; other none. Where the nests are located? Are they far out on a tree limb (branch) or nearer to the tree's trunk? Cup nests are generally built up at branch points, between L- or Y-shaped (forked) branches, nestled near the tree's trunk (but not always) for additional support.	Decorating 101. Are all birds' nests up in trees? Think about it...do all birds fly? Do all birds live up in trees? Even birds that can fly, sometimes make their home nearer to the ground rather than up in a tree. If you happen to live near a small pond or lake, you may be lucky enough to see the local aquatic birds (usually geese) build their nests near the water's edge. Remember to always keep your distance and keep your hands-off an active nest! If you find a nest, take a look at the materials the birds collected. Birds will use available materials from laundry lint, cigarette butts, hair, newspaper...whatever they might find!	Bird Brain? Consider this amazing bit of animal ingenuity. A nest will remain in place for several seasons despite the snow, wind and rain. Birds wil reuse a nest, performing repairs and maintenance as needed. Bird will use materials that are available in their area. Never remove a nest from a tree. If you find a fallen bird's nest be sure to handle it with care. More than likely other creatures have also made the nest their home, including: mites, spiders, ants and an assortment of bacteria.
Pine Syrup? Locate several pine trees and observe the tree's needles. Do they glisten in the sunshine? Check the area around the tree, do you see anything that might have come from the pine tree? Is it sticky? Research the difference between resin and sap.	So Many Cones; So Little Time. Collect a wide variety of cones from various types of evergreen trees. Only take cones that have fallen off the tree. Shake the cones gently to see if you can dislodge the seeds. Compare the seeds, the cones' shapes and sizes.	Release the Seeds! When mature, most cones will usually open on their own to release the seeds, but in some types of pine the tree needs a little help. Birds, squirrels and other cone-eaters break open the cones of the Whitebark Pine. In the case of the Monterey Pine, the cones can remain sealed for many years and will only open when scorched by fire or intense heat. While the parent tree may die in the fire, the cones release huge numbers of seeds to re-populate the area with pine trees.
Camouflage This! Animals and plants have developed a variety of different types of adaptations that help them survive in their habitat. Insects often use color and shape to disguise their appearance, allowing them to blend into their surroundings and hide in plain sight. What color do you think an insect that lives in the grass or on a leaf might be? How about an insect that lives on the bark of a tree? Would its chances of survival be greater if it were green or brown?	A Ladybug's Tale. Depending on where you live, it can be difficult finding a butterfly's chrysalis or a moth's cocoon, but locating the remnants from other insects' metamorphosis can be easier. Ladybugs are among the easiest to spot. The larvae can be found on a wide variety of trees, including maple. Like butterflies and moths, ladybugs undergo complete metamorphosis, meaning the larval stage looks nothing like the adult. Look for the larvae and you're sure to find coccon casings on the underside of the leaves.	Garbage Duty. Some people carelessly discard their trash outside. Next time you're out and about, and see some trash laying around take a moment to stop and pick it up, or ask an adult to help you. Some materials are biodegradable; others not. Remember to always be careful when picking anything up!
The Think Tank. Would it be advantageous (a good thing) for a plants' seeds to be able to travel away from the parent tree? Think about what a plant needs to grow. Name at least five resources. Are they limitless or limited?	The Think Tank. Is it advantageous (a good thing) for plants to produce lots of seeds, a few seeds or just one? Think of different examples of each. What factors affect whether a plant's seed(s) will germinate and take root? Is it the same for all plants?	The Think Tank. Food chains are critical to the well-being of an ecosystem. Too much or too little of one member species, whether plant or animal, can upset the delicate balance that ensures the survival of all. What do you think might happen if all the trees in a particular area became covered with some type of poolutant that turned their bark dark. What effect might pollution have on light-colored moths that use the trees as a rest-stop during the day?

For feedback, comments or questions, contact the Earth Buddy Team.