Earth Day Math Activities (and 12 COOL Earth Facts)

Our planet is pretty awesome. Did you know that at this very moment we are speeding through space 15 times faster than the fastest jet ever made? Or that there are trees more than 5,000 year old? 

This is my Dad's pin from the original Earth Day in 1970. 

The edge of the pin reads "Earth Week Comm of Phila" so it seems Earth Day may have been a whole week back then. When I was a kid, we'd go down to a local park to get a free tree each Earth Day. 

In this Earth Day word problems pennant there are fun facts about our beautiful Earth and simple word problems to go along with each one: 

Earth Day word problems - printable math pennant

All word problems can be solved with addition, subtraction, multiplication or division and make a nice brain break even for older kids. This year I converted the activity to a digital GOOGLE Form for students working online:

Earth Day word problems - digital version

The original math pennant file was updated with the new digital version in Google Forms. Both versions are included in the same file. 

Earth Day word problems - digital version

And here is a fun Earth Day coordinate graphing activity from my friend Hayley Cain:

Below are some facts about our awesome planet that are fun to share with students:

12 Cool Earth Day Facts:

1: Hyperion, a massive redwood tree in California, is estimated to be 380 feet tall. The location of this tree is being kept a secret.

2: The smallest animal found is a frog measuring just 7 millimeters long.

3: An orca can swim 100 miles in one day.

4: Methuselah, a bristlecone pine tree in California, is estimated to be 5,000 years old. 

5: A tiny Monarch butterfly can fly 50 miles per day.

6: A bee can visit 5,000 flowers in one day.

7: The atmosphere at the top of Mount Everest is just 7% oxygen. There is 21% oxygen in the atmosphere at sea level. (Once oxygen levels drop to 20%, people start falling asleep, hence the reason casinos pump in oxygen).

8: In 1982, the temperature in Antarctica was measured at -228.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

9: Bamboo grows over 90 centimeters per day. You can almost watch it grow.

10: Earth zooms through space at 67,000 miles per hour.

11: Lake Vanda in Antarctica is 10x saltier than the Atlantic Ocean.

12: 18,250 new species are found each year on planet Earth.

Happy Earth Day!