PROGRAMMING

Maximum 15 points in this category.

Schools will not need to keep track of points. The Activity Partners will report points for you.

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USAgain / Textile Recycling Presentation / K-12th

15 points

Invite USAgain into your classroom for an interactive presentation or an entertaining school assembly about where our clothing comes from and where it ends up (often times the landfill). Help your students understand how they can save the earth's resources by recycling or reusing their textiles.

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Cal Academy of Sciences / Online Webchat: Butterflies / K-3rd

15 points

"How to Build a Community of Butterflies?" - April 6th. An online webchat where classrooms virtually interact with Cal Academy Sustainability Scientists. Academy biologist Tim Wong will give the scoop on the community of butterflies living in the Academy rainforest.

 

Cal Academy of Sciences / Online Webchat: Earth Month / K-12th

15 points

"How to bring Earth Day to everyday?" - April 21st. An online webchat where classrooms virtually interact with Cal Academy Sustainability Scientists.

 

Cal Academy of Sciences / Online Webchat: Penguins / K-2nd

15 points

"Pierre the Penguin" - April 25th. An online webchat where classrooms virtually interact with Cal Academy Sustainability Scientists. April 25th is World Penguin Day! Celebrate by learning about one of the Academy's most famous residence, Pierre the penguin!

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Cool the Earth / Climate Change Assembly / K-8th

15 points

Cool the Earth supplies all the materials you need, and you provide the volunteers and energy to put it on. The program launches with a fun assembly introducing the concept of global warming starring teacher/parent volunteers from your school. Students then go home with Coupon booklets to take actions to reduce their carbon. Parent volunteers collect coupons and report their results!

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SF Environment / Food to Flowers / K-12th

15 points

SF Environment program that provides resources and support in order to establish composting program in your school cafeteria. Resources can include: compost monitor training + aprons, curriculum, posters, and stickers for classroom bins.

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SF Environment / Compost Monitor Training / 3rd-12th

15 points

30-minute lesson to train your students to help their peers sort waste properly in the lunchroom.

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SF Environment / Save Our Bay / 5th

15 points

90-minute presentation about Earth's water supply, the water cycle, and how human activity can pollute or protect our water. Meets California State Standards. Email Tamar Hurwitz.

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SF Environment / Stop Litter / K-12th

15 points

30-minute slide show assembly teaching about the problems of litter, the causes of litter, and what we can do to stop litter.

 

Safe Routes to School / Walking School Bus / K-12th

5 points per walking school bus

Please send picture(s) of your walking buses to conserve@sfusd.edu for points.

Start a walking school bus at your school! A walking school bus can be as simple and informal as several families taking turns walking their children to school, or as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of volunteers.  Questions? Need support starting your first walking school bus?

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FIELD TRIPS

Maximum 15 points in this category

Schools will not need to keep track of points. The Activity Partners will report points for you. 

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Youth Stewardship Program / Environmental Education / 2nd-12th

15 points

YSP provides all the materials you need and meets you at the park closest to your school for a 2.5 - 3 hour environmental education field trip. Each trip includes education activities on topics including Sense of Place, Plant and Animal Adaptations, and Water and Soil, as well as time spent doing habitat restoration. Youth are encouraged to connect to their urban parks by learning about their natural history, plants, and animals, and by acting as stewards of the park while doing habitat restoration. Spanish and Chinese programming available.

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SF Bike Coalition  / Bike and Roll to School Week / K-12th

15 points

From April 17th-22nd, San Francisco schools will be encouraging safe walking and biking to school. Sign your school up to receive support and resources from SF Bike Coalition and Safe Routes to School staff in how to coordinate for this annual celebration. Whether for one day or the whole week, help promote sustainable and safe transit in the city!

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CURRICULUM

Maximum 30 points in this category

Note specific instructions for point tracking under each activity.

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U.S. Green Building Council / Project Based Sustainability Lessons / K-12th

5 points per lesson

Please send picture(s) of your lesson to conserve@sfusd.edu for points.

The Learning Lab online education platform provides teachers and school leaders with lessons, activities and resources that encourage student leadership, sustainability literacy, and real-world action. Lessons are well-suited to strengthen and compliment STEM and CTE and covers topics in the areas of Water, Waste, Energy, Transportation, Food, Public Spaces, and Air Quality. Offered for FREE only during this competition.

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California Academy of Sciences / Science Lessons / K-12th

5 points per lesson

Please send picture(s) of your lesson to conserve@sfusd.edu for points.

Explore the FREE bank of lessons that include topics from animal adaptations to science journaling. These lessons are available all year long on the Cal Academy's website.

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Friends of the Urban Forest / Tree Survey / K-12th 

5 points per class

Please interdistrict mail completed surveys to Sustainability Office (135 Van Ness Ave, Room 215A, San Francisco, CA 94102).

Help the city's partner, Friends of the Urban Forest, and learn more about the vegetation at your school by filling out this Tree Survey. Specifically tailored to each grade level, the instructor can guide their students around the school gathering information about the trees on their site.

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Engineering Firms / Green Career Talk & Energy Audit / 9th-12th 

Activity Partners will report points for you.

Integral Group  5 Points  April 7th

Ecology Action  5 Points  April 10th or 12th

kW Engineering  5 Points  April 18th or 20th

Do you have students Interested in energy efficiency, solar energy, and green jobs? Sign up for a Green Talk and Mock Energy Audit with one of our partner Engineering Firms. During this hour-long session, a member of the local firm will discuss what they do, how they got started in the field, and work with students on a mock audit strategy.

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COMMUNITY EVENTS

Download the Community Events Flyer to spread the word!

Maximum 20 points in this category

Note specific instructions for point tracking under each activity.

 

Garden for the Environment / Saturday Workdays / K-12th 

1 point per attendee

Check in at the event with your school name to get points for attending.

On Saturdays between 10am to 3pm, attend Garden for the Environment's workdays where families and friends visit the beautiful Inner Sunset garden to help with garden maintenance. No prior garden experience is needed and all tools are supplied. Tasks could include composting, pruning, planting, and tending to vegetable beds. This event is drop-in so no scheduling is required.

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Safe Routes to School / Excelsior Playground Community Clean Up / K-12th 

1 point per attendee

Check in at the event with your school name to get points for attending.

Contribute to the weekly Walk and Roll to School Hub at Excelsior Playground where students from Cleveland, Monroe, SF Community and James Denman Schools meet at the park to play and walk together to school. Parents and student volunteers are needed to join every Tuesday anytime between 7am-9am to clean up the park and play with the students. All materials (gloves, grabbers, etc.) will be supplied, show up ready to have fun and beautify the park!

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SF Bike Coalition & Ybike / Family Bike Workshops / K-12th 

1 point per attendee

Check in at the event with your school name to get points for attending.

Lawton Alternative School: April 8th, 11am-2pm

Jose Ortega Elementary School: April 15th, 10am-1pm

Joe DiMaggio Playground: April 22nd, 11am-2pm

Attend one of the many Bike Workshops hosted at our SFUSD Schools. Children of all ages and skills are welcome to come learn and practice riding a bike safely.

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Friends of the Urban Forest / Volunteer Tree Planting / K-12th 

1 point per attendee

Check in at the event with your school name to get points for attending.

Western Addition/Hayes Valley & Duboce: April 22nd, 9am-12pm

Excelsior/Mission Terrace/Crocker: April 8th, 9am-12pm

FUF is hosting two family-friendly workdays during the month of April where volunteers beautify city neighborhoods by assisting in tree planting. These workdays are potluck style from 9am-1pm, so feel free to bring something to contribute for lunch.

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Alemany Farm / Workday / K-12th

1 point per attendee

Check in at the event with your school name to get points for attending.

Everyone, young or old, experienced or still learning, is welcome to join Alemany Farm's community workdays which are held from 12-5pm every 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month and the Saturdays in-between. New volunteers are encouraged to take an orientation tour of the farm at the beginning of the workday.

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Education Outside & SFPUC & Slow Food SF / Block Party / K-12th  

1 point per attendee

The First Annual Earth Day Block Party at College Hill Learning Garden is a family-friendly neighborhood environmental fair held on April 22nd from 10am to 4pm. This inaugural event will highlight the benefits of DIY urban gardening, seed-to-table cooking, and water conservation.  This block party will feature guided tours of the community garden and reservoir, interactive cooking and garden demonstrations, nature-based arts and crafts, games and activities for all ages, live music, yoga, raffle prizes, and more!

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Earth Day San Francisco / Celebration / K-12th

1 point per attendee

Find the SFUSD Sustainability Office table to check in and get points.

Attend the city's annual Earth Day Celebration on April 22nd from 10 am to 6pm at Civic Center Plaza to see top notch talent and renowned speakers on the event's solar driven stages. The festival will feature inspirational panel discussions, organic celebrity chef showcase, Eco fashion shows, organic and vegan food courts, clean energy zone, cutting edge earth friendly products, an electric vehicle showcase, kids zone and hugely  popular ‘Planet Dance DJ' stage.

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STAFF POINTS

Maximum 10 points in this category

SFUSD Sustainability Office / Quiz / School Staff 

0.5 points per survey

Schools will not need to track points. Points will be counted using quiz results.

Who are the people organizing this cool competition? What do they do for schools in SFUSD?! Take this quiz to learn more about the SFUSD Sustainability Office and earn some easy points while doing so.

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Friends of the Urban Forest / Water Log / School Staff

1 point per school

Please interdistrict mail completed water log to Sustainability Office (135 Van Ness Ave, Room 215A, San Francisco, CA 94102).

Help the city's partner, Friends of the Urban Forest, and help maintain the young trees at your school by filling out this Water Log.

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CREATIVITY POINTS

Feeling creative and planning other Earth Month activities not listed on this page? Let us know by emailing the information below to the SFUSD Sustainability Office at conserve@sfusd.edu. We'll review your submission and get back to you about additional points! Need some inspiration? Check out what other schools have done.

1. School Name

2. Description of Earth Month activity 

3. Photos of the activity (at least one photo required)