Useful links Archives

Fun & Games: Useful links

SeaStuff – All about marine life around the Maltese islands and beyond

Website includes an A-Z list of species, a guide how to see and observe marine life, links to articles/weblinks on how to help protect the sea, tips on snorkelling, and lots of videos showing the different marine life observed in the seas around Malta and Gozo and Antigua.

Play to fight the nature crisis

1. Restore the forest by collecting native seeds and avoiding invasive plant seeds. They can damage the environment! Click on the screen to activate. Use the arrow keys to move the players. You can plant seeds using the spacebar. 2. You can also help restore the ocean. Dive down to the ocean sea floor to plant sea grass, but avoid swimming into coral reefs and animals. 3. Our grasslands are burning! Make sure to jump on the fences three times to rewild the saigas. They will eat away the long grass and prevent wildfires. But be careful, don’t step into the fires!

Learning Corner for 5-18 year olds by European Commission

If you’re a primary or secondary school pupil, this is where you’ll find games, competitions and activity books to help you discover the EU in a fun way, in the classroom or at home. You can also find out more about studying or volunteering abroad. If you’re a teacher and want to help your pupils learn about the EU and how it works, this is a source of teaching material for all age groups. As well as finding inspiration for lesson plans, you can also discover networking opportunities with other schools and teachers across the EU. You can find material about food, farming, fisheries, environment, climate, energy, culture and much more… NOTE: This resource is available in various languages. Links to the Maltese and English versions can be found below. More direct links in attachments below too.

18+1 IDEAS FOR ACTIVITIES WITH STUDENTS ON PLASTIC WASTE

This new educational material for students (in English and Greek) promotes the minimisation of single use plastics and the proper recycling in our lives. The material is produced in the framework of the MEdIES project “Plastic waste? Into the blue bin, away from the blue sea”, and is designed to be used by students aged 10-12 years old. It aims to raise awareness on the state and impact of marine litter, especially single-use plastics, as well as on proper recycling, and to motivate a behaviour shift at a household, school and community level. The material comes to support the educational interventions of MEdIES in schools (designed for late primary & early secondary level) but it can be used autonomously by schools/teachers working on these issues. It is a 48-page long publication available in PDF. Download the material in the English language from here

Outdoor Learning Pack

Take learning outside with this great resource… Learning doesn’t just take place inside, so why not be inspired by this fantastic and comprehensive pack from the Woodland Trust for Scotland, and use the great outdoors as a key teaching tool? Bursting with tips, tools, case studies and lesson plans, this valuable resource contains all sorts of useful ideas for outdoor learning. However, the type of learning described is something quite different from ‘outdoor pursuits’: it’s all about taking your normal everyday curriculum, and teaching it outside. From Wild Art to Word Art, with plenty of Science, English and Maths in there too, these materials will help you get started with learning in the natural environment! Thanks to Woodland Trust Scotland.

Been there together GAME

BEEN THERE TOGETHER is an alternative to mobile games, which pull the player into virtual reality. On the contrary, BTT encourages player’s perception of their surroundings and active participation in society. It helps people… ● create relationships ● train social courage ● leave their virtual bubble ● feel more comfortable in their environment How does it work? Today, more than ever, we need to empower community resilience and group collaboration. Questions and challenges provided by the game point to specific societal issues, stimulate discussion and collaboration. From a fun activity to a tool that allows us to better understand and work with several social problems. LET’S BE THERE TOGETHER and empower communities through collective action!

Multimedia animation “The impact of our food”

This multimedia animation is a card game in which you have to sort foods according to one criteria among three: the carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions), the water use or the land use. Using this game, you will be able to compare the environmental footprint of different common foods. At the end of the game, you can download a pdf file containing all the cards in a printable version to play in offline mode.

Wild Classrooms Workout

Come on! Work out your wild side! Get your students and children up and moving while teaching them the importance of species and habitats with Wild Classroom’s Work Out Your Wild Side challenge! Enjoy daily exercises tied to fun facts about species found in each of our five habitat-themed weeks. Pick and choose your exercises or complete all five weeks in full. Follow up the challenge by having your students/children complete the reflective writing assignment!

Eco-Hive

ECOHIVE IS THE LARGEST EVER INVESTMENT IN THE WASTE MANAGEMENT SECTOR THAT WILL DRIVE MALTA TOWARDS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY. Similar to the dual role of bees both as pollinators for flowers, fruits and vegetables, and as honey producers, this project will process waste in the most sustainable and resource-efficient way possible while also turning it into precious resources – energy and agricultural compost. Hence, the name ECOHIVE. “ECO” ties to the environment and sustainability, while “HIVE” reminds us of a beehive, constantly active and buzzing with energy. Four new waste management plants will form part of the ECOHIVE project. ECOHIVE KIDS is the section dedicated to students. Make the most of it! There are lots of resources and ideas… Have you ever wondered what happens to the things that we throw away each day? Where do they end up? You might be the one in charge of taking the rubbish bag outside your door…but what happens to it after it is collected by the garbage truck? It comes to us! As WasteServ, all waste is processed, treated and turned into resources at the complex facilities. To help us in our mission, the help of Commander Yellow and General Buzz have been engaged. With fierce determination and focus, our superheroes are committed to fight the Garbage Monster. Read their stories to find out how!

Follow Up SDG 3 – Colour in Fun! (Early Years – Year 2)

Download and print the colour-in dirty hand – clean hand template below. You can use the hand washing technique poster below to remind them how it should be done and sing the Happy Birthday song twice. Remember that there is also the Maltese version – Ferħ u Awguri which you can find here. You can play it along whilst they are colouring in so that they learn the Maltese version as well.

Follow Up SDG 1: The Banana split game – Continuation on Fairtrade (Year 5 – Year 8)

If one of your parents/ guardians or a delivery person brings green groceries to your door, check the bill and try to find out the price you paid for one banana. How much do you think the persons working on the plantations get from the price you pay for that banana? Go to this link and play this game. Try to understand if people along the supply chain are getting their fair share?

Nature for all Discovery Zone

Welcome to the #NatureForAll Discovery Zone. Curated from #NatureForAll partner resources, and ranging from videos to lesson plans, comic books to coloring books, this collection will help you connect people with nature, instill love of nature and learn about nature wherever you are. Refer to the link below for loads of online resources where you can browse hundreds of partner resources, from comic books to lesson plans. and a Conversation Space – A unique online platform allowing you to interact with nature enthusiasts interested in connecting people with nature.

Earth School

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, an unprecedented coalition has come together to launch “Earth School,” which provides free, high-quality educational content to help students, parents and teachers around the world who are currently at home. Initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and TED-Ed, Earth School takes students on a 30-day “Adventure” through the natural world. The curated Earth School content features videos, reading materials and activities — which will be translated into 10 languages — to help students gain an understanding of the environment while considering their role within it. This is the biggest online learning initiative in UNEP’s history and is available for free on TED-Ed’s website.

Don’t Waste Waste Game

Are you a pro at separating your waste? Through Don’t Waste Waste’s new Game, you will learn everything there is to know about it and how YOU can make a difference to your surroundings. Whilst competing, you will increase your knowledge in environmental awareness, the importance of recycling and how you could adopt eco-friendly initiatives. If you get to the top, you will become a recycling master. Are you up for the challenge? Come on, don’t waste waste, play the game! http://dontwastewaste.gov.mt/game/

Eyes on the Earth – NASA Climate Kids

All about climate change – weather and climate, air, sea, freshwater, carbon, energy, plants and animals and technology and much more. All in an easy to understand setup and fun way to learn about. Global climate change made easy and fun to learn about through playing, making, knowing, keeping, watching, dreaming and teaching!!

Water Conservation & the Possibilities – various links, games and information

A couple of kids attending the Brenham Community Center in Texas suggested adding this link to our resource section after using our same section for a project they were working on. Thanks to Brenham Community Center for their input!

Water Conservation at Home… and lots more

What if you wanted a glass of water one morning and all of the water was gone? What would you do? Our water is an important natural resource that is steadily being used up… This page actually provides more information about water conservation plus quite a few other links and a number of games too!

Fun and Games in Nature – LEAF website link

Through this link you will be lead to our sister website www.leafmalta.org and the resource section aimed at enjoying the outdoors.

Alter Aqua Resources – Water Across the Curriculum

The Alter Aqua educational material is the result of a fruitful cooperation between the EkoSkola Team and MEdIES team from Greece with the ambition to raise awareness and sensitise the educational community on the very crucial issue of Non-Conventional Water Resources across the Mediterranean, and particularly in the Maltese Islands.

Earth Day Carol

Earth Day Carol is a retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. In the dynamic free app version, Plastic Bottle Scrooge is visited by the ghosts Plastic Past, Plastic Present, and Plastic Future. The app was developed by a diverse group of creators, Torran Anderson, Jack Hunter, Michelle Parker-Rock and Evan Fram, all volunteers, who found a unique way to communicate the important message of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. For ongoing information visit this website www.EarthDayCarol.org often and join in an Earth Day adventure. Contact at [email protected]. There are loads of ideas how to use this app, plus ideas for recycled art, etc.

The Earth Dog Story – Earth Dog returns to Save the Environment

The Earth Dog Story, first published in 1992, returns as an app in iTunes and an eBook as part of the U.S. Department of Energy environmental outreach program with Weekly Reader. Earth Dog is a superhero who teaches kids about taking care of the environment.

Save Our Water website

A website packed with information – how to get real about water. Ways and means to save water, how to build a water wise garden, fun ways for children to save water, and loads of water wise games.

Earth Preservers Website

Earth Preservers is an environmental news and information website for kids that relates the environment to a wide-range of current events and topics. Resources include short films and documentaries, interactive quizzes, classroom resources, poll questions, and a monthly newsletter.

Nab the Aquatic Invader!

Nab the Aquatic Invader! is a fun way to learn about aquatic invaders. By using this site you can check out lots of unusual species that create real problems in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf, and Great Lakes regions. There are many ways that this site can help you with your class projects. By doing the activities and playing the games on this site, you will learn about nature and be inspired to help the environment by “nabbing” these pesky critters and seeing that you can make a difference. You may want to start out at your grade level, but if you are a “junior detective” don’t be afraid to take the “super sleuth” challenge. And, if you are in the higher grades, feel free to check out the “junior detective” case file activities.

Games Page on the United States Environmental Protection Agency

This webpage contains links to loads of games, videos and quizzes related to the environment, energy, water, mystery solving, science, recycling, waste and much more…

Game Helps Students Learn About Environmental Issues

“PowerUp” challenges players to save the imaginary planet and learn engineering and science principles by carrying out missions to supply solar, wind, and water power.

The Fish Game by The Cloud Institute for Sustainability

This online game is designed to teach sustainability by demonstrating the problems overfishing can cause. Players fish for 10 days, earning money for each fish, along with other people doing the same. They learn the rate that the lake restocks the fish population over the 10-day period and how to balance that with their own needs as well as having to consider what impact others are having on the fish population.

New Mobile Game from ARKive

“Survival” is a free, quick-fire mobile game to raise awareness about the world’s most endangered animals. Immersive, interactive, and educational, “Survival” is a great way to encourage children’s curiosity for the natural world.

My Garbology

NatureBridge launched this new online game for kids, teachers, and parents to teach users to reduce waste and encourage awareness of their impact on the environment and encourage community involvement. Learn more about this initiative here. Play the game…

5 easy way to save the planet – the Super Power Bloke

A short cartoon proposing five tips to reduce our carbon footprint.

Think Ecologically … Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Short advertisement about the three Rs by think eco logically…

The animals save the world – 30 second cartoon

“Energy saving bulbs use one fifth of the energy of ordinary bulbs.” Help the animals save their planet and ours, use energy saving bulbs!

Recycle guys – littering is wrong – 30 second clip

The Recycle Guys sing about litter while on a hike. They help you learn that littering pollutes the environment and costs a lot to clean up in this :30 second video! The Recycle Guys were created by SC DHEC.

Energy Cartoons – tips towards saving

A family is carelessly and unknowingly wasting energy from the moment they wake up. Until something unexpectely happens… Produced by Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign, an initiative of the European Commission.

Sesame Street Song – Ronnie Trash “It’s Yours and Mine”

A song about trash suitable for lower primary classes. Video with sesame street character is also entertaining.

Cool the Earth – Climate Change

Taking actions to lower your carbon footprint is a great way that you can help fight climate change. If you want to learn more about what you can do—from calculating your carbon footprint to finding eco-friendly art projects—check out these kid-friendly sites.