At-home and at school learning resources from Learning for a Sustainable Future
Week 2: Hot Topic: Ozone Day
The United Nations International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is celebrated each year around the world on September 16.

This international treaty was enacted to protect the ozone layer by eliminating the use of ozone-depleting substances and has led to the phase-out of 99 per cent of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners and many other products.

This year’s theme, “Keeping Us, our Food and Vaccines Cool” focuses attention on the need to understand the impact of ozone in each of these key areas.
This resource aims at educating students about the protective role of the ozone layer and the causes and consequences of its depletion. Through various practical, hands-on activities, students learn concrete and simple solutions to help protect the ozone layer and ways to enjoy the sun safely. The classroom activities teach students simple protection steps to help reduce their UV health risks and the sun's harmful effects.


Activities
  • Listen to Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved our Planet, a true story about a young man who discovered that CFCs, used in millions of refrigerators and spray cans, were tearing a hole in the Earth's protective ozone layer. Access the teaching guide here 
  • Sing along with the Ozone Song, which celebrates the healing of the ozone hole. Discuss practical actions students can take for the protection of the ozone layer and sun-safe habits and behaviours
  • Complete the sun scientists activity to learn how the sun has beneficial and harmful effects on living things (p.14) 
  • Brainstorm a list of sun protection tips. Have students draw a picture following one of the sun protection rules (p.50)
  • Take the students for a walk around the school and ask them to identify the sources of shade. Ask the students to map their school, the schoolyard or surroundings, including the shaded sources and surfaces
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Grades 3-5
Ozzy Ozone and Alberta the Albatross take students on a voyage of discovery to learn what is attacking the ozone layer. This animated video informs students on the role the ozone layer plays in protecting us from the sun's rays, the natural consequences of the depletion of this natural shield and, most importantly, what actions they can take to help make a difference. 



Activities
  • Watch Ozzy Ozone to learn more about the role of the ozone layer in protecting us from the sun's rays and the natural consequences of the depletion of the ozone layer. Learn what actions they can take to help make a difference 
  • After watching, brainstorm a list of substances that harm the ozone and some ways to protect yourself from UV rays
  • Use this video response sheet and have older students take notes while they watch the video. Have them prepare questions they may have after watching the video
  • Design a poster about sun protection and ozone depletion, labelled with acceptable ozone-friendly practices and sun-safe behaviours
  • Have students display sun safe posters explaining various ways to be protected from UV rays (the shadow rule, how to make a hat, planting trees) 
  • Design your own sunscreen bottle
  • Play the Ozzy Ozone Game to learn practical tips to enjoy the sun safely and how to help save the Earth's Ozone Layer
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Grades 6-8
Through interactive play on a life-sized game board, students are introduced to three of the most common greenhouse gases and the role these have in the natural and enhanced greenhouse effect. Students add or remove greenhouse gases from their shared atmosphere to experience the impact of human actions. The game aims to become familiar with the human activities that either increase or decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere.

Activities
  • Play the Greenhouse Gas Game in a large outdoor space to learn about three of the most common greenhouse gases and the role these have in the natural and enhanced greenhouse effect
  • Complete the Scoping out Shade activity where students analyze the shade availability in the school and propose strategies to be more sun smart in built and natural environments
  • Use this Designing for Shade Guide to enhance shade on your school ground. Evaluate your schoolyard and nearby community to design a plan to protect students from UV rays
  • Play the Clean Air Game to learn about types of air pollutants, their impact on people's health and the environment, and actions individuals can take to prevent air pollution
  • Complete the Design your own sunscreen activity to raise student awareness of the appropriate type and amount of sunscreen required
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Activities
  • Have students watch the video to develop their understanding of the ozone layer further
  • Discuss the links between ozone-depleting chemicals and climate change, the causes and effects of the Earth's ozone holes and what they believe needs to be done locally
  • Have students design and create their own projects to protect the ozone layer in their school and community. Use the Designing for Shade Guide for inspiration
  • Have students read the Montreal Protocol. Have them create and implement their version of the Montreal Protocol. They can present ideas at their own mini-Montreal Protocol meetings 
  • Watch the Battling for Oxygen Gumdrop activity Using gumdrops and toothpicks, try the activity to explore the dynamic and competing upper atmospheric roles of the protective ozone layer, the sun's UV radiation and harmful human-made CFCs
  • Complete the Battling for Oxygen worksheet
  • Get outdoors to play The Role of C02, where students take on the roles of different components of the Earth's surface and atmosphere to demonstrate in concrete terms the greenhouse effect and how human activity is affecting it
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About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released weekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

All activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

If you'd like to view the full original resource on R4R, including curriculum connections for every province/territory, click the activity title.

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.
Use the feedback button at the bottom of this Guide, or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca. We would also love to see photos of students engaging in the activities, please e-mail us any pictures or videos you have!
Let us know how this helped your learning and teaching from home or at school indoors and (hopefully) outdoors and what you'd like to see more of by filling out our brief feedback form!
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Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian charity with over 25 years of experience working within the education system. Our Resources for Rethinking (R4R) database is an award-winning collection of resources that are peer-reviewed by certified teachers and connected to curriculum in all provinces and territories. R4R is recommended on many Ministry of Education websites.
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