“I have never seen anything quite like this,” says Kathleen Usher, a Canadian elementary school teacher as she clicks through the website of Earth School. The portal, which the UN Environment Programme, and TED-Ed launched together with a wide array of partners as a response to COVID-19 on 22 April, features 30 kid-friendly primers on a range of environmental issues, from the origins of water to the life cycle of a t-shirt.
“The avalanche of support from leading scientists, incredible teachers and specialists in everything from climate to oceanography to build out Earth School has just been a joy to behold,” says Usher, one of the school’s curators. “Global collaboration for the sake of our kids feels amazing!”
With the coronavirus pandemic disrupting education worldwide, Earth School sought to bring together compelling and interactive resources for learning about nature and the environment on a single global platform. And it’s working. Over 200,000 young people, hailing from every country on earth, have taken so-called quests on the site over the last month. Now Earth School is set to reach new heights as the Government of India will share it with teachers across the country through their online learning portal, DIKSHA, with other nations set to follow suit. Read more…
