Students from across the province celebrated Earth Day by showing their love for the environment through dozens of unique and insightful science projects.

“Cariboo are a very good indicator of the health of Alberta’s Boreal forest,” said participant Elizabeth MacGillvray from Elmwood Elementary School in Edmonton. “When humans are cutting down these trees in the Boreal Forest and making roads, it’s harder for them to hide from the predators. They’re being forced to share what’s left of the forest with the moose and deer – which makes it easier for predators to get them.” Tweet This

Her project was one of 150 on display at an Earth Day event at the Robbins Health Learning Centre at MacEwan University Saturday.

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Students from across Alberta were invited to show their climate leadership skills by creating a project on the topic.

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“We’re celebrating a new era in Alberta as we try and turn a corner to renewable energy education in the classroom,” said Gareth Thomson, executive director of the Alberta Council for Environmental Education. Tweet This

Thomson said the response from students was overwhelming with over 170 projects being submitted on a variety of topics from carpooling to geo-thermal energy. 20 projects were selected to attend the event hosted by the Alberta Council for Environmental Education. The group is hoping for more changes to the Alberta Education cirriculum that would better incorporate environmental education.

“Students develop valuable skills in language arts, social studies – not just science,” Thomson said. “These projects are all led by an inspirational teacher who cares about enough about the environment to help their students learn about it.” Tweet This

Projects from 97 different schools are being featured including Fort McMurray, Grande Cache, Edmonton, Sherwood Park and Calgary.

“They’re so excited about the future because their teacher has given them a chance to do something about the future, I wish there were more teachers like this- but those really inspire me,” Thomson said. “They feel hope for the future because they’ve had a chance to do something to change the world for the better.”

The group is planning to host a similar event this fall in Calgary.