Intro

Curriculum

Materials & Instructions

Guidelines

Judging

Prizes

Materials & Instructions

Materials

• Water colours, tempera, pastels, colored pencils, ink, markers, crayons, chalk, paper or other materials
• Paper, newsprint, bristol board, cloth or old sheets
• Suggested size: 22" x 28" (standard bristol board size) or larger
  

Instructions

1. Identifying and Discussing the Issue:

Hold a discussion with your class to identify the relevance of Switch off! A Pollution Solution as it relates to your school, the greater community and the earth. Click here to get instructions for your idling discussion. If you have already undertaken a discussion as part of the idling observation or other activity then just jump right into making the poster.

2. Making an effective poster:

The main goal of this exercise is to have the students create posters that pack a punch, complete with a picture and slogan or message that reflects the Switch off! - Anti-Idling Pollution Solution theme. Here are some questions that you can pose to your class.

• Who are the people you need to educate about idling?
  By identifying their audience they can figure out what type of graphics and wording they want to have on their poster. The audience can include parents, teachers, school board staff, custodial staff, service delivery drivers and drivers in the school neighbourhood.
  
• What information should be found on the poster?
  • Word Bank Brainstorm
    Have the class brainstorm some of the key words associated with engine idling and build a word bank from which to get ideas for the poster.
  • Anti-Idling headlines
    Get inspired by these anti-idling headlines used by other organizations.
  • Did you Know?
    You can also find useful facts for your posters in the Switch off! Did you know section?
  • CO2 Calculator
    Use Natural Resources Canada's CO2 calculator to establish the statistics for your community and incorporate them into a headline.

3. How to make an effective poster

Here is a printable list of tips and suggestions for effective poster design and layout.

4. Creating the posters:

Review the information for Making Effective Posters with your students. When posters are complete, have the students put an identification label on their work, and submit it for display/contest entry at least one week before Earth Day.

5. Displaying the Posters:

Display the posters during your school's Earth Day celebrations. An ideal spot would be in the parking lot or along the school's drop-off zone. Laminating posters to be permanently displayed outside is something worth considering. Be sure to address all safety concerns, such as visibility through doors and hallways and any fire hazards.

6. Holding a Poster Contest:

The key to holding a contest is keeping it as simle as possible for both the coordinator and contestants. The last three sections (Guidelines, Judging and Prizes) will help you do just that.