Sustainability Teaching Resources
Make teaching sustainability easy this school year with printable worksheets, activities for kids, lesson plans and more — all created by teachers for your primary classroom.
This teaching resource collection is aligned with the Australian Curriculum cross-curriculum priority to help your students build a more sustainable future!
Each resource was designed to help your students understand how they can implement sustainable practices in the classroom and at home.
Our teacher team has carefully reviewed and curated each resource to ensure your students will be armed with information on everything from composting to conservation, as well as how to reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, and repair.
Tackling this topic for the first time in your classroom? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
What Is Sustainability? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Sustainability is a cross-curriculum priority in the Australian Curriculum and for a good reason. Primary school is an important time to begin talking to students about sustainability as we can instill these practices early and make them into lifelong habits. But explaining this concept to kids can be tricky.
Here's a kid-friendly sustainability definition we like to use to explain its meaning to our students:
Sustainability is the ability to meet someone's current needs without hurting the ability of people in the future to meet their own needs.
On a more technical level, sustainability represents a holistic approach to addressing environmental, social and economic challenges in a way that supports long-term well-being and resilience.
This often includes practices such as reducing carbon emissions, conserving natural resources, and promoting social equity.
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How is Plastic Recycled? – Recycling Worksheets
Explore the process of recycling plastic with a printable recycling worksheet.
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Rubbish Bin Sorting Activity
Learn about recycling, composting, and sustainable practices for waste management with a fun sorting activity.
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Water Overuse Infographic Poster
Display important facts and statistics about water overuse with an eye-opening infographic.
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How Can We Help Our Planet Mini Book
Help your students learn about how to keep our planet clean with a printable Earth Day book.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Renewable Energy Worksheet
Discover the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy sources with a cut-and-paste sorting worksheet.
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Sustainability Quotes Poster Pack
Inspire sustainable practices in the classroom with a pack of printable Sustainability Quote posters.
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Overfishing Infographic Poster
An infographic displaying important facts and statistics about overfishing.
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Write About It! Recycling Writing Prompt Worksheets
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with informational writing prompts about recycling and conservation.
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Save Planet Earth - Science Word Wall Vocabulary
Print and display Earth Day-related terms in your classroom to improve vocabulary and discussion about Earth Day.
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National Tree Day – Why Plant a Tree? Infographic Analysis Activity
Teach about the importance of trees on National Tree Day with an infographic poster and cloze note-taking worksheet.
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Natural Resources Mini Book
Learn about natural resources with this printable mini-book.
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Garbage Bin Posters - Rubbish, Recycling and Compost
Posters outlining what can be put in the different types of bins.
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Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Poster
Display this poster when learning about sustainability.
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Develop a Habitat - Garden Project
A project-based assessment task for students to demonstrate their understanding of how habitats can be preserved and protected in and around where people live.
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Solving Global Problems - Design an Invention Workbook
Help your students discover how innovation and invention can solve global problems with an invention project workbook.
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Renewable or Nonrenewable? Earth's Resources Task Cards
Identify natural resources and the types of renewable energy with 24 renewable and nonrenewable resource task cards.
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Water Conservation Foldable
Display different ways to save water with this water conservation foldable.
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Recycling Craft - We Recycle Because...
Write about why we recycle and create this recycling craft to display in the classroom.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Flipbooks
Display different ways to conserve resources with a set of handy recycling–based foldable interactive notebook templates.
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A World Without Water - Natural Resource Worksheet
Imagine and depict what a world without water would look like with a drawing prompt worksheet.
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Comparing Energy Sources Worksheet & Graphic Organiser
Compare and contrast different types of renewable energy sources with a printable graphic organiser.
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Natural Resources – Exit Tickets
Assess student understanding of natural resources with this set of exit tickets.
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How We Use Natural Resources Worksheet
Explore the characteristics of natural resources and what makes them useful in products and materials with this worksheet.
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The Recycling Process Poster
Show your students the process materials go through when they are recycled with printable recycling posters.
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Recycling Word Search
Build your students’ vocabulary around the topic of recycling with this recycling-themed word search.
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Why Should We Compost? Poster
Use this poster set to explain why it is important to compost food scraps.
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What Could Happen? Environmental Change Task Cards
Predict and identify the effects of environmental change on plants and animals with a set of printable science task cards.
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Save the Planet - Kids Mini Book
Teach your students to reduce, reuse, and recycle with a printable Save the Planet kid's book.
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How Do We Use Natural Resources? Concept Map Worksheet
Help your students uncover the ways that humans use natural resources with a concept map.
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Renewable Energy Word Search
Review science vocabulary terms with an engaging renewable energy word search.
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Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources Flipbook
Use this printable science flipbook with your students to research and write about a chosen natural resource.
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Recycling Posters - Printable Recycling Bin Labels
Teach your students how to recycle in the classroom with labelled recycling bins!