Facts About Earth Day Celebration

Earth Day Fact Sheet

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2008 Event Facts

The department's 14th annual Earth Day celebration will be held on Friday, April 25, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m at the Missouri State Capitol south lawn.
This year's theme is Our Environmental Footprint.
The Department of Natural Resources sponsors and hosts the event at the Capitol each year.
Activities include information booths, games and displays about the environment. Many other state and federal agencies participate through educational displays and exhibits.
Activities for the event are tailored to fifth-graders, but all ages are welcome.

Booths, exhibits and the stage will be set up on the South Lawn of the Capitol.
The department’s Earth Day celebration is targeted towards students but the event is also open to the general public.
Approximately 10 other state and federal agencies have accepted the department’s invitation to attend.
Several Missouri businesses have generously donated prizes and giveaways. They include Central Bank, Central Dairy, Dunkle Distributing 7UP/Dr. Pepper, Hawthorn Bank, Jefferson Bank, Jefferson City Coca-Cola, Premier Bank, Silver Dollar City, UMB Bank and Wal-Mart.
2008 registrations are ongoing. At the 2007 event, at least 53 classes from 23 Missouri schools attended the celebration. Activities included 22 booths and displays staffed by volunteers.
"Gentle footprints today will ensure a path for tomorrow" is the winning slogan in the Missouri Department of Natural Resources 2008 Earth Day slogan contest. Riley Caminiti, daughter of Terry and Debbie Caminiti of Westphalia, submitted the winning words. Riley is a fifth-grade student in Rob Hamilton's class at Fatima Elementary School. More...

On Stage

Main Stage Schedule 2008 PDF

10 a.m. - Environmental Survivor PDF
10:30 a.m. - Department of Natural Resources’ Band: The Earth Tones PDF
11 a.m. - World Bird Sanctuary demonstration
11:30 a.m. - Proclamation Presentation
Noon - Department of Natural Resources’ Band: The Earth Tones PDF
12:45 p.m. - Environmental Deal or No Deal PDF
1 p.m.- World Bird Sanctuary demonstration
1:30 p.m. - Environmental Survivor PDF
2 p.m. - Door Prize Drawings

Specific entertainment and activities

Survivor: local radio personality Warren Krech will host this year's Environmental Survivor game.
Environmental Survivor is a game show event based on the popular television program. It gives students an opportunity to put their environmental know-how to the test. Ten students are chosen for each game. A question with a numerical environmental answer will be asked. The person giving the closest answer wins an immunity necklace. Those boys and girls who do not get the right answer are given a “food challenge.” Each one of them is given a tasty snack to eat, such as “day-old bath water” or “brains.” The contestants find out these are really things like a mixture of juices or gelatin prepared in a brain-shaped mold. After the food challenge, a more difficult environmental question is asked and those who answer the question correctly continue in the game. If the person with immunity misses, they are able to trade in the immunity necklace to continue in the game. Another immunity question determines the next person to wear the immunity necklace. The 10 contestants are reduced in number until the last few remaining contestants compete in a recycle relay to find out who will be the final environmental survivor. The top prizes for the Environmental Survivor game are bicycles, donated by Silver Dollar City in Branson and Wal-Mart in Jefferson City.
Inspired by the popular television game show, Environmental Deal or No Deal also tests students' environmental knowledge. Five cases will be located on the Capitol grounds at Earth Day. Students must correctly answer questions about the environment in order to be entered into a drawing for each case. Five names will be drawn from those with correct answers to come on stage and play. The students will then choose either to take the unknown prize in the case, or to make a deal with the banker. The cases for Deal or No Deal were provided by Capital Discount Tools in Jefferson City.
A craft tent will also be set up for students to participate in fun projects using recycled materials. Students will be able to create dreamcatchers, special occasion cards and egg carton bugs.

Earth Day Web pages

For more information on Earth Day activities throughout Missouri, including events in Missouri state parks, please visit the department’s Earth Day Web pages at www.dnr.mo.gov/earthday.

Earth Day history

The birth of the modern environmental movement began on April 22, 1970, with the very first Earth Day.
Before that time, ‘environment’ was a word that probably appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.
The first Earth Day led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Passage of the Clean Water, Clean Air and Endangered Species Acts also grew out of the environmental movement.
The international date for Earth Day is April 22. Community observations of the day are often held on nearby dates that are convenient for local activities.

Donations made by

Central Bank, Jefferson City, $100 savings bond
Central Dairy, Jefferson City, 250 “Got Milk” posters
Dunkle Distributing Dr. Pepper Bottlers, Jefferson City, two-liter bottles of soda
Hawthorn Bank, Jefferson City, $50 savings bond
Jefferson Bank, Jefferson City, $50 savings bond
Silver Dollar City, Branson, seven bicycles
UMB Bank, Jefferson City, $50 savings bond
Wal-Mart, Jefferson City, bicycle

Maps

Earth Day Activities PDF
Earth Day Driving Directions PDF