Welcome to The Regenerators.
Introduction
Next time you step outside, try this.
Stand still for a moment and look all around. Breathe deeply. Listen carefully.
Everything you see, hear, and feel is part of our 'environment'.
What is our environment?
Our environment is the world around us.
The air that we breathe is part of our environment.
The land where we live, work and learn is part of our environment.
The land where we have fun is part of our environment too!
All the plants and animals on our planet are part of our environment.
Green spaces near your home and school are part of our environment.
So are forests and oceans. In fact, planet Earth is one big environment!
What do you see?
Look closely at a green space near your home or school. It could be a garden, a park, or a field.
What do you see?
We are part of the environment
Our environment connects us to everything on Earth.
Air
The air that you breathe is improved by plants and other living things.
Food
We get the food that we eat from the environment. Sometimes this comes from nearby and sometimes it comes from further away.
Soil
The soil where we grow food is made of things that were once alive.
Materials
Lots of the materials we use to make things come from our environment.
Keeping our balance
Everything in our environment is connected.
If one part of our environment changes, everything else will change too. Find out in this video why it’s important to keep the environment in balance.
Narrator: The environment gives every living thing a safe place to live. Which is why we need to look after it.
Take this little bean. These usually grow in the ground but they can also grow in your classroom. They need soil, or a paper towel, sunlight and water.
If we give it too much or too little sun or water, it won't grow. If we eat all the beans we grow, we have no more beans. But if we plant some of them and don't take more than the environment can give us, we could have an endless supply of beans!
We call this sustainability.
Plants and animals live in a balance in nature too. This tree is the perfect home for things like birds, squirrels and bugs. It cleans the air we breath and it can grow thanks to the soil, water and sunlight it gets.
This worm lives in the soil below the tree, where it has a great time just digging around, chomping up the dead leaves and keeping the soil healthy. And just here is the perfect place for this fish to live, surrounded by insects and pondlife.
When everything is in balance, we get to enjoy the environment. If we disturb this balance it can be a problem for the things that live there.
Maybe, we plant a load of beans where they wouldn't normally grow. They could take over where things already live. Or maybe we chop down the tree. Or maybe we put a building where the pond was. But we still need to build things like houses, hospitals and schools.
We just need to think about our environment when we're doing it. If we make sure there are spaces for plants and animals, we can protect these ecosystems.
That classroom bean could be the start of a vegetable patch in a school garden. And having more nature around us, makes us happier and healthier too!
We all depend on the environment around us to live, so if we all help conserve a little piece of it, together it will make a huge difference.
Luckily, our environment is good at keeping itself in balance. This helps every living thing to get what it needs at just the right time.
Sometimes we are good at only taking what we need, but sometimes humans do things that change the environment. This can upset the balance.
We change our environment
Humans do lots of things to try and make our lives easier, better and more fun.
Things like planting crops for food, building places for people to live and making things for people to buy.
Most of the time, people do not mean to harm our environment.
However, many of these things can change our environment if we do not take care.
Caring for our environment
When we change the environment to try and make life better for some people, we might end up making life worse for other people.
We might make it harder for plants and animals to get the things that they need.
The number of people on the planet is growing fast. We need to find ways to get everyone the things that they need. But we also need to look after our environment.
Looking after our environment
We need to find ways to live sustainably. If we only use what we need, it gives our environment time to replace what we use.
We can buy fewer things and waste less to help our environment keep up with us!
There is another great reason to look after our environment. Spending time in nature helps us feel happier and healthier!
Find out why Ellen loves spending time in green spaces and how she helps to look after them with this clip from C鶹Լ Newsround.
How can I help?
There are lots of ways that we can all help to look after our environment.
The things that we throw away or waste can sometimes harm the world around us.
Here are three simple ways you can cut down the amount that you waste.
Reducing the number of things we buy in the first place means we end up reducing the amount of rubbish we produce.
Reusing things multiple times is a great way of reducing the rubbish we throw away too. Instead of buying a new toy, see if you could swap with a friend!
If something is too old or damaged to reuse, don’t just throw it away. Try to recycle it. This stops the things we have already taken from our environment from going to waste.
Do I really need something new
Here's an activity you can try to help you think about the things that you buy and use.
THE REGENERATORS
My wild diary
Exploring green spaces is great fun! It helps to keep us fit and makes us feel happier too.
Use this diary to record what you see, hear, and feel outside.
THE REGENERATORS
There's more to learn
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