Earth Hour

Introduction

Earth Hour is a global event that takes place annually on the last Saturday of March. During Earth Hour, millions of people around the world turn off their lights for one hour to raise awareness about climate change and energy conservation. 

 

Task

Through this WebQuest, students will:

  1. Investigate the importance of Earth Hour by exploring climate change issues and energy conservation strategies.

  2. Create a digital awareness campaign that communicates environmental messages and motivates community to participate.

  3. Design practical energy-saving plans and promote sustainable habits through interactive presentations.

Process

Step 1: Get informed about "Earth Hour"

  • Explore what Earth Hour is.

  • Research the environmental issues behind it (i.e climate change, energy use etc).

Useful links:

https://www.wwf.org.uk/earth-hour

https://www.wwf.org.uk/earth-hour/10-facts-about-earth-hour

https://www.wwf.org.uk/earth-hour/switching-off-earth-hour-can-help

 

Step 2: Create a Social Media Campaign

Create a Social Media Campaign for Earth Hour 2025 to encourage your community to participate in Earth Hour.  Make your campaign engaging using visuals, slogans, or short videos. Share your content to the Padlet https://padlet.com/meddiet4health/earth-hour-23-march-9ig075f0te6cj5q3

 

Step 3: Research Energy-Saving Strategies

Research ways to reduce energy consumption and create an interactive presentation to promote energy-saving habits. Look for simple and effective ways households and schools can reduce energy use (e.g., LED lights, unplugging devices, shorter showers, public transport). 

 

Step 4: Design an Energy-Saving Action Plan

Create an interactive presentation and add it to the same Padlet.

 

Step 5: Comment on your peers posts

Browse your classmates’ posts and leave supportive comments, ideas or questions.

 

Evaluation

Your work will be evaluated with this rubric:

Criteria 5 - Excellent 4 - Good 3 - Satisfactory 2 - Needs Improvement 1 - Inadequate
Step 1: Understanding Earth Hour Thoroughly explains Earth Hour and related environmental issues with accurate, detailed research from multiple sources including provided links. Clearly explains Earth Hour and environmental issues with good supporting research and use of some sources. Provides a basic explanation of Earth Hour and environmental issues with limited research. Explanation is incomplete or shows some inaccuracies; minimal use of sources. Fails to explain Earth Hour or environmental issues; no evidence of research.
Step 2: Social Media Campaign Campaign is highly engaging with creative visuals, slogans, or videos; clearly motivates community participation; well-organized and shared on Padlet. Campaign is engaging with appropriate visuals or slogans; encourages participation; shared on Padlet. Campaign includes some visuals or slogans; somewhat encourages participation; shared on Padlet. Campaign lacks creativity or engagement; limited effort to motivate participation; unclear sharing. Campaign is missing or does not relate to Earth Hour; no evidence of sharing.
Step 3: Research on Energy-Saving Research is comprehensive and presents a variety of effective energy-saving strategies; interactive presentation is clear and informative. Research covers several energy-saving strategies; presentation is mostly clear and interactive. Research identifies some energy-saving strategies; presentation is somewhat clear and interactive. Research is minimal or superficial; presentation lacks clarity or interactivity. Research is missing or incorrect; no interactive presentation provided.
Step 4: Energy-Saving Action Plan Action plan is detailed, practical, and well-organized; presentation is interactive and clearly communicated; added to Padlet. Action plan is practical and mostly detailed; presentation is interactive; added to Padlet. Action plan includes basic ideas; presentation has limited interactivity; added to Padlet. Action plan is vague or impractical; presentation lacks interactivity or clarity; Padlet addition unclear. Action plan missing or irrelevant; no presentation or Padlet submission.
Step 5: Peer Engagement Leaves thoughtful, constructive comments with ideas or questions on multiple peers’ posts; actively supports community learning. Leaves constructive comments with some ideas or questions on peers’ posts; supports learning. Leaves comments on peers’ posts but with limited depth or relevance. Comments are minimal, unclear, or off-topic; limited engagement with peers. No comments or engagement with peers’ posts.
Conclusion

By completing this WebQuest, you explored the meaning of Earth Hour and how individual and collective actions can support the fight against climate change. Through your social media campaign and energy-saving plan, you turned research into meaningful environmental advocacy and inspired others to participate. 

Credits
Teacher Page

This WebQuest was edited by two members of USGGED,Türkiye as part of the activities of the "Mediterranean Diet for Overall Health" (MedDiet4Health) Erasmus+ project (Project number: 2023-2-EL01-KA210-VET-000183592).

Through this WebQuest, students gained a deeper understanding of climate change and energy conservation, learning why global actions like Earth Hour matter. They developed real communication skills by designing a social media campaign and they practiced turning research into practical solutions through their energy-saving action plans. By creating digital content and sharing it with peers, they also strengthened their creativity, teamwork and digital literacy.

This WebQuest reflects only the author’s views. The European Commission’s support for the production of this WebQuest does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.