EfS Student Highlights
Below are stories from the field about what our students are doing. We hope you find these inspring and useful. If you have an example of student work or a student story to share, please email info@cloudinstitute.org.
Endangered Species Sculptures: Unity Charter School in Morristown
As part of their unit on endangered species, Unity Charter's creative 3rd & 4th graders raised over $100 for Concerve Wildlife Foundation! To learn more about their story, check out the Conserve Wildlife blog here.
Growing Veggies On Walls: Teens Green Bronx
Remember when President Jimmy Carter visited the blighted south Bronx, with the result that images of burned-out houses and trash-stewn lots flashed across TV screens all over the nation? That visit and the movie, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, created an indelible image of the Bronx as a hopeless borough riddled with crime and despair.
Enter Steve Ritz, a teacher at Discovery High School (the tall fellow pictured in the center of the photo) who figured out a way to help turn all that around by teaching his students to grow vegetables on walls. Yes, vegetables on walls. Read the rest of the Civil Eats story here.
5th Grade Science Class at Frank G. Lindsey School Go Green
Part of the Cloud Institute BOCES Project
The Fifth Grade Students at Frank G. Lindsey Elementary School really know what it means to go “Green.” For them, living in a sustainable environment means minimizing the amount of waste that we create.
The students in Rita Many’s Science class spent a good deal of time learning about reducing, reusing and recycling waste as part of the Education for Sustainability curriculum introduced into the Hendrick Hudson School District this year. In cooperative groups, the students collected, measured and calculated the amount of waste created in various populations in one year. They presented their information to the entire school and posted recycle signs in each classroom.
In celebration of Earth Day, Art Teacher, Doreen Halsall, worked with the students to create special flower pots using only recycled materials. The 84 fifth graders then collaborated their efforts, and organized their own Flower Pot & Bake Sale to help promote the importance of sustainability. The proceeds from their sale helped to save a tree in the Rainforest, and enabled them to purchase reusable products that will decrease the amount of waste going into incinerators and landfills. The students even learned how to reduce waste production by creating their own composts in school. They used scientific probes to measure the temperature of their composts as they observed and recorded the changes that took place over time. The use of these high-tech science tools were made possible by the generous donation of community members.
As a result of all of these events, the students have begun to develop a sense of what it means to sustain Earth’s natural space by reducing the amount of waste that we put into it. To purchase the curriculum that The Cloud Institute is developing with BOCES please visit our bookstore.
GreenMyParents is a revolutionary, nationwide program to help young people teach their peers and parents how to work together to help the economy, earn money at home, and save the planet through simple, everyday actions. GreenMyParents connects the environmental crises directly to life at home through personal action, simple, creative and meaningful solutions, and learning the values of sustainability, health, family and money. Learn more about GreenMyParents resources here.
Philomath High Robotics Engineering Division is an extra curricular high school activity based in Philomath, Oregon. They are one of over 1600 high school robotics teams that participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition. They inspire high school students to learn about science and technology by involving them in exciting educational activities that teach them engineering related skills. Below are two videos made by students that we find useful in educating for materials cycles and water issues.
Team 847 Operation Gyre Video: a 28-second video on a great idea of creating a machine that collects garbage in our oceans.
Team 847 Water Video: a 30-second video on using biomimicry to clean our water.
Water Champions Service Learning Project
We are happy to announce the EPA's new Water Champions program which aims to promote service learning tied to water conservation. Is this something you would like to do in your classroom? If so, please contact Walter Schoepf. You can also view some of EPA's water conservation educational materials here.
Student Activity: Pencils: A Classroom Commons
This is the story of how one classroom learns how not to take an everyday classroom tool for granted, in order to promote a sustainable school environment. This project was created by Betsy Kates, third grade teacher at George Washington Elementary School in the Lakeland Central School District. After participating in the Education for Sustainability Curriculum Project at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES, she was inspired to write and produce this podcast during an inservice training in her district. Her son, Gabe, is the narrator.
We’re All Connected Map
Very little of the world's land can now be thought of as inaccessible, according to a new map of connectedness. The maps are based on a model which calculated how long it would take to travel to the nearest city of 50,000 or more people by land or water. This map is a great visual to showing how we are indeed, all connected.
Sustainable Schools Special Section (from District Administration Magazine)
A few stories on what schools are doing around the country.
Student Climate Song Campaign
We thought you might like to know about kidEarth’s “100 Generations” song -- an international global warming song California 6th grader Aitan Grossman wrote for children all over the world to sing to raise awareness about the climate change. Aitan’s made it easy - the song’s notes, lyrics and instrumental tracks are on kidEarth’s website (www.kidearth.us). Students can use Aitan’s words or write their own and, if they want to join voices together with others around the world, they can post a “100 Generations” music video to go along with those already on kidEarth’s video page.
Jessie-Ruth is the core leader of the Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative (VSHI), a group of students representing 200-plus youth from 26 high schools. In 2004, Jessie-Ruth rose to a teacher’s challenge to create an energy conservation plan; her proposal to transition the school’s oil boiler to a woodchip boiler fueled by local products was adopted by the school board. After learning that Vermont does not have the forest capacity to heat the population with wood alone, VSHI wanted to facilitate the transition to heating with locally produced biomass energy crops. Jessie-Ruth and VSHI wrote a persuasive statewide plan to develop Vermont’s 100,000 acres of underutilized land to grow prairie grass that could be pelletized and provide all of Vermont’s home heating needs. VHSI estimates the program’s financial returns could eventually reach up to $1.3 billion. However, Jessie-Ruth believes the returns will be greater than just money. “Locally produced energy will develop a greater sense of community in Vermont towns,” she said. “Our fuel will come from our own backyards and will offer a stable and affordable price to all Vermonters.” VSHI is currently running a pilot project in which it is transitioning low-income family homes in the community to pellet stoves.
The Golden Apple Awards
Offers schools in NYC recognition for documenting their model school recycling programs, waste prevention initiatives, or beautification projects.
Prince's Rainforest Project
We had the wonderful opportunity to partner with the Prince's Rainforest Project and develop a lesson gallery for all K-12 lessons that address our world's rainforests and/or climate change. You can download lessons from the gallery or share your own. Check out this beautfiul song written by 5th grade science students at Marin Country Day School. Watch the video.
Lost Generation Video
Only 2 minutes but the message the student delivers is impactful and inspiring. We too believe there is hope.
