Environmental issue instruction
Green Days Lessons, Grades K-5
During our Green Days celebration (see Systemic Sustainability: Celebration), the ENTIRE school works on science experiments, reading projects, writing projects, class discussions- a multitude of academic lessons and activities which keep our entire academic days packed with environmental exploration. It takes place during the two half-days before Thanksgiving break. The student enthusiasm is overflowing, with many students and teachers dressing in green to commemorate the days.
Each grade completes a science experiment, particular to their level. They read environmental stories, particular to their level, and they reflect orally or in writing on their lessons. The students also watch videos from "Young Voices for the Planet," learning about student-inspired environmental actions around the world. It is a comprehensive and inspiring school-wide celebration organized by the Green Schools Leadership Team (a collection of students, staff members and parents who meet bi-weekly). |
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Green teams, Grades 2 through 5
HERE IS WHERE IT STARTS
For the past 4 years, there have been continuous Gifted/Talented seminars held during the recess and lunch hour. After students apply for these elective seminars, they spend time learning, acting, and organizing for a greener, more responsible Bollman Bridge Elementary School. The seminars are open to any students showing initiative from grades 2 through 5. These groups have truly been the driving force behind the Green School movement at Bollman Bridge Elementary. They have motivated students, teachers, and family members around them. They have written letters, hosted meetings, and dreamt about the way we will change our habits to help the earth rather than hinder it thoughtlessly. They have been leaders in teaching and learning. They have determined the directions of the entire movement with their passions. |
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Pre-K and Regional Early Childhood
Each year in our RECC (Regional Early Childhood Center), the students learn about how we live on earth along with everyone and everything else. These youngest students brainstorm ways that we can help save the earth and how we can better clean up after ourselves. The students learn about recycling and how some "trash" can be used again. After understanding that paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic can be recycled, the students sort "trash" into recycling and trash. They also read The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss and use their hand prints to create truffula trees to save.
In addition, the RECC students track seasonal changes by collecting leaves and placing them in contact paper collages, observing the changing colors. Additionally, RECC has a "magic tree" that is pinned with leaves collected by the students, at various times of the year, representing the seasons. |
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Kindergarten
WHAT CAN WE DO BETTER? In Kindergarten, our students learn to recognize that living things need a clean environment. They learn about their roles in contributing to air, land, and water pollution. They review what materials can and cannot be recycled or reused. The culminating activity is a "Taking Care of the Earth" booklet that the students complete that includes identifying where to put trash, items that are paper, aluminum, or plastic, how to reduce air pollution, and steps to planting a tree. |
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RECYCLE? RE-USE? OR TRASH? In their exploration of reducing, reusing, and recycling, kindergarteners complete a picture sort where the students have to cut & paste pictures under "trash" or "recycle" or "reuse". The team added the "reuse" section after the Bollman Bridge focus on the three Rs in the cafeteria. |
First Grade
DROUGHT IN THE NEWS AND IN THE CLASSROOM In a first grade unit called "Our Changing World," students learned how droughts can affect people in their community. Students connected what they were learning to the drought currently happening in California and learned about ways we can conserve water. As a culminating project, students made "Ways to Save Water" booklets. |
CHANGES BIG AND SMALL First graders spend several weeks studying the basic needs of plants, as well as environments which would be most conducive to help them survive. The students work in groups to plant seeds using different environmental variables, such as a clear cup versus plastic bag, to see how different factors in the environment can affect the plant's growth. Students observe their plant's growth over four weeks, recording their observations and discussing their findings with their classmates. Attached is the closing lesson from the series. |
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SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT ALL AROUND Students lessons are enhanced by watching our community garden grow. Plants are used for measuring activities, for predictions and for life lessons (after our freeze). All students, including students with special needs, benefit from both experiencing learning outdoors and the calm of the space. |
HUNGRY? After a unit studying winter habits of animals, 1st graders created bird feeders and squirrel feeders to help the animals survive the winter. The students re-used some recycled materials from the cafeteria (milk cartons) to design and build bird houses to help birds gather food for the winter. Some students designed theirs to stick into the ground so that other animals (squirrels) could gather the food as well. |
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Second Grade
ARCHAEOLOGISTS WONDER WHAT MAKES A GOOD ARTIFACT In 2nd grade, during an archaeology unit, the students learned to decipher between biodegradable artifacts and non-biodegradable artifacts. The students chose artifacts, made predictions, buried their artifacts, let them weather for 6 weeks, then carefully dug up their artifacts. Banana peels almost completely disappeared! The plastic grocery bag could have been washed and used again the next day. |
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CONVINCE ME! The second grade students were in the midst of their investigation of persuasive writing. They watched public service announcements about pollution and chose the types of pollution that they found most concerning. After investigating more about their topics, the students created persuasive posters for the community, informing about the troubles and persuading us to change our ways! |
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WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT DIRT? As part of the second grade curriculum students learn about soil and erosion. Students create fact books to display their knowledge and share with others how important soil is. Students learn about how soil is made, why it is important, and about problems with soil, and soil conservation. The students use recycled paper for their books. |
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CAN WE MAKE CLEAN WATER? Two of our 2nd grade classes found that is was a problem that many people did not have access to clean water to drink, to bathe in, and to cook with. They decided to invent a water filtration system using materials that might be accessible to people in developing countries. |
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Third Grade
"PLANTS AND TREES"
Each year, third graders learn about conducive environments for growing plants and trees through the completion of a unit entitled "Plants and Trees." The three week life science unit includes reading to be informed about the needs that plants have and the wants and needs that plants and trees provide to other living organisms. The students learn more specialized concepts such as the relationship between human and plant carbon dioxide and oxygen use in the carbon cycle and photosynthesis. The unit culminates in the third graders creating an original brochure demonstrating their knowledge of the growth cycles of plants and trees. Shown is one lesson from the three week unit. |
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SELF-SUSTAINING LIFE! After studying the water cycle, the 3rd graders created terrariums with pebbles, soil and a plant. When the lids were screwed tight, the students created a self-sustaining environment. The students enjoy watching the water cycle in plain view each day- from transpiration to evaporation to condensation. |
GREEN LIVING! A group of 3rd graders in an Curriculum Extension Unit entitled "Green" Houses studied what kinds of designs make a home more kind to the earth. They studied directional placement of home, structure for energy conservation. The students explored the idea that houses come in a variety of shapes and materials and are built for a variety of reasons. See attached lesson plan as a sample from the "Green" Houses unit. |
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CAN WE CREATE A SOLUTION? After reading about Wedell Seals in Antarctica, third grade students were discussing what would happen if there was an oil spill. The students wanted to design a machine that could help save the Weddell Seals. |
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NATURE CENTER EXCITES 3rd GRADERS!
The third grade team of Bollman Bridge took a field trip to the Robinson Nature Center. They met an old owl who has survived many challenges, and the students learned about the importance of preserving his habitat. They explored a butterfly garden and got to see a living example of the largest species of moth. The students were also intrigued by the wide variety of native plant and flower species. |
Fourth Grade
LETTERS TO THE SUPERINTENDENT
The 4th grade students were upset that so many "recyclable" lunchroom trays must be thrown into the trash.. (If the trays have any food debris, the county has told us they must be thrown into the trash.) The students proposed two possible solutions: get a sink to wash off trays or get small disposable paper cups in which to put sauces . The students were taken through the persuasive writing process as well as understanding a business letter. They prepared letters to Dr. Foose stating the issue along with their proposed solutions. Some students started their passion for improving the lunchroom through this work. They found the disinterest of their peers even more motivating to create change. |
FIELD TRIP TO MAKE RECYCLED ART The 4th graders took a field trip to the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. After exploring a variety of art exhibits at the museum, artists led the students through an activity making art completely out of found goods. |
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AFRICAN AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS
The 4th grade students studied African American environmental leaders in conjunction with African American History month in February. Each teacher schoolwide was provided with lessons focusing on African American environmental activists. |
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AND THE ACADEMY AWARD GOES TO...
"Celebrity Readers" (parents and teachers) chose picture books that fit one of the categories listed and read their selection to multiple groups of 4th graders. Students voted on which books they thought deserved the Academy Award! One of the featured categories: Best Environmental Book: Which book brings about the greatness environmental awareness? For the complete list of winners, see the document included! |
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CLOSER TO HOME Each spring, the entire fourth grade learns about food chains, food webs, and human impact on both in a unit entitled, "Closer to Home." Students discover the effects on plants and animals when they compete for the same food, water, space, and shelter in a habitat. The learn that in order for plants and animals to survive in a habitat, the environmental factors that meet their needs must be balanced. They learn about erosion, weathering, and environmental changes (including global warming and air pollution) culminating in the creating of an ideal habitat accompanied by a vision statement. See included lesson as a sample from the "Closer to Home" unit. |
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Fifth Grade
"WHAT CAN WE DO?" Each spring, all 5th graders learn about humans' impacts on the environment through participation in a science/language arts unit entitled "What Can We Do?" This three week unit focuses on food chains and webs, the natural chemistry of different types of water (salt water, fresh water, and brackish water), the effects that excess nutrients can have on algae growth that affect the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, that people (using fertilizers or improper disposal of farm animal waste) can have negative consequences on the health of the Chesapeake Bay, and highlights the impacts of nutrients from point and non-point source pollution, such as animal waste and farm run-off. This unit is highlighted by the creation of a model of a Riparian Stream Buffer that experiences "pollution" in an experiment that uses different household items that mimic pollutants, as well as, the creation of a "Bay in a Beaker" which simulates the Chesapeake Bay in non-polluted and polluted states. See included lesson plans for two of the lessons in the "What Can We Do?" unit. |
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HABITAT PRESERVATION Rather than restore a destroyed habitat, a group of fifth graders worked to preserve the destruction of a local dragonfly habitat. The community of Savage was considering removing a vast number of trees, a vital home to a local species of dragonfly. Students learned about the the value of trees, and estimated their sizes, their ages and then calculated their oxygen output. Ultimately, the students created a powerpoint presentation to be used at the Savage Community meeting in spring of 2013. (See full powerpoint presentation in "Habitat Restoration".) |
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WRITING TO PERSUADE- TAKE CARE OF OUR PLANET! Two fifth grade writing classes wrote letters to their peers, persuading them that recycling is worthwhile! They used Howard County writing guidelines, working to support their thoughts and write with thoughtful and purposeful language. |
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PUBLISHING IN GREEN
Two fifth grade writing classes have been working on writing up different activities for this very Green School application. A winning write-up would follow the Howard County writing rubric, with particular attention to focus and organization, support and evidence, and language. 5 to 6 students competed for a chance to be published in different sections of this website, and the winning write-ups are published in this application. (See "April Showers" and "I've Got Trash" in the Water Conservation/Pollution Prevention section for a couple of examples.) |
PLANNING A GARDEN Fifth grade math students created a garden proposal to contribute to our green schools mission. After exploring growing patterns of root and vine vegetables, the students creatively designed rectangular gardens best using the plants and space available. Students explored concepts of area, partial products, scale drawings, and perimeter while participating in this project. |
MAKING USE OF OUR OUTDOOR CLASSROOM Fifth grade math students have taken advantage of the beautiful outdoor classroom in the redone courtyard. The space outdoors inspires new mathematical thinking and connections. The students benefit from the fresh air and the surroundings, as well as the change in scenery. |
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Art
The art teachers of Bollman Bridge use the environment as a vehicle as well. They use nature as inspiration for work, they take their classes outside to create artwork in natural light, they create art projects out of found materials, and they focus on environmental artists. |
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MEDia
MEDIA CENTER LOVE FOR RRR! The Media Center created a display of books encouraging students and staff alike to learn about and enjoy particularly earth-friendly topics. The books range from learning about the Earth's resources to prose about the planet to science and art projects using all repurposed materials! Love and learn! |
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Technology classes
WHAT TO RECYCLE?
On of our technology teachers created a program to both support technology skills and to teach about recycling. In her program, the students needed to "drag and drop" items into the trash can or the recycling container. The program proved to be a wonderful review across grade levels as we work hard to reinforce knowledge of appropriate items to recycle in our school. |
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