Francine C. Coss
The conclusion of the four animal units will combine the information studied in all previous themes and directly connect that information to human behavior. The new environmental theme will research how humans effect the various environments positively and negatively. The goal will be a presentation of environmental facts and methods of counteracting the negative while promoting the positive. Land, air and water treatment will be covered, opening the doors a school wide environmental project.
Beginning first on a smaller scale, the classroom environment, the people, animals and objects that enter and exit the classroom environment daily will be defined and posted. People and animal habits that can enhance the classroom environment will be analyzed and solutions to negative environmental connections will be implemented. Objects that enter and exit the classroom, such as food and garbage will also be analyzed. A simple environmental solution that not only improves the classroom environment but also the school and surrounding community environments will be found in the food/garbage analysis. A small compost container will be placed in the classroom for investigating insect life and soil composition. Daily breakfast garbage will be added to the compost container by the children. The compost will be described to the children as a food chain, or even more complex, an ecosystem, containing necessary organisms for soil improvement and waste reduction. As the compost contents increase, a new, larger compost container will be created outdoors. A campaign to discard all breakfast and possibly even lunch waste will be sponsored by my Kindergartners, allowing for a school-wide waste reduction and soil improvement effort. The overall connection of human behavior to environmental maintenance and improvement will be made through the expansion of this classroom composting project.
The large scale project will begin with an organic vegetable garden first cultivated in our classroom and then expanded to the school grounds. The success of the school-wide compost effort will be highlighted through the success of the “KinderGarden” planted and cared for by my Kindergarten students. Beans and possibly other vegetables will be planted and sown for the consumption of the student body during a special lunch grown and cooked by my Kindergartners. The interest in organic gardening will be peaked for the student body, and an organic, “BeecherGarden” will then be planted and maintained, following the same concepts of environmental awareness as exemplified through the previous”KinderGarden” project. The concept of ecosystems will be revisited on a larger scale as older students are directly involved in the maintenance and consumption of the garden’s produce. Vegetables requiring a longer growing period will be planted for late summer and early fall picking. The impetus for independence of effort in environmental improvement will be highlighted through the efforts of children and other community members in the upkeep of the “BeecherGarden” during the summer months.
The positive efforts my Kindergarten students make in the school community will expand to their local community through larger scale clean-up efforts and organic community gardening. The children will integrate their four month study of animal life and habitats with the study of the physical environments surrounding their school and greater community. Necessary ecosystems that should exist for animal and plant survival in and around the school will be analyzed and improved through class, school and community efforts. School, parent and community involvement in environmental clean-up and improvement will be inevitable due to the spread of information from my Kindergartners’ efforts. Working with the land in and around the school facility, the children’s study of plant life will coincide with their continued study of ecosystems and environment. The children will be educated in the areas of relative plant and animal life, natural pesticides, and animal homes. The land surrounding the school building will then be assessed and transformed with the combined efforts of the Kindergartners, other students, parents and community members, to encourage future plant growth and wildlife habitation.
“The water and the air were the two things we all shared,” no longer stings when read aloud. The present animal life classroom curriculum, expanded to include food chains and ecosystems that apply to the local environment has equipped the children and the community with a greater understanding of environmental responsibility and preservation.
After the initial impact, we may all revert back to our former opinions and habits. We may once again take the air and water around us for granted. We may once again continue to define hazards as they apply to our immediate surroundings. We may once again continue to claim items and habits to be ‘safe enough.’ But the enlightened children of L.W. Beecher School will know the realities of individualized definitions of ‘hazardous.’ They will know how their personal environments impact the environment at large. They will understand how the quality of their environment is directly linked to their efforts to maintain and replenish resources. The children who have not yet formed their opinions will be transformed into educated environmental decision-makers with opinions based on personal experiences and facts.
Those who forget the ramifications a single non-caring individual has on their local and global environments will be reminded by the continued actions of the students involved in “You Can Change the World.” Young and old members of the surrounding school community will be privy to the positive and negative effects each of us can have upon the environment. More people may truly realize the impact that one person can have on the environment.
No one is forcing a way of thinking onto the community, but the actions of the children will provide a thinking pattern for onlookers that will cause them to glance beyond their own backyard when spreading pesticides, dumping garbage or emptying radiator fluid. “You Can Change the World” will enable the youngest members of the school community, Kindergartners, to enhance and improve the local environment while educating themselves and others about the effects an individual has on his or her environment. Even though the overall effects may be small, they are affecting the smallest members of our community, who will someday be the decision-makers for the world.