Using service projects to teach elementary school youth about environmental conservation
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency's publication, Service-Learning: Education Beyond the Classroom, describes seven environmental conservation projects that schools and community groups have conducted with elementary school-aged youth. The source document includes additional projects for middle and high school youth, as well as a list of partnering national organizations.Issue
Excessive solid waste overwhelms municipal landfills, depletes natural resources, and pollutes the environment. School groups and youth organizations have implemented creative methods of educating their communities on better ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle solid waste material while at the same time, young people develop important academic and life skills.Action
SCHOOL PROJECTS FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
Buying for the Future: Recycled-Content Products
A one-year program was organized by fifth- and eighth-grade students to promote the use of recycled-content products. The students tested the quality of recycled-content products, surveyed shoppers, and spoke with both local retailers and national manufacturers of recycled-content products about increasing buyer awareness. In addition to the environmental education inherent in the program, the projects also gave the students insight into how government, business, and the community are interconnected.
Contact: Jerry Travlos, Principal
Smyser Elementary School
4310 North Melvina
Chicago, IL 60634
Phone: (773) 534-3711
Fax: (773) 534-3555
Cultural Quilt Recovers the Past
A series of one-time service-learning projects helped third grade students learn how to reduce, reuse and recycle. After surveying how much trash their homes produce, and visiting the local landfill and recycling center, the students then participated in a workshop that taught them how to make products from discarded textiles. Included in the series of projects were letters written to public officials and the development of a school recycling program.
Contact: Joanne Ortiz, Principal
Taos Elementary School
310 Camino de la Tlacita
Taos, NM 87571
Phone: (505) 737-6100
Fax: (505) 758-5298
Recycling - Read All About It!
Students with functional mental disabilities in kindergarten through third grade participated in a one-year program developing and publishing monthly newsletters with a recycling theme. This helped develop communication, math, and computer skills, while learning about environmental conservation. The students also toured a recycling center staffed by mentally and physically challenged employees.
Contact: Fonda Crawford, Principal
Hopkins Primary School
210 May Street
Somerset, KY 42503
E-mail: fonda.crawford@somerset.kyschools.us
Phone: (606) 678-8707
Students Become Teachers
Fourth-graders worked with preschoolers and their parents to increase participation in their school's existing recycling program. During the course of the year-long program the fourth grade students helped preschoolers apply color identification and counting skills when sorting recyclables, and taught the preschoolers how to make toys from the recyclables they collected. The older students also planned and presented a lesson to parents on the importance of recycling.
Contact: Dr. Gale Vogel, Principal
Smyrna Primary School
200 Walnut Street
Myrna, TN 37167
Phone: (615) 904-6720
Fax: (615) 355-5609
Students Make a Litter Difference
As part of a multi-year recycling program created by fifth-graders and teachers, students attended a three-day environmental education camp to learn about conservation concepts. They applied that knowledge through such activities as a community newspaper drive, an aluminum can recycling program, and cafeteria waste reduction. They also designed posters and wrote and performed plays to promote recycling.
Contact: Mildred Posey, Principal
Westhill Elementary School
710 Glenn Road
Bessemer, AL 35023
Phone: (205) 432-3500
Fax: (205) 432-3502
COMMUNITY PROJECTS FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
From Paper to Flowerpots
First- through sixth-graders learned how to make paper flowerpots, which they gave to "adopted grandparents" at area elder care communities. First the students learned about conservation concepts. Then they used shredded paper to create paper pulp. They shaped the pulp into starter pots and planted flowers in them. The students were encouraged to tell the recipients how they made the pots and to talk about recycling with them.
Contact: Crystal Fangmeier
Thayer County Cooperative Extension Agency
225 North Fourth Street
Hebron, NE 68370
Phone: (402) 768-7212
Fax: (402) 768-7213
Working with Worms
The Earthworks Junior Master Composter Program teaches fifth- and sixth-graders how to compost with worms, a process known as "vermicomposting," in an effort to reduce solid waste. Participating schools receive a vermicomposting kit including supplies and resource literature. Students in the program receive a Master Junior Composter certificate upon completing a four-hour training course, four hours of compost work, and by committing to teaching at least two others about composting.
Contact: Lisa Whittlesey, National Program Coordinator
Junior Master Gardener Program
225 Horticulture/Forestry Bldg.
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-2134
E-mail: l-whittlesey@tamu.edu
Phone: (979) 845-8565
Citation
Environmental Protection Agency. Service-Learning: Education Beyond the Classroom. Office of Solid Waste, Washington, D.C. 1997.Outcome
The effects of these projects are multi-faceted, benefitting both the individual students and their communities. Students gain hands-on conservation knowledge, as well as academic and professional skills reinforcement, while becoming involved with community civic processes. Communities receive much-needed environmental service, enhancing their public image and self-esteem.Posted On
July 22, 2002Source Documents
Related Practices
Related sites
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Curriculum & Activities
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Teaching Center