Earth Day 2011

Today we celebrated Earth Day at our school. For several years I have wanted to do something cool on Earth Day. When I taught middle school I would try to take my students outside and we would do various activities but I never could organize something big.

When I was in school, I remember the Earth Days when our class would go clean up the Shiawassee River, or visit a local nursery. Those were some of my favorite days because they were a break from the usual monotony.

Anyway, one of the first year teachers at our school took the lead on planning the day and got permission from our principal to put it all together. Due to the fact that we are a STEM program, Earth day seemed to be a good opportunity for us to celebrate some of the things we have been learning and working on this year.

About two weeks ago, the kids were given a homework assignment where they were to choose a variety of projects; their choices ranged from designing/improving new products, researching environmentally friendly changes they implemented in their houses, or creating an outfit out of recycled materials.

We started Earth Day 2011 with our morning assembly, where the kids say the Pledge of Allegiance and listen to the announcements.

Afterwards, the kids presented their homework projects to the whole school and the kids who designed outfits walked across the “green carpet” and sashayed in their creations. The kids came up with some amazing outfits; there was a ninja outfit made out of garbage bags, a pizza box hat, and a dress that a girl sewed herself out of Capri Sun bags! I managed the kids as they made their way into the gym, so I was in the hallway--it appeared to go well. AND, we finished in about 15 minutes—which I found quite impressive, due to the fact that over 50 kids presented their projects!

From there we went into our rotations. Each of our 4 teachers led the kids in some sort of activity. I did an outdoor inquiry lab where the kids looked at how coloring helps different insects survive (one of the things I actually got from Laying the Foundation), one teacher had the kids create bird feeders, another did a geocaching activity, and in the fourth group the kids completed their study of ecosystems by digging and planting a butterfly garden in front of our beautiful school. (Manual labor is a good thing!)

Every kid in our 4th and 5th grade program got to participate in the 4 activities.

Thankfully the weather cooperated. The kids behaved, and at the end of the day every kid in my class told me how much fun they had. I truly think the kids learned a lot, and hopefully they will remember how they celebrated Earth Day 2011-- even after they leave us and move on to middle school.

P.S. Only, 25 more school days. So glad today was a good one. :)