Past projects 2
From Leftovers to Plant Growers: Composting Classroom
Funded Sep 22, 2011Our project, with your help, has taken off in many directions. Most importantly, it has taught my students that they can and do make a difference. We began this project with a timeline and accomplished many things. We installed a composter and researched the ways we could affect the local environment with our resources and project. We realized that the biggest environmental issue in Pinellas County was the landfill and the fact that in sixty years, it will be capped. We can be part of the solution by reducing the waste going there and using it and recovering it, for compost.
We collect between six and twenty pounds of cafeteria food waste daily. We also compare and contrast the decomposition rate between our composter on soil and the vermicomposter we purchased with your generous donations. We realized that having active decomposers, like red worms, yields compost at a faster rate. Most compost like the kind we cultivate on campus, takes months to produce the perfect soil additive. We used "The Organic Guide to Composting" in our read-aloud as a useful non-fiction resource when determining what could and could not be composted. We took our project to the City Council as our video, made with the help of the USGS (United States Geological Survey), inspired a local council member to present our project to the mayor and city. We capped that off by showcasing the project at the local farmer's market as we handed out biodegradable plant pots and how-to's on making composters and compost at home.
Overall, this has taught my class how to take an idea, a concept and make it a reality. They realize the impact they are having on the environment. They inspired a Green themed spring concert. They have composed music about recycling and composting-even decomposers!
With your help, inspiring the youth in Pinellas County has been a reality and we cannot thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Green-Uber
Graphing Our Galloping Gains With The Help Of Gadgets!
Funded Oct 18, 2010We have been using our pedometers and they have had such an enormous impact on all of us. The pedometers have allowed for us to expand our thinking when it comes to many subjects and integrating learning about a healthy lifestyle has proved to be easy.
First of all in math, we have been totaling our daily step-count and then placing the results on graphs. We began with a limit of 4,000 steps on the range and found we walk much further than that! On average, during a school day, we walk between five and seven thousand steps! Wow! We changed our graphs range to 8,000. Then we learned about place value. In second grade, we have only experienced using the ones, tens and hundreds place. Well, due to our superior stepping, we now can graph and read numbers that span into the thousands!. We graphed on our personal graphs every morning before resetting our personal pedometers. This was a new experience as we learned about this unique technology.
In health, we have been learning about making good choices when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle. Many of us made health action plans to increase our physical activity at home and set goals for doing so. Our pedometers showed us how much of a physical impact just simple walking can be when it comes to being active.
Overall, this technology has been a gift in so many ways. The students are having a blast being responsible for such an amazing piece of technology and they take pride in their ownership for the project. They have been broadening their mathematical horizons while they collect data and then measure it using a graph every day. They enjoy showing each other the differences they see in their steps when they must walk further for a special class and talk about being excited to take the stairs at school. The impact has been so wonderful. The kids light up when we talk about our galloping gains project that would not of been a reality without your help. So, thank you. Thank you for giving to students and allowing them to experience the joy of learning.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Green-Uber