Objective 2: Student-driven Sustainability Practices
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2.1. Water Conservation/Pollution Prevention
Rain Barrel - 2013 - present All children - The CYC has had a rain barrel for several years. It is located on the playground where all children can access it easily. All children learn that the rain barrel water is only to water plants and that the watering cans are only for use with the rain barrel. There are many gardens and plants on the playground for the children to water. Rain Garden - 2015 - present - All children - As part of the Come Alive Outside program a rain garden was installed to help alleviate some of the puddles on the playground. In the spring children rake out the dead material and install fencing so that no one walks on the newly emerging plants. When the plants do begin to grow, children help to water it using the rain barrel water or a hose. Rain Garden Sign - October 25, 2016 - Orange room children - A UMD Design Team from the UMD iSchool came to the CYC to get the children’s ideas about an interpretive sign that had been designed for the CYC Rain Garden. The sign depicts raindrops as they travel through the water cycle, pick up pollutants, and get cleansed as they move through the dirt and mulch of the rain garden and finally end up in the river. Children contributed the idea of a chalk board on the sign to add more of their own ideas. |
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2.2. Energy Conservation
Save Fuel Week 2012 - 2018 - The whole school - Save fuel week has taken place for the past five years. Kindergarten classes decorate old milk jugs with signs for bus, walking, biking, and carpooling. At the end of the week the kindergarten class tallies and graphs the results for the school to see. Turn off Lights Signage - 2018 Kindergarten class makes signs to remind people to turn off the lights when not in use. They distribute them throughout the school. Electronic Waste Drive- March 2018 - Kindergarten children made signs to promote an e-waste drive for the school. Solar Pizza Box Oven - August 2018 - Blue Room Summer Camp Class - During a summer camp study of Energy, children learned about solar energy while making a solar oven using pizza boxes. See more about the 6 week summer camp Energy Study. |
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2.3. Solid Waste Reduction 1- Trash Free Tuesdays - This program has been going on since 2011 in all classrooms. Each Tuesday children collect the trash, weigh it, and graph it. Trash Free Tuesday is a special event that children enjoy participating along with their parents. Recently the trash has been kept below 4 ounces. 2- Recycle Markers - Since April 2016 - All Classrooms - Through the Crayola Color Cycle program and using recycled containers the kindergarten children label and decorate, the whole school collects dried markers. The kindergarten students count them and then they are shipped back to crayola. Recently the children made collection jugs for UMD Green Office program. 3- Composting- Since 2010- All Classrooms- Each classroom has a compost bin and children put their leftover food and paper towels in them. 4- Re-use Paper- On going for years - Four Classrooms - Children know that paper comes from trees and they save scraps of paper that still have use to use one day a week. They also collect other recycled material to make sculptures and such at the art table. |
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2.7. Healthy School Environment
1- Vegetable Gardens - Ongoing for years The CYC vegetable, bean tepee, and herb garden are used to educate children on how food is grown as they help plant it, water, and harvest the vegetables. Children eat the vegetables as soon as they pick them from the garden. Some things grown in the garden are lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, green beans, peas, pumpkins, squash, and chard. All students participate. 2- Encouraging Active Play on the Playground- Kindergarten September 18 - January 2019- The Blue Room did a study of playgrounds by visiting several local playgrounds and comparing them. They decided playgrounds are important to help people get outside and be active. Several children made posters and all of the kindergarten children participated in making a video encouraging being active on the playground. The video was shared with families. For a culmination the children created their own blue print designs for a playground of their imagination and then used recycled materials to create a model of it. These were on display for families and other classrooms to admire. 3- Care of Indoor Plants - Ongoing for years - Some children in all of the classrooms help water and maintain plants throughout the school. Each classroom has at least three live plants. There are also many plants throughout the rest of the school that children help maintain. 4- Green Cleaner - January 2019- Several Kindergarten students made a "green cleaner" from baking soda, vinegar, and water. They used the solution to clean the classroom chairs. |