Tips for teachers, parents and kids on how to live "greener" everyday lives.
Hi! Thanks for stopping by. Every month, I will answer your questions on
how to bring environmental studies into the classroom, how to deepen our
environmental awareness and how to live more "green". I'll suggest seasonal
activities that can help our children get closer to nature and give
suggestions on how to encourage them to be loving caretakers of our great
planet earth. I want to encourage our children (and ourselves) to fall in
love with nature. When you love something, you will take care of it.
I look forward to hearing from teachers and parents about environmental projects that you've done that have been successful. E-mail me at teachgreen@aol.com and I'll share with others what you are doing.
Also, I want to hear from Kids! E-mail your poems and stories about nature, ecology and our great Planet Earth, to Teachgreen@aol.com and I will share your feelings with other kids in the Earth Patrol Kids section at the end of this site.
In honor of Valentine's Day, let's fall in LOVE with the earth. It's ourhome. Let's expose our children to the beauty and specialness of everyliving thing on this planet.
And let's talk about garbage... it's everywhere. Especially showing up inplaces it shouldn't be. Garbage is polluting our precious lakes, rivers andoceans. Litter is collecting on the roadsides, sidewalks and forests.Landfills are overflowing. Old cars, tires and appliances are abandoned indeserted areas. All are causing great damage to the eco-system. If we arenot responsible for the pollution, what we are responsible for is its end.Speak out and do something about it!
We CAN make a difference. Recycle your garbage as a way of life. Teach your children that garbage belongs in a can, not on the street, just like at home. And be an example to them. If you see someone dumping, tell them to STOP andexplain why. A rubber tire in a lake affects the plant and fish life ramatically. Not to mention the chemicals that are dumped intentionally. Activate your friends and community. Adopt a stream or a street and clean itup. Make it a family affair!
Buy products with as little packaging as possible. Buy products made of natural fibers. Say NO to disposables. And reuse, reuse, reuse. We forget that the garbage that we put out on the side of the road, has to go somewhere. Create less garbage! Don't allow yourself to become numb to the issue. Let's clean up our planetfor our children. We must start now.
There is a great deal of confusion about what some of the "recycling" words mean. Here is a list of common terms to aid you in making educated shopping choices.
For more information on how reusing, reducing, and recycling CAN change the world, contact the Environmental Defense Fund. Or visittheir website at www.edf.org
For more information about what to recycle in your area, call your localDepartment of Sanitation.
1. Toilet paper binoculars: Take two toilet paper rolls and lay them side byside. Tape the tubes together at the center twice around with paper masking tape. To make the strap, punch one hole in both tubes, at the side and attacha cotton string or ribbon. Decorate.
2. Baby doll canopy bed: You need a shoe box and four sturdy, straight 12"sticks. Stand the sticks into each corner of the bottom of the box. Glueor tape to secure. When set, turn over and glue or tape the top of the boxonto the four sticks. When set, turn over box and decorate with ribbons,fabric swatches, paint, cut out magazine pictures, etc. Add baby when done!
3. Collage art: Using old magazines, make collages by ripping small, colorful pictures. For older children, they may attempt to make a large mural, usingthe small ripped colors as if they were colored tiles.
4. Building with paper logs. Take 30 (more or less) used sheets of paper andcut down the center to make 60 pieces. Roll the used side of one of the pieces around a pencil. Tape or glue the edge. Remove pencil. Repeat until all the sheets are used. Glue all the logs together to make structures.
5. Cardboard box villages. Using a variety of shapes and sizes of different kinds of boxes (milk cartons, shoe and cereal boxes) make a village that represents your school or home's neighborhood. Pay special interest in making the buildings to scale. You can either cover the boxes with paper, or paintthem.
6. Bee hive. Take hundreds of toilet paper tubes. (I'll use 100 for description). Lay 10 tubes, the long sides next to each other. Glue them together. To support them while drying, paper clip both ends together. Repeat making rows of ten tubes. After the rows are assembled, lay each rowon top of the other, in the "valley" created by the row below it. (The tubesare not lying directly on top of each other) Glue and paper clip the rows together. After all is dry, gently crumble yellow tissue paper and place ineach hole about 1" deep. (Smooth side should be facing out) The tissue paper should fill up the circumference of the hole. This will represent honey. Youcan next make "honeybees" out of paper, clay, pipe cleaners, or whatever comesto mind. Place the honeybees in the hive.
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