8th Grade Garden Work
This week, weather permitting, 8th grade will try to have one more turn in the garden, raking leaves, moving wood chips, picking up trash, repairing benches and splitting wood. Thursday and Friday at 1:15. Come join us!
1st Grade Leaf Collection Labeling
Next week, Monday Dec. 7, the 1st grade will be labeling their leaf collections as we begin our weekly lessons on the Trees of Waters School. Parent helpers are welcome to help us make sure that the Silver Maples don't get labeled as Black Walnuts and the Locust are labeled Catalpa. Room 205, 11:30, Room 111, 12:15, Room 211, 1:20. Come! Test your ID skills.
2nd Grade Water Cycle
Next week Tuesday I do a lesson with 2nd grade about the water cycle in preparation for the Water Cycle Probability Necklace-making activity that will take place on Tuesday December 15. For Room 210, 1:15, for Room 208 2:15. Room 203 will do the activity on Friday, Dec. 11, (time to be announced).
That's when we will need a hand (actually 18 hands would be perfect, two for each station) This is where a rolled die decides the next place that a water molecule might go on its never-ending journey through the water cycle. Will it go from cloud to glacier, where it might spend 200 years (5-6 dice throws?). Or from an aquifer to a spring releasing into a river? Only the dice know. At each go, the child takes a bead, specially colored for that station. By stringing the beads sequentially, each child will walk away with a unique water journey. Then we tie on jewelry clasps to finish off a beautiful, meaningful, gift quality necklace.
One can imagine the perils of this activity. Nine large dice being thrown all over the room. Strings of beads coming loose and colored beads bouncing all over the floor like Lotto balls. Kids crying because they didn't get to travel inside the body of an animal (the coveted red bead). It all works out in the end, but many hands help.
Commercial Composting
Today, (Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015) will be our fourth day of Commercial Composting. We have had helpers from Seven Generations Ahead, my interns, and some wonderful 8th graders to remind the students about the new system. The results have been striking! Check out the pie chart below and the document PDF link. Farther down in the document it reviews the sorting options. We went from 8 bags of landfill (garbage), to one bag. Much of that one bag are those awful fruit cocktail cups (#6 plastic) and sporks, provided by Aramark. We are going to ask them to get rid of these cups and provide compostable sporks. That would leave only plastic wrappings, juice pouches, yogurt cups and straws heading for the land fill.
By heading towards Zero Waste, we get not one penny, one extra position, or more fresh fruit. We probably won't even get an "Attaboy" from Central Office. But, we are doing way better by Mother Earth, and setting a good example for our students. Please check out the documents below and ask your children about the new program.
This week, weather permitting, 8th grade will try to have one more turn in the garden, raking leaves, moving wood chips, picking up trash, repairing benches and splitting wood. Thursday and Friday at 1:15. Come join us!
1st Grade Leaf Collection Labeling
Next week, Monday Dec. 7, the 1st grade will be labeling their leaf collections as we begin our weekly lessons on the Trees of Waters School. Parent helpers are welcome to help us make sure that the Silver Maples don't get labeled as Black Walnuts and the Locust are labeled Catalpa. Room 205, 11:30, Room 111, 12:15, Room 211, 1:20. Come! Test your ID skills.
2nd Grade Water Cycle
Next week Tuesday I do a lesson with 2nd grade about the water cycle in preparation for the Water Cycle Probability Necklace-making activity that will take place on Tuesday December 15. For Room 210, 1:15, for Room 208 2:15. Room 203 will do the activity on Friday, Dec. 11, (time to be announced).
That's when we will need a hand (actually 18 hands would be perfect, two for each station) This is where a rolled die decides the next place that a water molecule might go on its never-ending journey through the water cycle. Will it go from cloud to glacier, where it might spend 200 years (5-6 dice throws?). Or from an aquifer to a spring releasing into a river? Only the dice know. At each go, the child takes a bead, specially colored for that station. By stringing the beads sequentially, each child will walk away with a unique water journey. Then we tie on jewelry clasps to finish off a beautiful, meaningful, gift quality necklace.
One can imagine the perils of this activity. Nine large dice being thrown all over the room. Strings of beads coming loose and colored beads bouncing all over the floor like Lotto balls. Kids crying because they didn't get to travel inside the body of an animal (the coveted red bead). It all works out in the end, but many hands help.
Commercial Composting
Today, (Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015) will be our fourth day of Commercial Composting. We have had helpers from Seven Generations Ahead, my interns, and some wonderful 8th graders to remind the students about the new system. The results have been striking! Check out the pie chart below and the document PDF link. Farther down in the document it reviews the sorting options. We went from 8 bags of landfill (garbage), to one bag. Much of that one bag are those awful fruit cocktail cups (#6 plastic) and sporks, provided by Aramark. We are going to ask them to get rid of these cups and provide compostable sporks. That would leave only plastic wrappings, juice pouches, yogurt cups and straws heading for the land fill.
By heading towards Zero Waste, we get not one penny, one extra position, or more fresh fruit. We probably won't even get an "Attaboy" from Central Office. But, we are doing way better by Mother Earth, and setting a good example for our students. Please check out the documents below and ask your children about the new program.
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Many Thanks,
Mr. Leki
Mr. Leki
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