Florida PLT Schools Go Green!

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1 Lake Butler Elementary School In 2009, 4 th grade students at Lake Butler Elementary School in Lake Butler, Florida completed Project Learning Tree GreenSchools! Investigations to learn about their school s practices in five areas: water use, waste and recycling, energy use, the school site, and environmental quality. During the Waste and Recycling Investigation, students observed and measured waste from classrooms and other areas on campus. These findings led several students to ask the question, Why don t we recycle at school? Together with their teacher, Alison Jones, students decided to develop a school-wide recycling program for plastic bottles and aluminum cans. This service-learning action project began with a recycling bin decoration contest for each classroom, which galvanized additional excited and engaged in the project. Union County 4H Program Assistant, Colan Coody, provided the boxes and community members came to the school to judge the boxes for first, second, and third place. The Union County Times newspaper attended the event and took pictures of the winning classes with their decorated boxes. For the next several months, the participating classes competed to see who could collect the most cans and plastic bottles in their bins. Students and parents even brought recyclables from home to help their class. Each week, 4 th grade students kept track of how much each class collected by weighing the recyclable materials with a scale. To expand the recycling program, Mrs. Jones applied for and was awarded two grants. The League of Environmental Educators in Florida and Walmart provided funding to send the top four classes on a field trip to the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station in neighboring Alachua County. These students toured the waste management facility and learned how solid waste and recycled materials are sorted and processed. Grant funds were also used to purchase additional scales and a large white board to display recycling data in the library. In addition, Walmart gave the school a trophy, a banner, and additional recycling bins for outside and high traffic areas, such as the cafeteria, library, and front office. In total, over 3,000 pounds of bottles and cans were collected during the program s first year. The program continued in the school year with even more Winning teams from the recycling competition toured the local transfer station to learn how recyclable materials are sorted and processed. Photo Credit: Jeff Klugh, Alachua County Public Works success over 4,000 pounds of plastic bottles and aluminum cans was collected! The local landfill has been very supportive of the project, and the school recently learned that they can potentially earn money for their aluminum cans. Currently, each grade level weighs their own recyclable materials. Students learn and practice math skills by recording recycling data and reading the graphs posted on the library white board. The program is further integrated into grade-level curricula during Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle week, when students learn how potential waste is remanufactured into new products, some of which are common household items students may find at home. This project exemplifies service learning in many ways it is student driven, meets an identified need, involves several community partners, and continues to be integrated into student lessons. Most importantly, reducing waste and recycling materials has become a daily habitat for students, faculty, and staff at Lake Butler Elementary School. As Mrs. Jones says, Now the students know where to recycle their bottles when they leave the cafeteria. Alison Jones, Lake Butler Elementary School

2 Learning Gate Community School Project Learning Tree s GreenSchools! program gave students at Learning Gate Community School in Lutz, Florida an opportunity to improve their environment by taking action on their 27 acre, wooded campus. The Energy and Water Investigations helped 5 th grade students identify two main areas of concern: leaky bathroom faucets in older campus buildings and wasted electricity from classroom equipment that is switched off but in standby mode, called phantom electricity. Students developed plans to improve both concerns and with their teacher, Heather Lowder, started to become greener. While Learning Gate has several conservation projects and green buildings already on campus, some older buildings are not yet resource efficient. While completing the Water Investigation, students found leaky bathroom faucets in these buildings. In several cases, the faucets had been repaired but continued to leak. Students decided that installing hands-free faucets would be the best way to retrofit the older bathrooms to save water. Hands-free faucets have a motion-sensor that allows the water to turn on only when a person s hands are detected beneath the tap. The new hands-free faucets replaced leaky faucets in the older restrooms on campus. Students, parents, and faculty helped determine the specific bathrooms where the faucets would be installed. They choose to install the faucets in the most frequently used older bathrooms. Fifteen faucets were purchased with funding from Florida PLT s GreenSchools! pilot program. A volunteer grandparent who owns a local plumbing business installed the faucets and donated two additional faucets a savings of over $1,500. In math class, students measured the amount of water coming from the leaky faucets and used Internet resources to determine that approximately 30 gallons of water each day was being saved with the new faucets. The students also completed journal writing assignments about the new faucets effect on the school s water conservation efforts. In addition to the hands-free faucets project, students decided to take on phantom electricity in classrooms. During the Energy Investigation, students used a watt meter to measure the amount of electricity being used by televisions, computers, and even pencil sharpeners left in standby mode or switched off, but not unplugged. While discussing and measuring phantom electricity, students learned new energy concepts that were incorporated into physical science lesson plans. They summarized their learning by writing about the investigation results and their predictions for energy. They also created a brochure and flyer to raise awareness with other students, teachers, staff, and parents and to encourage everyone to unplug devices that are not in use. Perhaps most importantly, participating in the GreenSchools! program helped to create a Green Team at Learning Gate. This group of volunteer 5 th graders conducts weekly checks of buildings to observe and report water leaks and phantom electricity use. The team plans new conservation projects and ensures that students in all grades are aware of and participating in the school s conservation activities. This group is also a leading force for sharing the school s conservation efforts with the larger community. Students created posters and presentations about conserving water and the new faucets to educate community members at the school s annual EcoFest. They also created a phantom electricity display and used a watt meter to show parents and community members how much electricity is wasted by leaving cell phone chargers and other devices plugged in when not in use. As teacher Heather Lowder says, The creation of the Green Team has been a wonderful addition to Learning Gate! Heather Lowder, Learning Gate Community School

3 St. Michael Lutheran School In an effort to become a greener school, middle school students at St. Michael Lutheran School in Fort Myers, Florida used Project Learning Tree s GreenSchools! program to assess their school s energy and water use, waste and recycling practices, and the school site. Using the GreenSchools! Investigations, students became aware of wasteful energy practices. They also recognized several opportunities to improve the school s recycling program. With their teacher Katie Schlotterbeck and encouragement from the school administration, students created action plans to address both issues. While completing the Energy Investigation, 6 th grade students noticed that while six rooms on campus had motion -activated light sensors, the rest did not. In the rooms without motion-activated lights, the lights were often left on, even when nobody was using the room. Students decided that installing more light sensors would be the best way to save electricity. A local contractor partnered with the school to act as a consultant on the project; he explained which sensors to use and helped to develop time and cost estimations. With funding from Florida PLT s GreenSchools! pilot program, 52 light sensors were installed in rooms around campus in spring of A local electrician volunteered his time to install the light sensors saving approximately $2,385 in labor costs. Since the sensors were installed, students have been recording electric meter readings on a weekly basis and have made graphs to compare usage. A 7 th grade student said, It has been a learning experience to read the electric meter for the past 6 months and I know we are using less electricity now that the sensors have been installed. The effects of the light sensors can be seen by looking at the school-wide electricity bill the bill has stayed the same despite a significant increase in the cost of electricity during the past year. The Recycling Club collects recyclable materials from each classroom weekly. The Waste and Recycling Investigation allowed students to reflect upon the amount of waste produced by the school and to consider how much of that waste could be recycled. To improve recycling practices on campus, a Recycling Club was created. This group of students helped make and distribute recycling containers to each classroom, while also educating and encouraging teachers, students, and staff to use the new containers. The club meets weekly and collects cans, plastic, and paper recyclables in all classrooms. In addition, a cafeteria recycling program has been implemented. New recycling containers have been added, and students are in charge of monitoring their use and emptying them. Both projects have been integrated into school curricula through lesson plans completed by teachers in all grades (480 students, K-8). Several articles about the projects have been included in the school newsletter, which is available online for parents and community members. To promote school-wide energy conservation, the students wrote and starred in creative skits that were shown on the school s morning news. The Recycling Club also sponsored an energy conservation poster contest for elementary students, held during the school s Earth Week. Club members created poster guidelines and managed the contest. Many posters are now framed and displayed along the school s hallways as a continuous reminder to students, faculty, and staff to stay green. A St. Michael s student records electricity usage from the school s meter. Katie Schlotterbeck, St. Michael Lutheran School

4 St. Paul Lutheran School Students at St. Paul Lutheran School in Lakeland, Florida have been working hard to lessen the school s environmental footprint. After completing three Project Learning Tree GreenSchools! Investigations, students identified several problem areas and discussed potential solutions. In particular, the results from the School Site and Water Investigations uncovered areas on campus where rainwater and gutters were causing soil erosion. Before taking any actions, the 4 th and 5 th grade students surveyed their peers, parents, faculty, and community members for suggestions. Together with their teacher, Debra Wagner, students decided to redirect rainwater to an area that was actually using more than water than necessary the turtle pond. By turning the turtle pond into a wetland garden, students could solve an erosion problem while also conserving water. Funding for the wetland garden was provided by Florida PLT s GreenSchools! pilot program. In addition to the wetland garden, students planned to improve the school site by adding a butterfly and a bird garden containing native plants. Students were given leadership opportunities from the beginning, participating in almost all areas of the project from planning pond design, to planting seeds, to making presentations to other classes in the school. The students designed the wetland garden to meet both the habitat needs of native Florida turtles and water conservation goals. They learned methods to reduce erosion in the garden and created erosion control buffers to catch water overflow from the pond. Students learn about and help create erosion buffers to place along the edges of the wetland garden. Fourth grade students at St. Paul Lutheran School and the wetland garden they designed. Photo Credit: Scott Nelson across several grade levels. In addition, related children s literature was incorporated into lesson plans. Approximately 208 students, grades 3-8, were involved in the project. Students also learned to work with community partners, such as the local Extension Office and the Lakeland Garden Club. These partners helped students and faculty learn about selecting and planting native plant species. Their help was especially appreciated since finding native plants was one of the most challenging aspects of the project. Over $1,000 in supplies or volunteer time was contributed by community partners. The finished wetland garden saves over 55 gallons of freshwater a day. To share what they learned, the 4 th graders created and presented a puppet show to the student body and parents. They became experts on different environmental issues and explained watersheds and wetlands, the importance of water conservation, and conservation activities. The show was also performed for a nearby retirement home. Students at St. Paul are motivated and proud to be a green school and continue to make efforts in several areas. The school now has a recycle cheer, and water conservation and recycling posters line the school walls. Finally, three students did county science fair projects on conservation issues in 2009 the first time that topic has ever been chosen by students. During this process, they were able to apply science, math, language arts, and creative problem-solving skills to their school site problems. Multiple environmental education lessons from Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, and the Great- Water Odyssey were incorporated into school curricula Debra Wagner, St. Paul Lutheran School

5 Walden Community School Walden Community School in Winter Park, Florida strives to incorporate their mission to be a peaceful learning environment where students are challenged to think, to grow, and to make a difference throughout student lesson plans. As such, becoming a model Project Learning Tree GreenSchool! was a perfect fit since it gave students the opportunity to improve their school s environmental quality while learning new concepts and leadership skills. Using GreenSchools! Investigations, students in grades 2 through 11 explored the school s water use, waste and recycling practices, energy use, and more. At the time of the investigations, the school was preparing to move to a new location. This gave students a special opportunity to consider how to lessen their environmental footprint at the new site. After discussing landscaping needs and finding areas where drainage from rain gutters had caused significant soil erosion, students decided the greatest need at the new school site was to implement environmentally-friendly landscaping. First, students assessed potential solutions to reduce soil erosion and conserve water. Students had recently learned about collecting and storing rainwater for irrigation on a field trip and became excited about this potential solution. They created a plan to connect the rain gutters to rain barrels, and to use the collected water to irrigate three school gardens: 1) a vegetable and herb garden, 2) a butterfly garden, and 3) a gopher tortoise café containing preferred food sources for the resident gopher tortoise. The school applied for and received funding from the Florida pilot GreenSchools! program to implement this service-learning action project. Students reviewed the grant for accuracy and suggested the project title: Gardens, Gutters, and Gophers. The project was planned and discussed in a weekly class called Investigating Systems. Small student groups mapped and planned landscaping for specific garden zones. A partnership was developed with a local nursery and their staff provided advice on native plant selection. In addition, students, faculty, and parents attended a workshop on rain harvesting at the local zoo, which provided reduced Students investigate soil erosion from rain gutters at the new school site. rates for participants from Walden Community School. At the workshop, participants learned about water conservation, the benefits of rain barrels, and how to build, install, and maintain rain barrels. A total of nine rain barrels were created at the workshop for use on campus. Dana Singer, who teaches middle and high school math and science at the school, used this project as an opportunity to bring real-life situations into the classroom. For example, students calculated potential water collection and distribution from rain barrels to learn new engineering concepts and determined the number of plants needed to cover the given garden area to practice math skills. Throughout the project, students wrote and posted updates on the school s website and information was shared in the school s newsletter. When one 8 th grade Walden student was asked what she was most excited about for the upcoming school year, she responded, Hands on activities like working with the rain barrels and learning more about gardening! Dana Singer, Walden Community School