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The photos and blogs viewed here have been submitted by educators from around the country and entered into EE Week's 2010 Photo Blog Contest. For complete contest rules, click here.
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Reducing Waste by Enabling Small Business
Submitted by Mario Ira on June 1, 2010
Somewhere growing in the North Pacific Gyre, there is an enormous swirling sea of plastic bags, bottles and other debris. It stretches hundreds of miles across the North Pacific Ocean, forming a nebulous, floating junk yard on the high seas It's one of the greatest examples of a worldwide problem: plastic that humans use once that ends up in the ocean, often inside animals' stomachs or around their necks. Unlike most other trash, plastic isn't biodegradable - i.e., the microbes that break down other substances don't recognize plastic as food, leaving it to float there forever. One way to reduce the waste and trash in the environment is to recycle plastic materials used for containing drinks. Incentives to reduce the environmental impact of one-use plastics is to enable the poor in developing countries to make businesses out of them. For example, while touring a tropical island recently, I showed my son that a business can be created us ing used plastic materials - in this case, colorful bags sewn from materials used in fruit drinks were being sold in the market. They say that learning is connecting what you have learned in the past with what you are talking about right now. In this case, we had previously talked about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and took the opportunity to show that, with a little bit of ingenuity, we can help reduce the burden in the environment by reusing waste materials and even making a little bit of commerce.
Micro Community Algae Bioreactor Produces Quadruple Benefits
Submitted by Mario Ira on June 1, 2010
My son and his friend are shown explaining an invention they created called the microCommunity Algae Bioreactor(mCAB) which uses microalgae as biofuel. The mCAB is designed to be small enough to be placed in small villages in remote areas around the world, allowing the populations there to have the energy source to create business and access the internet, and opening them up to trading with other global communities. The mCAB was designed to be have quadruple benefits to the environment: a) it creates sustainable biofuel, reducing our need for fossil fuels, b) it reduces CO2 gasses in the atmosphere, since CO2 is an input to the growth of the algae, c) it cleans village wastewater, which the algae uses as input, in the course of growing the algae, and d) because humans do not eat algae, it's production does not compete with food stocks (like soy or corn), allowing for more food being available to people. I believe that "incentives work", a nd that healthy educational competitions spark interest in the environment and sciences - while the boys' classmates were originally impressed with the prizes, many more were inspired to create their own teams that would compete in creating technologies for the future. In the process, the kids learn about alternative sources of energy that also have multiple benefits to the environment. Truly a winning combination.
Elementary Students Wheel Barrowing Garden Materials
Submitted by Susan Weseen on June 1, 2010
The elementary students of PS 164 and PS 295 in Brooklyn, NY are shown here transporting gardening materials to their self-made garden at the Prospect Hills Senior Services Center (PHSSC). The PHSSC is the location of an after-school gardening program in which students from both schools participate each spring. The program was developed by Grounded Knowledge, a non-profit environmental organization run by two New York City public school teachers and mothers. Through this environmental education program, the students involved have transformed a once-barren space behind the Senior Center into the beautiful and productive garden it is today. So far, these children have built (by hand!) six raised beds, planted and grown completely organic plants and produce, and harvested this produce almost entirely on their own. At the end of the program, the organic food produced in their garden will be used in a culminating meal cooked by both the children and the seniors. This unique opportunity affords the young students an opportunity to collaborate with the seniors about gardening techniques, favorite recipes, and important environmental issues. The students of PS 164 and PS 295 have been educated on the importance of sustainable, organic food production and its effects on their bodies and the earth. Through its after-school program, Grounded Knowledge has fostered stewards of the land who possess essential virtues of patience, teamwork, and determination.
Life Cycles
Submitted by Erin Trevino on June 1, 2010
Students with Excellence in Teaching, an accelerated educator program based out of Weslaco, TX, participated in a service learning project at the Valley Nature Center for "Dragonfly Days." "Dragonfly Days" was a three day event held at two nature parks in Weslaco, TX, and included participants of all ages from across the Rio Grande Valley. EIT students designed activities to teach children attending the event about nature and science. In this photo, two children celebrating "Dragonfly Days" learn about life cycles from an EIT student. A 3 year old child demonstrates what she understands about the life cycle of a snake, and after the photo was taken her 10 year old brother went on to elaborate about what they had learned.
Practicing Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Detroit
Submitted by Nicole Conaway on June 1, 2010
Students at the Catherine Ferguson Academy (CFA), a Detroit Public
School, prepare garden beds for spring planting! CFA is a high school
for young mothers. On our 2-acre urban mini-farm, we grow many fruits
and vegetables, using homemade (or school-made!) compost with no
fertilizers or pesticides, and raise goats, rabbits, geese, chickens,
ducks and a horse. Students care for the animals and the plants
throughout the school year and some work on the farm during the summer
for class credits. Students sell the produce they grow at a local
farmer’s market. They learn using sustainable urban agriculture methods
to grow nutritious vegetables for themselves and their children. As they
learn, they are also preparing to teach others. The students in this
photo will be going to an Urban Youth Entrepreneur Conference in South
Africa this summer. In Johannesburg, South Africa, they will be giving a
presentation on urban gardening. They will also se
t up gardens and a greenhouse in Soweto. To learn more about the school
or the trip to South Africa this summer, visit www.facebook.com/TripToAfrica.
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