Paper Renewal Project, for Earth Day

In recognition of the upcoming Earth Day, April 22, 2013, the Green Team will be leading the South Arbor Community through a Paper Renewal Project.

The goal: No Judgment.  Only Awareness.

What does renewable mean, anyway?
Just how much paper does our school use?
How can we replenish the resources that we are using up each year?

These are some of the ideas that will be explored and presented on our nifty bulletin board.  Please participate by visiting this bulletin board a few times a week and seeing what's new.

Here's how it looked last week:

This week, the bulletin board asks you to jot down your ideas about what the word "renewable" means.  Take a few seconds to share your thoughts!

What's that Green Team up to now?

"Hey, did you see that bulletin board?"

"I wonder what that's about."

"Cool burlap!"

These are all things that were heard as students and staff passed the Green Team's latest bulletin board this morning.  In case you missed it, it's on the wall opposite the gym and the Hero wall.

Leading up to Earth Day (Monday, April 22), there will be a bulletin board campaign that increases awareness about ...

You'll just have to check back to find out!

Be sure to wear your jeans and bring your dollar this Friday, March 22, be a part of this worthwhile effort!

Animal Magic Assembly

South Arbor's middle school, intermediate, and a handful of primary students welcomed some extraordinary guests last week.  Animal Magic is a collection of exotic animals that travels all over the country and increases wonder and exposure to the natural world.  We oo'ed and ahh'ed at the amazing creatures we saw!  We learned unbelievable facts and, at times, got a taste of our own fear.

 

The creatures ranged from creepy

This is the world's largest tarantula, as a baby!
When full grown, it will be the size of a dinner plate!

to slithery,

Is this the deadly coral snake or the harmless milk snake?
Say the rhyme to find out:
Red touches yellow, deadly fellow! Red touches black, friend of Jack!

from cuddly

This kinkajou loves to snuggle with his owner.

to prickly,

Also a baby, this Giant African Crested Porcupine will grow to be
6 feet long and have 30,000 quills.  Ouch!

and from odd

This 43 pound sloth moves at a speed of 0.07 miles per hour, but has sharp claws and fangs.  Its metabolism is so slow that it only needs to do its business once a week.  Good thing it eats mostly fruits and leaves!

to comfortable.

This Great Dane quickly won the hearts of students and teachers.

The presenter was delighted to see the enthusiasm that South Arbor already has for the strange and mysterious creatures of our planet.

And the students were excited to see those creatures up close in our own school.

Career Awareness Bonus (jobs related to this post): zoologist, dog trainer, FBI agent, Emergency Room doctor and nurse, screenwriter, author, animal shelter manager

Update to the PTO, March 7, 2013

The Green Team is pleased to report about environmentally-conscious projects past and present!

1) The recent Cell Phone Recycle Event (Jan 17 and 18) was fun and very productive.  We collected 154 phones, 36 power cords, and 49 other random electronic devices, thereby raising 9240 minutes of talk time for the soldiers!  (students, convert this to hours for a real-life math problem.)

2) The 3rd Graders in Ms. Stevens' class cleaned up a simulated oil spill when a team of environmental engineers visited.

3) The 2nd grade Girl Scouts/Brownie troop is planning a raised bed vegetable garden and is presenting their research to Mrs. Bondy, Mrs. Morad, and Mrs. Middaugh this week.

4) The Green Team just submitted the application to be considered for the Michigan Green School Certificate!  Ten valid checkpoints will earn our school the Green School distinction, 15 will earn Emerald, and 20 will earn Evergreen.  We submitted 16 checkpoints and are confident that at least 10 of them will be valid.  We expect to have the official distinction awarded to South Arbor later in March.  Any Green Team projects completed between now and June will be submitted for next year's award.

5) We are excited to be preparing a Paper Renewal Project for Earth Day, April 22.

bonsai at Matthaei Botanical Garden
(photo taken by Abi, 3rd grade)

 This will raise awareness of paper as a renewable resource, gather data about our school's paper usage, and make a donation to an organization that replants a corresponding number of trees in an area that has suffered deforestation.  We have writing prompts, a plan for bulletin boards, and even a short assembly presentation.  The replanting donation will be funded by the Dollar Jean Day on March 22.  If you are able, please try to attend the April 22 morning assembly for our culminating presentation.

As an FYI, our school currently uses about 16 cases of paper every 2 weeks during the school year.
No judgement, just awareness!

As always, if you have ideas or would like to help with any of the Green Team projects, please contact Mrs. Morad at 19.gmorad@heritageacademies.com or Keri Middaugh at middaughkeri@gmail.com.

The 3rd grade investigates an oil spill!

Last week Ms. Stevens' 3rd graders had the pleasure of cleaning up an oil spill!  A team of environmental engineers from the company Arcadis came from their offices in Novi to South Arbor for National Engineers Week.  These six engineers led a discussion about what engineers do, what environmental engineers do specifically, and what types of oil there are and their uses.

Then the students simulated an oil spill in a lake.
 

Small groups of students had a bowl of tinted water, they constructed boats with tin foil, they filled those boats with cooking oil, then they experienced an oil spill when their boats tipped over.

They made observations about what happens to the oil (it gathers at the surface of the water), what happens to the plants and animals in their lake (they get covered in oil), and how well different techniques work to clean up the oil (string contains it, hydrophobic pads soak it up, soap washes it off).

They learned that some bugs (microbes) even eat oil, that it's important to preserve complete ecosystems, and that environmental engineers wear "personal protective equipment" when working with oil spills.  The engineers left the students with a fun and challenging wooden sphere puzzle and the desire to protect our waterways from oil spills.

Later that week, the students reported on their oil spill experience using the scientific method.

Thanks to Ms. Stevens and the team of environmental engineers for facilitating this memorable hands-on lesson for these 3rd graders!

Career Awareness Bonus (jobs related to this post): engineer, environmental engineer, chemical engineer, 3rd grade teacher, oil refinery manager, ship captain, marine biologist, veterinarian, park ranger