What if you could simultaneously improve students' skills in problem solving and critical thinking while reducing your school community's negative influence on the environment?
Whether you lead an afterschool club or design an in-class project, teaching students to be good stewards of the environment is a win-win situation for both the students and your community. A well-designed environmental project can help improve students' reading and writing skills while also engaging them in meaningful work that reduces your school's carbon footprint and fosters a positive shift in the school's culture.
For example, consider beginning a composting system in your school kitchen and cafeteria. This project is complex and challenging, yet it can provide extensive research, planning, and learning opportunities for your students. Students can begin by investigating how food waste and scraps are being managed by the school. Is the waste tossed into the trash each day, picked up by a garbage truck, and driven miles away to a landfill? At the landfill, waste will decompose without oxygen, thereby creating methane, a greenhouse gas 16 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Students can conduct research about the waste-management process to learn more about the issues involved.
Next, students should brainstorm the best ways to take action. Perhaps they can begin by conducting an audit to discover just how much food waste they're dealing with. Students should then collect and analyze data and conduct interviews with staff about how they handle the waste and why they do it that way. Then, students can learn about the various systems for composting and determine which system makes the most sense for the school's volume of waste. Perhaps they can reach out to local experts and community organizations that can advise and assist in designing, planning, and implementing the composting program.
Of course, students will need to communicate with the food services director, the head of the custodial staff and the administration, and other related staff. Engaging in both electronic communications and face-to-face meetings with these key school figures will be educational for your students. To gain approval for the project, the students must communicate clearly with administrators and deliver a professional, well-researched presentation.
A project like this provides a rigorous opportunity for students to grow and learn in a hands-on manner while making a positive difference on the environment. Students will engage in real-world problem solving. They must learn to ask and answer tough questions, think critically, use technology, and work collaboratively. It's the perfect project for building 21st century skills!
