Sunday, April 29, 2012

Earth Week Excitement

I'm a little befuddled that Earth Day was a week ago already, and I'm only just getting back here! I think in the aftermath of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which is what I like to call getting named the private school "Teacher of the Year" in my county) and an amazing Earth Week of daily celebration at Eagle Cove School, that's just how it happens. I have a lot stored up to write about, so it'll probably trickle in here over the next several days in several posts.

Earth Week's excitement this past week included the following:

An article came out in the Bay Weekly (a local weekly gazette), timed specifically for Earth Day, highlighting the eco-side of life, me, Eagle Cove School, and GTG: "Little Actions, Big Effects: Changing the World Begins with Small Steps Even a Third Grader Can Manage.   It is here you'll see me in all my Capri Sun glory from above!

Solar Car Races ~ The Pasadena Patch has a nice article about our day at the races thanks to Solar Energy World and the cars our 5th graders built and each class designed.  The Patch also has a nice video of the sun at work, pushing each vehicle closer and closer to the finish line!

An action-packed outdoor adventure day with visiting 1st--5th graders from Grace Episcopal Day School (from Kensington, MD).  To help enhance their yearlong study of the Chesapeake Bay, Eagle Cove invited them to come and hang out with us for the day for: seining in the Magothy River, cast netting, geocaching with iPads on an eco-QR code quest (complete with an impromptu raccoon sighting), paper making using recycled paper, nature trail hikes, and a visit from local children's author Jennifer Keats Curtis. The grand finale... a student musical production from our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders (written and directed by our science and music teachers) entitled "Jack and the Green Stalk."  Oh yeah, this day alone is a whole other post!!

Songwriting from our annual favorite visiting musician, Linda Richards from New York.  She has a knack for creating amazing songs with each class that are parodies of time-honored songs like "Row Row Row Your Boat."  In a half hour, magic happens as the kids and Linda write an environmentally-based song that we then perform the next day at a fabulous Earth Week culmination concert that has us all moving and grooving in our seats.  Yes, magic in motion, and a great way to end up the week!!

Oh, and we also met the challenge for a completely "trash-free" week, with everything finding its way back home for reuse, the recycling bin, or the classroom compost buckets!!   

So that's the snapshot of our action-packed week, with more to come since everyone should enjoy our "green" week of fun!!

No comments :

Post a Comment