The best way to teach students to respect their environment is to give them a hands-on experience with nature. Environmental Science doesn't have to be "all gloom and doom," it can be an opportunity to get out of the musty classroom and learn outside.
My high school is an urban low-income school where many of my students live in apartment buildings and have little experience with nature.
Our courtyard has rabbits and ducks already, and many of my students are fascinated by the opportunity to feed these animals. Last summer, Texas experienced a severe drought and our courtyard experienced a setback, but we used the experience to give students a hands-on opportunity to explore water conservation methods for lawn and garden designs.
My Project
I started this project last year by having my students restore a sealed off courtyard that had become the protective home to a family of rabbits and build a pond for a mother duck and her ducklings. The courtyard gives my students the ability to design their own research projects and grow a small garden. By getting to explore the components of agriculture and pollution control in a "real world" environment they can see what their textbooks talk about in "living color."
Last summer's drought gave my students the incentive to explore methods of "xeriscaping" or how to design low water demand lawns. My students need plants and fish supplies to restore the courtyard pond.
As the world population passes 7 billion, Environmental Science becomes more important than ever for our children.
By giving them a better appreciation for nature through a hands-on experience, I hope that my students will grow to love nature and seek to protect it through their daily actions.
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