Friends of The Environment

My Students

We all have heard the saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure." I truly believe that we can find environmentally-friendly ways to create objects that we can use from items that we consider garbage, especially plastic bottles. Students can learn how to clean our earth and recycle.

Our middle school is a diverse high-needs school of about 1,400 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.

Almost 50% qualify for free or reduced rate lunch. Many of our students receive services, including ESL, special education, and academic intervention. STREAM (science, technology, research, art, and math) activities help my middle school ESL students, classified students, students of low economic background, and female students to become interested in careers related to these fields, and to create long-term goals. It's not enough for my students to learn how to recycle and clean the environment. They need to know how they can reduce waste by repurposing materials and transforming them into objects that they can use. We only have one world to call home.

My Project

This project was inspired by "Beach Buddies: Teach for the Planet" and helps our local community. The students will learn about the negative effects of plastic through books and websites. They will also participate in hands on lessons related to environmental impacts of plastic bottles. One lesson will be understanding the impact of using single use plastics and how they impact our marine life. Students will analyze plastic bag usage, and then create their own reusable bag with a slogan they design. They will use these bags and gloves as they collect garbage and plastic bottles inside and around the school. Using the bottles they have collected, the students will create other objects out of them. This project will help my students to make positive changes in the world in multiple ways. They will not only clean the environment but also transform recyclables into other things. My students will document their experiences with the GoPro camera to teach others about saving our earth.

Our youth can have a powerful impact on our environment, and they need to learn what they can do to help.

Not only will my students learn about the negative impact of plastics, but they will also learn how to creatively transform what we throw away into something new. Thank you for supporting this lifelong lesson.