Hands-on, Minds-on Learning to Help Save Our Environment
My students need six insect field guides, six butterfly and moth field guides, six bird field guides, six bug vacuums, six compact binoculars, and a classroom set of hand magnifiers and jumbo specimen viewers for data collection and observations of nature in our schoolyard habitat.
I hear and I forget,
I see and I remember,
I do and I understand.
-Chinese Proverb
Understanding the importance of protecting our environment is dear to my heart and the hearts of my fourth and fifth grade enrichment students. First, we must teach each other to enjoy nature so that we will work to protect it for future generations. I am an enrichment teacher in a Title 1 school in an economically depressed area in rural Alabama and I need your help.
My students have the opportunity to make a difference in their school and their community. We are participating in the Disney Planet Challenge and have chosen to create an outdoor classroom/school yard habitat as our project. There will be no losers in this competition. My students realize that the real winners will be all 600+ students that will be observing and protecting nature in the butterfly/wildflower garden, the songbird habitat, and the raised gardening beds we are creating this year. My students have completed extensive research on habitat needs of native plants and animals in our region so that the outdoor classroom we build will be more easily sustained. They have promoted this effort by passing out and mailing hundreds of brochures to parents and community members and requesting financial help. We have also worked together to submit environmental grants.
Information kiosks, bird houses, feeders, benches, and worktables will be built by students, parents, and community volunteers providing additional elements in our outdoor classroom. Displayed inside the weather-proof kiosks will be identification guides, student created diagrams, graphs, charts, and explanations of the activities in progress. This way, the entire student body will benefit from the work of an individual class or grade level.
An outdoor classroom provides opportunities for student teamwork, parental participation, and community involvement. Most importantly, the schoolyard habitat will help our youth understand their connection to the natural environment and their role in conserving and managing our resources and habitat. Our students will learn to be responsible citizens and will develop a sense of stewardship for the Earth's natural resources.
With the aid of the requested field guides, binoculars, magnifiers, and bug collection apparatus,it will be possible for many students to observe nature close-up. Your financial contribution will make it possible for many students to see and remember, do and understand.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Marley and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.