Saving the Earth Club, Coursework Example

Course Information:

• Monday-Friday
• 3rd Period
• Tuesday and Wednesday on site at Middle School
• Monday, Thursday, Friday : Preparation, Reflection and Collaboration

Course Description

A 4th grade project for students establishing a ‘Kids for Saving the Earth Club’.  An ecological project that arose from an environmental studies portion of the curriculum. The kids wrote letters to children who lived in the Amazonian rain forests.  They established a recycling program in the school and petitioned the local council for making recycling mandatory in the community.

Prerequisites

• Have an interest in environmental studies and helping others in a third world setting
• Be collaborative and willing to share ideas with one another
• Have 3 references that support willingness and ability to participate in the program, one from each of Principal, Teacher, Parent or Community member
• Ability to attend meetings and working groups in the school

Course Objectives

During the service learning course, the mentors will have had experience that includes the following:

• Identification of environmental conditions and issues that impact students living in rainforest areas with emphasis on the Amazonian area;
• Mentoring an at risk student by interacting, helping, sharing and demonstrating empathy and concern in order to bring about a successful outcome;
• Plan the activities of the student and organize time arrangements such that it benefits both participants;
• Communicate, educate and assist the student to make decisions after a critical thinking process;
• Reflect and collaborate with classmates on the learning process and make suggestions to the school administration and local council

Course Requirements

Course Content

Students will be exposed to a number of different learning experiences.  This will involve conducting environmental research in the areas of rainforests, impact of waste disposal on the environment, concepts of recycling.  Communication skills in writing to overseas students living in the Amazonian rain forest area. Analysing the responses of the letters and sharing information on the actions and benefits of the program.  Structured brainstorming techniques on developing ways to improve recycling programs for the community and how these might best be implemented in our small community.  Building a presentation and demonstrating these proposals to the local council in order to gain support for expanding the recycling program into our community.

Mentors will spend three hours per week with the students interacting with their assignments, offering advice to the students and having the remainder of the week to plan, reflect and collaborate in constructing an implementation plan for a recycling program for the community.  It is important that we both inform and educate the community on the need, benefits and significance of recycling in order that they support any buy-in to the program. The mentor will oversee the needs of the students and ensure adequate resources are available.

Resources

• Videos
  • The truth about the environment in rain forests
  • Current ecological programs on rain forests
  • The impact of climate change
  • The need and impact of recycling in modern communities
  • Local School awareness and action plans
  • Learning from other community programs
• Community Library
  • Includes internet access
• School Library
  • Internet Access
  • Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access
  • Social website – Twitter, Facebook
  • E-Mail
  • Collaborative learning sites
• Local Council
  • Meet and Greet
  • Understand current council objectives on green issues
  • Presentation of school recycling plan
  • Involvement in collaborative learning process
  • Community involvement

Instructional Course Map

Kids for Saving the Earth

Behavior Expectations:

Sets out what is required of the students in the classroom setting. Make this a friendly and collaborative experience as opposed to coercive.

• Maintain a positive attitude throughout – good vibes are infectious and will stimulate other classmates;
• You must attend all working sessions – this is a collaborative process and as such lack of attendance may impact the performance of your team mates
• Be flexible and willing to share ideas. This being with the teachers / mentors, other students, interviewees, council and community members
• Maximise your learning experience – Complete well rounded research from reliable sources of information. Ensure the questionnaires provide adequate information and facilitate both analysis and determination of results.

Service Learning Rubric