PROJECT DESCRIPTION
INSTRUCTORS
SCHOOL SITE
LEVEL
SUBJECTS
How do my everyday choices impact my environment? The goal of the project was for 4th graders at HTeCV to raise awareness about the pollution problem on campus and create solutions reduce waste. Students tracked their daily and weekly habits and behaviors throughout the trimester, logging their use of non-biodegradable waste and single-use plastics.
After researching the impact of pollution on the environment, students wrote persuasive letters to members of our school community to help make a difference with the plastic problem. Students researched the process of eco-bricking and how eco-bricks are used throughout the world. The eco-bricks students created were used to build a collaborative eco-brick structure that will live on in our school garden. An eco-brick is a plastic PET bottle that has been densely packed with single-use plastics which have been cleaned and dried. An eco-brick can be used as a multi-purpose building block, used to make long-lasting structures and designs.
To celebrate their hard work, HTeCV students and families came together in the garden to share our eco-brick installation. Students led audience members through a gallery walk of their work, revealed their data collection, shared their environmental impact letters, and demonstrated their knowledge through a hands on eco-brick demonstration lesson.
Math: Data & measurement, multi-digit place value operations, fractions
Reading: Nonfiction text skills & strategies
Writing: Informational & persuasive writing
SEL: Community building, solving problems in our community
Science: Engineering design process, earth and human activity
My favorite part of our exhibition was seeing families involved in the eco-bricking process, rather than just looking at something we had made. Sitting at the tables and building bricks together made the crowd seem manageable and everyone had something to do.
In the classroom, I enjoyed seeing students who don’t always feel successful become leaders.
Something that was successful was the level of independence that students had when walking their grown-ups around their exhibition. Students walked through different parts of the exhibition on their own, showing their audience their completed work at their own pace.
This allowed teachers to walk around and interact with all families!
I think the long-term routine of process work that went into building the final product was the most successful learning experience for me. The purpose behind our eco-brick plastic collection and data collection made our final product feel meaningful and a good representation of process over product for our exhibition.