Week 7

            This week, my group was able to do some exciting  activities. We had the privilege to teach Mrs. Halka's third grade class. We were finally able to do our project with a class. I must say, it was a great success. The project only required our team about ten minutes of preparation time before the class came. The students painted paper that we hot glued onto the bugs. They were also able to draw and cut out their wings that we also glued on for them. The third graders' bugs also got an antennae that they got to add beads to. The kids had fun doing something different, and they turned out great. We also had the great experience of working with the younger kids in the school. Next week Thursday we will be doing our craft with Mrs. VadenBourg's class.  I hope it goes just as well.

            The slide show we showed the third graders was easy for them to understand. They responded well to the questions and seemed to understand the concept of recycling and its importance. We also had the chance in this easy craft to show them how easy and fun recycling can be for them to do at home. We used simple materials that most kids have easy access to. Our hope is that we have influenced them to try to recycle and do more fun crafts at home. Some of the materials that we used for the project were also recycled and reused. We used laminating sheets that were going to be thrown away for the wings. That way they were able to color on the wings and make them fun and creative. 

            As a group, we learned a lot. First of all, we learned that being an art teacher is hard work. Those third graders required a lot of maintenance. I can't imagine how hard it must be to teach so many kids all day long. Secondly, when you are trying to communicate with younger students you must make things easy to understand and comprehend. Another experience we can learn from this project is that encouraging participation and inspiring others can be harder than you think. This was one of our harder challenges. We figured out that the best way to encourage participation was through videos that are short and informative. Now that we are almost at the end of our project, I feel confident that we have met our goal of inspiring others and the next generation to recycle.   

     

 

Week 6

            Wow! The school year is almost over, and so is our project. We have been preparing the bottle bugs for the third graders and we are almost done. Our project is coming to a close, and now we are gaining more participation from the school. All three elementary wings' tubs were full today! We are beginning to see the results of our efforts in this project. The lesson we have prepared for the third graders will be presented on a slide show. If you would like to see one of our lessons, click on the link at the end of the page.  We will be doing one lesson with each of the three classes. 

             We will also be helping them finish their crafts by adding wings and paint while they are in art class. We have already hot glued on the eyes and legs. This was very time consuming, but we got it done along with washing out and taking the labels off all of the bottles. The most important part of our project is yet to come. I hope that our lessons and crafts will be a great success. We picked third grade to do this project with because they get excited about doing new things and still do not need a lot of help. It was hard for us to choose which grade to do this project with, but we all decided on the third graders. Our goal for the third graders lesson is that they have fun and learn how important recycling is, and what kinds of benefits it holds. 

   

            It is fun to see what people around our school think of our project. We have gotten many questions and   strange looks. It feels like our project is turning out very well. We are getting very good whole school participation. We are now looking forward to the involvement of the third graders. Two of the three third grade classes have brought in over thirty bottles. The other class has not yet made a contribution. Although, we do have more than enough bottles for our project. Our project is almost done, and is turning out great. 

Recycling Slide Show for 3rd grade

             

Week 5

            Our team has had many challenges along the way. We have overcome these challenges. One of these challenges we have faced was how to encourage others to recycle. The way we solved this problem was by making a craft with the third graders. The third graders are bringing in two liter pop bottles to make a pop bottle animal. This way, we are including the third graders in recycling. We are also teaching them a lesson while we are helping them make their project. This was one of the harder challenges we had. We had to find a way to encourage others to recycle not just temporarily, but in the future.

            Another challenge my team has had was encouraging participation. In order to encourage and inform others of our recycling drive we made videos to share with the whole school. These videos were posted on Youtube and the link was emailed to all of the teachers. We made the videos short and informative. This way the information can be easily conveyed and understood. This challenge was easy to overcome, but did take some time. We had to make the videos and edit them. The videos took the participation of the whole team. We all had to work together to overcome that challenge.

            Our next challenge was to collect materials for the third graders project. We had to encourage the third graders to bring in the pop bottles they needed for their project. We needed the participation of teachers and students. We had to make a letter to send home with the students. So far the students have brought in about forty two liter pop bottles. This is a good start to our collection. In order to make the third grade project possible, the bottles will have to be brought in by the students. We have informed the third graders and must make sure that they bring in all the bottles they need for their project.

Week 4

            This week my group has been working on arranging the materials for the third grade project. We are going to start collecting on Monday, May 7. The third graders will be bringing in 2 liter bottles to make a project. This project will be an animal made out of the brought in 2 liter bottles. The only other materials needed are paper and paint to add to the project. We have a lesson planned on a power point to teach the students. The lesson includes questions for the 3rd graders to answer and participate with. We will continue collecting our whole school project be collecting plastic from May 7, and ending May 18.
           
            Our whole school collection is beginning to come together. We collected a tub full of recyclables from wing one. We have made a video about recycling plastic. This video will be available on YouTube. We are planning to make another video for battery recycling. This will begin May 21, and end June 1. Our groups goal for the whole school collection is to involve the whole school in a collection. We hope that more people will contribute to our drive the more we publicize it.

            Our goal for the third grade project is to show how easy, fun, and creative recycling can be. We want to inspire the next generation to recycle and learn the benefits. The lessons we will be educational and will include facts about recycling. The students will have to participate.Our goal is to make connections to their lives that they will understand. They will be able to truly know how recycling effects them everyday. The whole school participation is a big step towards our goal of getting others involved. The other part of our goal is to inspire. That part will happen through our 3rd grade art project.

Week 3

            This week, My group has been working on getting our project finalized and in order. We have added a couple new and great ideas. These updates include doing a local paper drive at our school, Vanguard Charter Academy. This community project will take place on Saturday, May 5. We are also doing a project with the three third grade classes. This project will take place in art class where they will learn the importance of recycling while making environmentally friendly creations. The projects will be done individually and built out of materials brought in by the students. The whole school will still be participating in bringing in items to recycle. 


           My teams goal is to encourage the next generation to recycle and learn the benefits. Some ways we are doing this is by teaching students at our school how fun recycling can be. We will also have a short lesson prepared to explain the impact of recycling and why it is important. We are not just stopping at the school. We are also allowing people in our community to recycle. The paper from the paper drive will go to another group at school that is using the paper to make compost for plants. Recycling does not just effect one person, it effects many people. To encourage participation in the recyclable materials drive, we will weigh the materials by class. The class that brings in the most materials will get to plant a tree on the school grounds.   


            We are including the whole school in some way into our project. Our goal is to encourage others to recycle later, not just now. The whole school will be able to participate and learn the benefits and uses of recycling. Recycling does not just save materials, but also valuable energy. When you recycle, you only use a fraction of the energy that would be used to reproduce the product. Recycling has become a large part of our modern society. Even large businesses have started recycling and reusing. Some in very creative and innovative ways. My groups goal is to encourage others to recycle in the future. 

 

This is a picture of one of cool environmentally friendly projects.

Weeks 1 and 2

            My group has been working on how to involve more people in recycling. Our idea was to find a way to involve our school in the recycling movement. Our school and students will be able to participate in recycling and learn the benefits. We will send out an email to the whole school to inform them of what our plans are. To make things easier for the students to bring in recyclable items, there will be bins at the end of each hallway. Every two weeks for six weeks, we will be collecting a different item. We will take turns dropping off the items at a drop off location in the area. This way, recycling items will be an easy thing to become involved in for our school.
           
            Since the funds for our project are limited we will supply most of the supplies ourselves. We do not need very much supplies. All we need is four garbage bins for students to deposit the recyclable items into. The money spent on gas to transport the supplies will also be provided by us. This project is not for us. It is for the benefit of the school, and its students. Our hope for this project is that people will understand how easy recycling is, and that it holds great benefits. By the time this project ends, I hope more people will be recycling.

            The over all goal of this project is to encourage recycling. Recycling may seem like it doesn't make a big difference, but the impact we leave is bigger than we know. My hope is that more people will become educated on the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. The little things we do today will effect our planet tomorrow. It is not just the health of the planet to be concerned about. We must also preserve our natural resources. Recycling is an easy and efficient way to do this. This project will help others understand why recycling is important.