Monday, March 23, 2009
Greenfox News
o Greenfox Kids! Magazine debuts next month, April 2009. Our magazine provides articles on sustainability using the Greenfox5 as a teaching tool, in addition to games and lesson plans. The magazine is paid for by our sponsors, and is free for schools.
o If you are interested in receiving issues for your class, or sponsoring an ad in the magazine, please e-mail kvh@greenfoxschools.com.
o Greenfox welcomes Patrick Morris, our new intern, to the Greenfox Team. Patrick can be reached at pjm@greenfoxschools.com.
o Greenfox Schools will be giving a presentation at the Cambridge Montessori School on the Greenfox5 and its application to sustainability systems and teaching in schools. The workshop is at 7 PM on Wednesday, April 29th. If your school is interested in a workshop, please contact us.
o Check out an article in the New York Times, “Offering the Best Supplies for Learning: Free,” by Amy Mayer, 3/14/09, featuring ExCL (Extras for Creative Learning) a non-profit for which Kristen von Hoffmann is on the Board of Directors. ExCL is a great resource for teachers, and the organization collects excess materials from businesses and redistributes them to schools for classroom projects, diverting waste from landfills and promoting creativity for children.
o Greenfox Schools also encourages you to check out the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. The Partnership convenes mainstream business leaders, educators, and policy makers, providing information on sustainability education for schools across the nation.
Teaching the Greenfox5: Spotlight on Greenspace
Background on Greenspace
The Greenfox5 is a strategy that Greenfox Schools uses to teach and implement sustainability. The Greenfox5 names five categories of environmental optimization: Energy, Waste Disposal, Food, Products, and Greenspace.
Our logo depicts five circles of color, each representing a category of the Greenfox5.
Today’s article focuses on how to teach Greenspace. As educators, when thinking about Greenspace, imagine the physical space at your school, whether rural or urban, and where green space (forest, gardens, fields, natural habitats, trees) fits in. Then, consider how green space at your school can be optimized, as well as integrated into your curriculum.
Pine Forests in Beverly, Massachusetts
Teachers: Diving Into Greenspace
➢ Talking Points for Class Discussion/Greenspace at Your School
• On the board, have students list all of the green space areas at your school
• In what ways do students enjoy this space?
• What is the quality of these green spaces?
• Are they well maintained?
• Are they in the care of the school or under different ownership?
• Is this green space a forest, a garden, a field, a natural habitat, or trees?
• In what ways can it be protected? Studied? Added to?
• Can this space be integrated into existing science, art, social studies or other curriculum in your class?
• If your school is entirely urban, how can green space be created within your building? classroom?
• Are there health benefits of green space?
Here are three examples of class projects that can affect green space locally, nationally, and globally.
1. Local: Last year Greenfox implemented a program for 5th graders. Students gathered local tree seeds from home, learned how to identify each tree, placed the seeds in a refrigerator for several weeks, and grew the seedlings at school in a sustainable process.
5th grade students carefully sort their tree seeds
Students plant tree seeds in old pizza boxes
Students used old pizza boxes that they filled with compost and dirt. They set up a rainwater collection barrel, which they used to water the seedlings via recycled plastic soda bottles that they popped holes in to make “watering cans.” Throughout the study the children also learned about photosynthesis and the biology behind tree-growing. Students enjoyed coming into their classroom every morning to check on their seedlings’ growth, and nurtured and watered them. At the end of the study each child took their tree home and planted it.
2. National: Greenfox has helped raise money for planting trees in forests through bottle-and-can recycling drives. For a list of plant-a-tree organizations, see links below.
3. Global: Greenfox recommends raising money to plant trees in the rainforest via the Cloud Forest School in Monte Verde, Costa Rica.
Greenfox set up an exchange program where a U.S. school raised money through a bottle-and-can recycling drive to pay for the planting of 25 new tree seedlings in Costa Rica at the Cloud Forest School
Greenspace Links
Natural Habitats
American Forests
Arbor Day Foundation
Cloud Forest School
Massachusetts Audobon Society
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
The Nature Conservancy
Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC)
Sierra Club
-Kristen von Hoffmann
Posted by kvonhoffmann 