I sponsor an after-school science club for upper elementary students. They’d like to expand the recycling program at the school. I’m looking for suggestions on what they can do. – C., Pennsylvania

It may help to add a context to your students’ efforts. In a “garbology” lesson, the teacher collects the classroom trash for a week. Students weigh the contents and separate it (wearing gloves) into actual trash and recyclable materials such as paper, cans, bottles. They then weigh the recyclables. By extrapolating this to the number of classrooms in the school, they estimate how much trash was generated in their school and what percentage could be recycled. (See also the lessons in Teaching the Three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in the March 2012 issue of Science & Children)

The amount of paper used in the school might be a good start for students’ efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Teachers could save old handouts or outdated materials that were printed on one side. Students could put a box next to the copier for any “mistake” copies with blank sides. Students could then collect and cut the paper in halves or quarters for quizzes, notes, or practice work. This would be one last use before recycling the paper.

Do students drink from water bottles in the classroom? In addition to installing containers to recycle them, club members could begin an awareness program to encourage reusable bottles. (Bottles with the school logo could be a fund-raiser.)

Your members could be “recycling monitors” in their classrooms, reminding others to put materials that could be reused or recycled in the proper containers.

For more ideas, NSTA’s The Science Teacher features the monthly column The Green Room with suggestions on making classrooms and teaching more environmentally friendly. These ideas could be adapted for any level of students.

Photo: http://tinyurl.com/zro35su

If you and the children need to be active to stay warm outdoors in cold temperatures, consider walking fast on a walking field trip to locate and document signs around your community. In the September 2011 issue of Science and Children I wrote about helping children understand what models are by taking a walking field trip to create a model (map) of the area around the school (Early Years column, A Sense of Place: Schoolyard as a Model). Using photographs taken by teachers, children matched each photo with the actual sign as they walked past it, and placed the photo on a paper map, locating the sign relative to other landmarks.

Now there is a group of scientists who need help collecting photos of signs and lettering in public spaces so they can analyze the diversity and dynamics of public writing. Their project is called Lingscape – Linguistic Landscaping and the project uses an app to send the data. Your children can help collect this data while becoming more aware of the spatial relationships between street signs and other human infrastructure and the landscape. As children find and photograph signage, they can identify symbols and letters, sound out and read words. While they help scientists in another location  study public writing, they can learn about how public writing is used in their community.

Find out more about this and other such citizen science projects from the SciStarter website.  

I used the Lingscape–Linguistic Landscaping app to document signs and lettering in public spaces near the school and it worked well. Even young children can use digital cameras although teachers might have to crop their photos for clarity. The location services must be turned on to locate your photos automatically on the app’s map but you can set the location yourself if you prefer not to share location on the camera or phone.

Print copies of the photos for children to use in creating a class book about signs in the neighborhood. Young children may not immediately understand that the satellite photography or map base represents the landscape around them but they will enjoy discovering and documenting signs, and looking at examples uploaded from other locations, perhaps some they have visited, lived in, or have family living there.

Recently, I did a hands-on workshop for other teachers on science apps and probes. I thought it went really well, and no one had any questions at the end of the session. But now, I’m getting lots of messages and phone calls for help. My colleague said that I must not have done a good job if there are so many questions. What did I do wrong? —T., Maryland

First of all, don’t beat yourself up. If the teachers have questions now, at least they’re trying to use what you introduced in the workshop. And it’s important they feel comfortable asking for your assistance. As you know from your own classroom, non-judgmental assistance can turn frustration into success.

When you asked for questions, perhaps the attendees were overloaded, ready to go home or back to the classroom. Or they felt comfortable with the apps at the time and thought they knew what they were doing. Now they’re unsure trying them without you and the others for immediate support. Some teachers are hesitant to introduce something new to students unless they are familiar with it themselves. They might need more encouragement, information, and feedback.

During future workshops, provide lots of modeling and practice time, even if you introduce fewer apps. Allow the attendees to make some mistakes and try to figure out a solution. I like to plan a follow-up session, either in person or online, to address teachers’ questions and for them to share their experiences.

Keep a record of the types of questions you’re asked. Use this feedback as you plan the next workshop (and please do so—it’s beneficial for teachers to learn from another teacher who can model the process.)