Scientist in the School

On Thursday May 15^th Scientist Natalie was our visiting scientist in school. She helped us understand that we are responsible for taking care of nature since we share the earth with all living things. As “environmental scientists” Team 3 discovered that our choices can help protect our environment including the air, water and soil.

Thanks to the many parent volunteers, students were able to rotate through several centres to learn why we need to protect the environment now and how we can go about doing that.

One of the centres, “I can reduce garbage”, had scientists consider the fact that garbage takes up space in landfill sights and that a litterless lunch is a choice that can reduce the garbage we produce. See if your child remembers how to be a friend of the earth by choosing a plastic or metal spoon, a sandwich bag or a sandwich container and a drink box/bag or a thermos?

Another center, “I can conserve water”, had scientists consider the importance of having clean water for all living things and that there are lots of ways that we can conserve our use of water. See if your child remembers what choices to make when brushing teeth or playing in the sprinkler in order to be a friend of the earth.

A third centre, “I can recycle”, had scientists consider how some things can be made into other products that can be re-used instead of being thrown out as garbage. See if your child can tell you about how red wiggler worms break down organic matter and produce castings that can be used as soil for planting.

The fourth centre, “I can care for nature”, had scientists consider the importance of plants and how trees produce oxygen as well as food and shelter for living things. We know that we use a lot of things that come from trees and that it takes a long time for a tree to grow so we need to plant new trees to replace the ones we use. Ask your child what s/he used to plant a sunflower.

Finally, at a fifth centre “I can care for my backyard”, scientists considered how they can care for the creatures in their yard. They made a little bird feeder (some showing a pattern) and learned to recognize common birds by playing a game using bingo cards with pictures of robins, cardinals, blue jays, chickadees etc. Hopefully you can feed the birds around your home using this specially made bird feeder.

Thank you again to the many parent volunteers who generously shared their time and talents. I was humbled to see what extraordinary educators you are teaching science and I am certain that this learning experience would not have been as rich or as much fun had it not been for your time and effort!

Below please find some related websites you may wish to explore include:
www.cathyscomposters.com – find out how to start your own worm composter
www.carbondiet.ca – tips and resources on “going green”

Melanie Walsh’s book 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World sums up much of what we learned from Scientist Natalie. Check it out the next time you visit the library!