Green in Action Honorary Mention
Quinsigamond Elementary
Worcester, MA
Green Week at Quinsigamond was a celebration of the recycling initiatives we started this year. We began a recycling club for interested 6th grade students. We learned about recycling, and we introduced recycling to the entire school. Throughout the year, the students managed emptying the bins and some recycling educators and cheerleaders motivated the school to embrace recycling.
During the week of April 7th, we held our Green Week. We had a recycled art contest, a parent expo highlighting the recycling club, and on Saturday April 12th, the recycling club sponsored a Metal and Electronics Recycling Event in our parking lot for the greater community. We also began collecting cheese wrappers for the Terracycle Cheese Wrapper Brigade.
The 5th grade students at Quinsigamond Elementary School participated in a Math and Science project to cleanse the air quality of our school. The goals of this project include: applying measurement formulas for perimeter and area to real life situations; selecting and using appropriate tools to measure (rulers and yard sticks for length); understand what plants need to grow as well as what plants produce as a result of photosynthesis; using technology to research most effective plants in cleansing air; know how the physical environment can effect personal heath (exposure to air pollution).
Students began by discussing how our school environment is full of pollution and toxins and the ways plants can help eliminate this pollution. Students talked about the need for 1 indoor plant for every 100 square feet. They decided to measure the perimeter of the building and then find the area of each working space in the school. Once the measurements were complete the students regrouped to work on their project boards, one for math and one for science. The students did an amazing job choosing an aspect of the project to work on for the final product. Some students worked on the Excel document that included information on the areas of classrooms and therefore the number of plants needed per 100 square feet. Other students typed a procedure list discussing their process for this project. Many students researched the best plants for indoor air cleansing as well as health benefits of indoor plants. Also, a few students wanted to show the area of a typical home and how many plants would be necessary for indoor cleansing. Finally, the students put effort into how their project boards looked and what they would say during their presentation.
At our school Parent Expo, a few students presented their results and explained how parents and students can help make Quinsigamond School “Green.” By signing the certificate of adoption students and parents acknowledge that by adopting a plant they will improve the air quality of their home and our school. Our students promise to take care of our adopted plants so in turn they will care for us.
