The “Big Foot” game In the Lower School, Bess and Elinor (grade 4) are working on the “Big Foot Game”: an adaptation of the Carbon Footprint game created by the Unitarians for Social Justice to assist congregations in taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. The goal of the game is to cover as much of a big cardboard footprint with green “action-stickers” as possible. Bess and Elinor are working on the stickers: they decided they should only include actions that a Lower School girl could take independently. The big foot will stay in the STEAM room. The lower school girls will have opportunities to choose the sticker(s) they think they have earned over the past few days, by taking a new action or renewing one. They will stick them to the foot, thus turning it greener every day. Everyone […]
Exploring Water
Learning about Climate Science and Forging Solutions to Environmental Problems By: Beatrice Winter, Lower School Science Specialist To integrate climate science in the Lower School STEAM classroom, we follow 3 simple rules: First, and more importantly: we start by fostering a sense of wonder and love of nature, Our projects are “real-life”; personally relevant, and When confronted with climate-related problems and concerns, we focus on actions and solutions. Our message: We want to empower students! They can be change-makers in their community, and they are not alone. The Water Project This is a STEAM project that we often do at the beginning of the year with the second graders. The project varies from year to year, following the students’ questions and concerns. This year in September, the students spent a long time exploring the creek nearby; wading in the water, […]