Page 167 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

144 J. Ponder and A. Cox-Peterson

Sample Service-Learning Projects:

1. Third grade students investigate the interactions of organisms in their local forests.
The students display their art work to raise awareness for maintaining open space
in their own community. They also start a recycling campaign to raise money to
promote open-space awareness at various city locations.
2. Middle-schools students work with the school district superintendant’s office to
identify popular healthy foods among their peers to curtail childhood obesity.
They create a slogan, brochures, web site, and posters to promote healthy eating
and change food choices at schools in the district.
3. High-school students serve as tour guides at a local museum or nature area.
Teams of high-school students lead and facilitate tours for elementary students
who visit. They plan activities, discuss the content, and connect the content and
activities to the elementary school students’ lives and culture.
Sample Stewardship Projects:
1. Students, families, and teachers participate in a painting project within their
community. They paint, “Do not litter, drains to Ocean” on the gutters and create
informational flyers to residents explaining the new signage. Students use infor-
mational books and on-line resources to determine the problems that ocean
animals and ecosystems face when trash and other debris drains into ocean or
river waters.
2. An elementary school encourages families, students, and teachers to participate
in a beach cleanup day once each month. They organize the trash, analyze it, and
classify it during classroom activities. The different types of trash are graphed
and reported via news articles and morning announcements.
3. Students at Ramirez Middle School promote “No Impact Tuesdays” where stu-
dents, families, and teachers work to provide as little impact on the environment
as possible. Students create posters and newsletters to promote their cause. On
Tuesdays, the entire school community works together to use as little water as
possible, bring lunches in recyclable containers, use cloth napkins, write on
white boards, and use as little electricity as possible. Different classes take turns
interviewing other students, calculating the amount of carbon producing
resources saved, and writing news articles about how their school is helping to
protect their environment.
Sample Civic Involvement Projects:
1. Third grade students investigate the interactions of organisms in their local
forests and open spaces within their community. The students locate informa-
tion about the different plants, animals, and threats to these areas. They write
articles and create art work to raise awareness for maintaining open space.
They meet with their city council to create ordinances to maintain a specific
percentage of open space within their community. The citizens in their city
are given the opportunity to vote to approve this action during a local
election.