Program Summary

Teachers meet the consultant briefly before school to go over expected outcomes of the day.

Students come to the gym or cafeteria one grade level at a time. Every grade level learns a piece of the climate change puzzle through an experiential activity, slides and short clips. We have activitites for all grades from K-8. Here are some examples:

One grade learns that scientists change their minds. They "experience" continental drift, learn about the discovery of microorganisms with microscopes and galaxies with telescopes.

One grade gets to become hurricanes whirling across the Atlantic from Africa to the Americas experiencing quantity, intensity and duration in 1985, 1995 and 2005.

One grade learns about the web of life and gets to become trees and animals in the tropical rainforest.

One grade gets to become polar bears looking for ice floes in a warming Arctic Ocean. The ice floes shrink and the polar bears have to huddle together on smaller and smaller surfaces.

One grade learns about melting glaciers, growing deserts, and drying water sources. We play a game with students as frogs hopping around looking for water.

One grade gets to become penguins swimming from Tierra del Fuego across the Straits of Magellan to Antarctica looking for krill to eat.

At the end of the day we hold an all-school assembly where every grade presents their piece of the Climate Change puzzle. Students rush home bursting with enthusiasm, convinced that it is important to bring their parents back to school for the evening program.

That evening is a Family Night called "My Earth My Health." Kids and parents learn about the connections between personal health and planetary health. Then kids and parents work together to come up with a Family Sustainability Checklist.

Families compare, amend, sign and turn in their plans. Finally everyone takes a pledge to abide by their Family Sustainability Checklist.

Families are connected via a closed social network where they can put up a profile to showcase achievement of their sustainability goals. Students use the website to learn about Climate Change. Parents get discounts from sponsors for implementing their Family Sustainability Plans. As families take action, their school gets credit from sponsors to help the school go green too.

This program is the first step in helping the entire school and outside community take action toward sustainability. Although it is the last step in Climate Change is Elementary™, it can be the first step in meaningful school and community action.

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Make this a two day program!