CREATIVITY POINTS
LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?
Get inspired by what other schools are doing for creativity points. Here are some great examples of Earth Month programs, activities and lessons that schools are doing this month.
Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 / Cool School Climate Change Unit
Through this extensive 4 lesson unit on Climate Change, BVHM students are conducting a classroom carbon audit to see how many pounds of carbon emissions each classroom emits per year. Students then integrate the information they learned from the audit to create a Climate Action Plan for their school.
Contact: Teacher, Todd Albert
Alice Fong Yu K-8 / Eco Heroes
Eco Heroes is a year long program where students recognize their peers for taking earth-friendly actions such as riding the bus, picking up trash, using reusable water bottles, etc. A few students are honored each month and get to wear an Eco Hero cape for the day. AFY also chooses one young person from outside of the school (Brower Youth Award Winners) that have taken on eco-friendly projects in their neighborhoods to feature on the school bulletin board.
Contact: Education Outside Instructor, Kristin Owyang
Herbert Hoover Middle School / Butterfly Festival
Herbert Hoover works with two nonprofits (Kids In Parks and Nature In The City) to host a Green Hairstreak Butterfly Festival each year. This festival celebrates the combined efforts of all three entities working together on the Green Hairstreak Habitat Revitalization project. All schools are welcome to join the fun on April 15th!
Contact: Teacher, Annette Anzalone
Jose Ortega Elementary / Seed Balls Lesson
During several recess periods students worked with a teacher to mix and disperse seed balls containing California poppy seeds. The kids helped mix the soil, seeds and clay and formed them into balls that they threw over the fence. The balls will sprout wildflowers on the hillside for the bees in the Brooks Park Community garden apiaries.
Contact: Teacher, Margaret Lanphier
Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 / Pizza Box Solar Ovens
After learning about the greenhouse effect in 6th grade science, students made solar ovens out of pizza boxes that model the greenhouse effect.
Contact: Teacher, Todd Albert
Clarendon Elementary / Recycled and Reused Art
Clarendon Elementary School Teachers are facilitating art projects using only recycled and repurposed materials. This concept of upcycling teaching the students that the Earth's resources are precious and that not all waste needs to head straight to the landfill.
Contact: Teacher, Jody Frandle
SF Public Montessori / 4th & 5th Graders Help Kindergartners
On April 6th SF Public Montessori had some Kindergarten classes participate in the Cal Academy of Sciences webchat, "How to build a community of butterflies". What made it extra special and creative was the 4th and 5th grade students who helped the kindergartners with questions during the presentation and helped keep them engaged during the chat!
Contact: Education Outside Instructor, Megan Mauger
Lafayette Elementary / Planting Bee and Butterfly Habitats
A 4th grade class planted 20 empty planter boxes on their school yard this week. The students greened their schoolyard with plants that serve bee and butterfly habitat and will continue to maintain the planters throughout the year.
Contact: Teacher, Janet Welsh
Rosa Parks Elementary / Earth Day Readings: Preventing Plastic Pollution
Rockstar librarian at Rosa Parks Elementary is taking Earth Month by the horns and using Earth Week to focus on Earth-related topics with all of her classes! Activities included Read-Alouds for K-2nd grade classes and more hands-on discussions and activities with 3rd-5th grade classes such as watching videos on plastic pollution and writing letters to the administration to reduce the use of plastic packaging in the school lunches. But it doesn't stop there - Michelle has also been including information about plastic pollution in the weekly library bulletin email to teachers to encourage the whole school to learn more about the plastics problem and identify ways to reduce plastic in their own lives.
Contact: Librarian, Michelle Windell
Lafayette Elementary / Making Earth Seed Paper
Kindergarten students created seed paper in the shape of mini Earths using construction paper. Students ripped pieces of blue and green construction paper into bowls of water and then blended the wet paper into pulp. After squeezing out the water, students worked with their partners to make beautiful Earth-shaped seed paper.
Contact: Teacher, Lindsay Gonzalez
Bret Harte Elementary / Greening the Playground
Garden science instructor Megan Laskey led an Earth (work) day to green the school yard play area. The location was just dirt before that students rarely interacted with. With the help from volunteers, they transformed it into an awesome play area where students can hop around on awesome Redwood stumps!
Contact: Teacher, Megan Laskey
Abraham Lincoln High School / Earth Day Celebration
The Abraham Lincoln Green Academy Sophomores held an Earth Day Celebration in their courtyard. The festival had interactive booth displays ranging from recycled fashion to fresh produce from their school garden. There were recycling and compost games, and a bike blender smoothie making station! All this organized by students!
Contact: Teacher, Valerie Ziegler
Lafayette Elementary / Buddy Planting
A fourth grade class at Lafayette Elementary School buddied up with a kindergarten class to replant the Kindergarten planter boxes at the school. The students worked together to replace the non-native with new pollinator plants!
Contact: Teachers, Rachelle Hata and Elizabeth Iwaszewicz
Clarendon Elementary / Penguin Math Lesson
First grade teacher at Clarendon Elementary taught a lesson about fractions from the California Academy of Sciences. But this wasn't any regular math lesson, it incorporated Penguins! After the students used math to construct an adorable paper penguin, they did some informational writing about Emperor Penguins' habitat. What a great way to connect multiple subjects!
Contact: Teachers, Allison De Witt
Lafayette Elementary/ Plastic Pollution Discussion
4th grade teacher at Lafayette Elementary School showed her class a video on the life cycle of a plastic water bottle. After the students learned about the plastic bottle life cycle she facilitated a class discussion about how the school can use less plastic.
Contact: Teachers, Lori Brook
Lafayette Elementary / March for Science T-shirts
Students at Lafayette Elementary created Science Acronym T-shirts for the Science March at City hall!
Contact: Teachers, Janet Welsh
Lafayette Elementary / Earth Poetry
First grade teacher at Lafayette Elementary taught her students about taking care of the earth by combining art and poetry.
Contact: Teachers, Kazuko Benjamin
Lafayette Elementary / Technology to Protect Earth
The Technology Teacher at Lafayette worked with a group of third graders to code games and create service announcements to share ways to protect our Earth.
Contact: Teachers, Rowena Tong
Lafayette Elementary / Eco Wheels
4th grade teacher taught students about ecology by creating Eco wheels. The front of the wheels illustrates Earth's natural systems and on the back students wrote a pledge to the environment.
Contact: Teachers, Janet Welsh
Lafayette Elementary / Earth Day Garden Celebration
Education Outside instructor, Ms. Ellie, had an Earth Day party where students sold the seed packets and lavender bundles to raise money for the Flint water crisis.
Contact: Teachers, Ellie Marble
Alice Fong Yu / Earth Day Promises
Third grade teacher at AFY had all three of her classes brainstorm three promises they would make to the earth. They then wrote those promises down and tied them to a cut out Earth to create Earth-Promise mobiles.
Contact: Teacher, Kristi Jacobsen
Rosa Parks Elementary / Recycled creations
First grade teacher at Rosa Parks allowed her students imaginations to soar through some creative recycled art lessons. Students used materials that would normally be recycled, and used them to create unique sculptures. Another day students turned old paper into new paper by hand!
Contact: Teachers, Yukari Noguchi
Rosa Parks Elementary / Schoolyard Litter Collection
First grade teacher at Rosa Parks led her students on a scavenger hunt to collect the trash on the schoolyard. Afterwards, they analyzed the types of waste and how much if it is most likely to be found out on the yard. They concluded that food wrappers (which are not recyclable) were the biggest offender!
Contact: Teachers, Yukari Noguchi
Sanchez Elementary School / Bee Pollination
Students at Sanchez Elementary School learned how about bees and the process of pollination.
Contact: Teachers, Aidan Wahl
Mission Education Center / Wildcare Nature Van Visits
Wildcare Nature Van visited Mission Education Center and set up an interactive presentation about local wildlife in San Francisco. Students learn how to "Live Well with Wildlife" by maintaining a balance in the natural world.
Contact: Teachers, Johanna Johnson
Jose Ortega Elementary School / Milk Carton Garden
Students at Jose Ortega Elementary School collected milk cartons over several lunch periods and planted a salad garden on the main play yard. They spread mulch around the area to help keep the weeds down and beautified the remaining area.
Contact: Teacher, Margaret Lanphier
Spring Valley Elementary School / Earth Day Garden Party
Education Outside Corps Member Juston Jaco held a celebration in the Spring Valley garden to celebrate Earth Day. Students, parents and staff cooked food from the garden and made flower headbands, pattern block art, and watercolor paintings.
Contact: Education Outside, Juston Jaco
SF Public Montessori School / Pollution Unit
Education Outside Corps Member Megan Mauger taught a comprehensive unit about water pollution and proceeded to do something about it! They stared by scouring the garden and school yard for pollution there, and then learned about river and water pollution through the watershed project's "pollution soup" lessons. They wrapped up the unit by sewing their own reusable sandwich bags to decrease plastic pollution that ends up in our parks, rivers, and oceans.
Contact: Education Outside, Megan Mauger
Fairmount Elementary / Cleaning and Preserving Green Spaces
Education Outside Corps Member Sophie Case led a lesson about plastic pollution and proceeded to lead a litter pick up activity. Afterwards, students weeded the hillside and other green spaces at the school.
Contact: Education Outside, Sophie Case
