 Today is Arbor Day! Use the image above from ArborDay.org, to initiate conversation about Arbor Day. Ask: What do you see? What do you think the people are doing? What do you wonder? Once students have some wonder questions, they can conduct online research to learn more about Arbor Day and the importance of trees in our world. Learn about different types of trees with the Arbor Day Tree Identification Tool.  Check out Carly's Kids Corner for some activities to help children connect with nature and learn more about trees.  Enjoy the story of Curious George, as he discovers the importance of trees. Before you read, ask students to predict what the story will be about, based on the cover. During reading, ask students to draw or record things they learned about trees. After reading, have students create a poster, song, or story about what they learned about trees. Draw a tree. Photograph a tree. Create a social media post about trees. Encourage your students to create artwork about the beauty of nature and ways in which we can work together to become more sustainable in our everyday lives. Share with us on social media @usfstavros (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
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 Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day by tuning into the virtual 24 hour live event that EarthDay.org is holding. What will you do? Watch the Lorax and imagine you are given the seed. What would you do differently? Then, watch How to Help the Earth by the Lorax. What will you do to help the earth? Bring an appreciation and love of nature into the lives of your students so they can celebrate #EarthDayEveryDay. Encourage your students to create artwork about the beauty of nature and ways in which we can work together to become more sustainable in our everyday lives. Inspire students to share artwork and ideas about reducing, reusing, recycling, re-purposing, and re-designing the way we do things! Share with us on social media @usfstavros (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
 With one day until the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we wanted to remind you to tune in to the virtual 24 hour live event that EarthDay.org is holding. This is just one of many things you can do to engage students at home with an appreciation of the beauty of nature! More Activities for Home! One of the best ways to engage students in caring for the environment is to learn about the diverse creatures on earth. One way to celebrate Earth Day indoors, is to use online resources to learn about nature. For example, check learn about some of these National Geographic cute animals who need your help.  While at home, there are also many live and recorded webcams that you can view to have students appreciate the unique creatures that we have on this planet. For example, check out the live Jelly Cam and visit the website at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. What else did you learn about jellyfish? Now, check out the Audubon Puffin Burrow webcam below. Audubon has been helping to reintroduce these birds to the islands off Maine since the 1970's. Learn more about puffins at the Explore.org Live Cams. Then conduct some research on puffins. Why did the Audubon society need to reintroduce these birds? What happened to them in the first place? What can we do to better protect species? Put on your entrepreneurial thinking cap. Use some of the resources on EarthDay.org to learn more about conservation of our many endangered species on earth. Now, enjoy the bears at Katmai National Park, Alaska and check out more links to webcams at SierraClub.org.  Yesterday, we shared five incredible sustainable art pieces from living sculptures that float to real pieces of ice from the largest glacier in Iceland. If you missed those, check them out here. Sustainable art is a way for artists to use their talent to spread awareness. This form of creativity isn't a typical way to address the planet's environmental problems, which makes it a perfect lesson for you and your students to learn about entrepreneurial and design thinking! Here are five more breathtaking sustainable art pieces. "Vertical Green Garden" - Jeff Koons source: https://ecofriend.org/6-pieces-of-sustainable-art-for-inspiration-and-awesomeness/ Jeff Koons created a white terrier covered in flowers. The structure stands at 40-feet tall and is located at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Flowers may be small, but they're important for feeding insects, birds, and even us! In addition, they make the world a beautiful place! Sustainable Environment Beach Sculpture Protest by the U.N.  source: https://ecofriend.org/6-pieces-of-sustainable-art-for-inspiration-and-awesomeness/ Everyone knows how harmful plastic bottles are to the environment. According to seasidescavenge.org, 20,000 water bottles are purchased every second, and this pattern continues to increase each year. The United Nations created this large fish sculpture out of plastic water bottles as a protest to the massive plastic problem that is taking over our oceans. "Slow Slugs" - Florentijn Hofman source: https://www.designboom.com/art/giant-slugs-made-from-40000-plastic-bags-by-florentijn-hofman/ Dutch artist, Florentijn Hofman, created these beautiful slug sculptures made out of 40,000 plastic bags that were knitted together. They stand at 18 x 7.5 x 5 meters tall and was placed in Angers, France for the Accroche-Cœurs festival. This piece addresses the problem of plastic bags, which actually take about 10-20 years to decompose. Learn more about the making of this piece here. Recycled Wood Shavings - Henrique Oliveira source: https://ecofriend.org/6-pieces-of-sustainable-art-for-inspiration-and-awesomeness/ Shavings from old construction plywood is usually thrown away, but Henrique Oliveira saw this as a chance to create art. He used brushes to create this three-dimensional sculpture made of plywood shavings. His work resembles large, twisted roots that make a massive statement in the room. It's stunning and mesmerizing and definitely a beautiful way to reuse old construction materials. Dog Sculpture - Nirit Levav  source: https://ecofriend.org/6-pieces-of-sustainable-art-for-inspiration-and-awesomeness/ Nirit Levav is an artist and fashion designer from Israel. She collects junk (often made of metal) and turns them into beautiful, life-sized dog sculptures. Many of them are made of old bicycle chains, like the one pictured here, which she collects from motor garages and bike shops. She proves that you can create art out of anything!
 Sustainable art incorporates environmental and sustainability principles. This art is normally made up of repurposed materials and addresses an environmental issues. As awareness and action for the planet continues to grow, more creatives are beginning to consider joining the movement through their work. Here are 5 unique sustainable art works that will open your mind and make you feel inspired. "Your waste of time." - Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson. Your waste of time. 2013. Installation view of EXPO 1: New York at MoMA PS1. Photo: Matthew Septimus. source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/environmental-art_n_5585288 This incredible work is held in a refrigerated exhibit powered by solar panels. They are actual pieces of ice that came from the Vatnajökull, Iceland's largest glacier. This represents eight hundred years of existence on Earth and puts into perspective the physical aspect of humanity. Its message invokes the issues and threats of global warming . "Pandas on Tour" - Paulo Grangeon source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/environmental-art_n_5585288 To spread awareness on endangered species across the globe, this sculptor created 1,600 pandas made of papier-mâché. This represents the actual number of pandas that are still living on Earth. Collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund, this traveling exhibit has visited over 20 countries. Trash Cans - Aida Sulova source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/environmental-art_n_5585288 Aida Sulova is a street artist from Kyrgyzstan and created this piece on a garbage bin. She is using her talents to address the trash problem in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek. She creates large mouths to show that what we throw away will eventually be consumed by us. “Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption” - Chris Jordan source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/environmental-art_n_5585288 This photo is part of Chris Jordan's "Intolerable Beauty" series that exhibits the high amount of waste and debris that millions and millions of people are creating across the globe everyday. He shows a huge clump of cellular devices in a hypnotic pattern. This represents the never-ending production of waste from humans. Living Sculptures - Mathilde Roussel source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/environmental-art_n_5585288 This piece is an installation made of living grass in the shape of a person. Roussel used recycled materials and wheat grass seeds and soil to fill in the fabric. This sculpture represents the awareness of nature and what we eat. It drives viewers to think about our global food cycle and the fluctuations of famine and abundance.
 Earth Day's 50th anniversary is coming up in just 5 days, and this year's theme is climate action, which is the biggest challenge for the future of people and the planet. However, a massive challenge also means endless opportunities to make a difference. Schools across the country are doing more each year to be as eco-friendly as possible. Here are some ways that you can make your school more sustainable and address climate change. Improve Lunches Provide more healthy, vegetarian and vegan options to minimize your school's carbon footprint of the meat industry. You could host meat-free Mondays or provide non-dairy food choices. Encourage your school to buy locally grown vegetables. Read about how this school improved their school lunches by buying from local farmer's markets! Teach About Climate Change / Sustainability This is a huge topic, but luckily, teachers have access to our resources page that has tons of lesson plans, videos, activities and much more! We have resources for you to teach about climate change, saving energy, gardening, using the arts to inspire change, waste, consumption, and many more. You can also have your students get out, explore, and learn by organizing a field trip. Visit local landscapes, participate in environmental projects, or simply start a school garden! Calculate Carbon Footprint What we do on the planet translates to how it's being negatively impacted. Have your students calculate the school's carbon footprint or their own. This is a great way to see what improvements need to be made in how we operate our daily lives. Here are some different websites to use to calculate your carbon footprint. Change Materials Try to avoid using single-using plastic as much as possible. Recycle paper, plastic bottles, cans, and glass objects and containers. Lean more towards eco-friendly products if possible. Make sure all cleaning materials are biodegradable. Repurpose classroom "trash" to use for storage and art projects. Start Planting Make your school grounds more green! Start a vegetable or flower garden with students. Teach them to plant trees and watch them grow over time. This teaches students the fun of helping the planet and helps them realize how important it is! Reduce Waste It is extremely important that we keep garbage out of landfills as much as possible because some of it ends up in natural bodies of water like the ocean, which then threatens animal health and well-being. Also, the manufacturing, transportation, and use of products creates more greenhouse gas emissions, which causes climate change. Start thinking about composting, non-litter lunches, stopping the use of bottled waters, and going paper free.
6 Days 'Til the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day: How to Be an Eco-Friendly Teacher From Home4/16/2020  The COVID-19 outbreak has created drastic life changes for everyone around the world, and has greatly affected the education system. Teachers and students are forced to transition to distance learning, and for many, this has been a challenge. Despite this unpredicted change, there are still ways you can incorporate sustainability into your teacher lifestyle. Here are some tips to continue being an eco-friendly teacher from home. Use Less Paper Now that you're teaching from home, this is a great opportunity to avoid using paper as much as possible. Paper is a necessity for teaching specific lessons in a classroom, but it's time to get creative. There are many different sites you can use to get responses from your students. Flipgrid is a free social learning tool that comes in online format and in an app. You can create a link to a grid and have your students submit videos. Wakelet is another amazing free platform that organizes all types of content into one place. Your students can share links, videos, texts, images, and documents all in one place. They can be shared and viewed by you and other students in your class. Teach Students to Repurpose If you are planning to get your students to create a crafty art project, tell them that it can only be made with repurposed materials that they have to find in their home. They could take newspaper and magazines to create collages. They could use egg cartons, yogurt cups, boxes, and unused pens and pencils to make sculptures. They can use snack wrappers, food labels, and plastic bags to create a mini mural. This is the ultimate creative challenge! Turn off Electronic Devices Teaching at home means using a computer or laptop more. You may be tempted to just leave it on or plugged in charging all the time since you're using it so much, but remember that this takes up a lot of electricity and energy. Leaving it plugged in or on when it doesn't need to be creates energy waste that will increase the machine's carbon dioxide emissions, which contributes to pollution and climate change. Turn off your computer when you're not teaching! Create a Lesson on Sustainability With everyone being at home, this is the best time to teach your students to consume less and save more. Create a sustainability lesson with your students! The best way to start is by looking at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are what we all need to aim for in order to achieve global sustainable development by 2030. You can do a lesson on just one, or all of them, then have your students choose which one means the most to them and create a project from that. We have tons of lesson ideas on sustainability topics that you and your students will love! Visit our resources page here. Encourage Students to Participate in the 2020 Earth Challenge Your students can become citizen scientists from home! Earth Day Network is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, which is also going digital for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They created the Earth Challenge 2020 app that allows anyone to take photos of air pollution and garbage pollution and submit them through a global database. This teaches students to be more aware of the environment and learn about taking global action. It is very simple to use, but please ensure safety and caution for the little ones when going outdoors doing their part as a citizen scientist! Learn more about the Earth Challenge here.
 The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed everyone's lives, especially for teachers and students. Schools across the country have closed to ensure social distancing and safety. This can be a difficult transition and may cause some anxiety for you and your students. If you need some fun ideas, here are a couple eco-friendly activities that your students will enjoy! These can work for any grade level K-12. The Earth Challenge Earthday.org is getting ready for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, which is also going digital for the first time. To get everyone to celebrate, they created the Earth Challenge 2020 app. This app allows anyone to become a citizen scientist by collecting air pollution and garbage pollution near their home. This teaches students to be more aware of the environment and learn about taking global action. It is very simple to use, but please ensure safety and caution for the little ones when going outdoors doing their part as a citizen scientist! Learn more about the app here. Plastic Pollution Plan Do an activity with your students telling them to audit their plastic use at home. Let them organize and count how many plastic bottles, plastic bags, straws, and wrappers they have. Then, they can research products that have more sustainable packaging or find ways on how they can use less packaging. Ask what they can do in their daily life to use less plastic. Sustainable Art Arts and crafts are always fun for kids and a perfect activity for being indoors. Teach your students to solve environmental problems using the arts. They can search for materials around their house and repurpose them to create jewelry, sculptures, bags, storage cases, or accessories. You can also have them do a project based on the DooDad competition. This contest required students to use plastic bags and wrappers to create a sculpture that addresses an environmental problem. Read more about this here. For more inspiration, visit our sustainable arts resource page for project and lesson ideas. Reflect on Films/Documentaries You can have your students watch movies and videos on sustainable topics, and let them share what they think about them. They can pick out a scene from the film and then discuss why it's meaningful to them in terms of taking global action. We have lesson ideas based on movies like Frozen and Toy Story, so make sure to check those out! If you are an elementary teacher, we have a list of some of the best sustainable education videos here.
9 Days 'Til the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day: Students Solve Environmental Problems With Art!4/14/2020  Using the arts to teach students about sustainability helps boosts their creativity, design thinking, and even entrepreneurial thinking! Making paintings, singing songs, crafting sculptures and choreographing dances opens many doors of the creative world to get kids to solve environmental problems in beautiful ways, and that's exactly what these talented students did in the 2020 DooDad Competition. This competition challenges K-12 students to reuse and repurpose different materials to solve problems creatively through art. This year, participants were required to reuse snack wrappers and plastic bags to craft sculptures that matched the theme "Shoes – Oh! The Places You'll Go!", which is based on a Dr. Seuss book. The final exhibition took place at the Tampa International Airport. The DooDad competition requires that students demonstrate the four C's: collaboration, communication, creative thinking, and creativity. It also incorporates STEAM practices, which include science, technology, engineering, art, and math. We have a winner!One of the teachers that attends many of our workshops had her students participate in the DooDad competition and received awards! Lisa Lawson is a gifted program teacher at Claywell Elementary. The photos below are her students' DoodDad entries. Mackenzie Bader and Victoria Cruz created the project on the left, which won an honorable mention. They showcased different shoe styles in different habitats that represent species in danger of extinction. The project on the right was created by Ashley Del Pozo, who won people's choice. She demonstrated the marine species affected by waste in the ocean, especially sea turtles. Congratulations to Lisa Lawson and her 5th grade students, Mackenzie Bader and Victoria Cruz and 4th grade student Ashley Del Pozo!
Here is what Lisa had to say about her students: WILDLY excited for my three talented gifted students, Mackenzie, Victoria, and Ashley, who all received awards in our first ever entries in the Doodads Repurposed Art Sculpture contest. Their work is currently on display at the Tampa Airport. Their projects are absolutely amazing and I could not be prouder of these amazing young ladies!!! Mackenzie and Victoria received an Honorable Mention for the Elementary 3-5 Division and Ashley was awarded a People's Choice Award. They will receive a total of $250 in prize money. There were 132 entries total and all three of our Claywell Cougars received awards. The quality of their work is astounding. SO proud!!! We are thrilled to see Lisa and her students succeeding in making the world a better place through creative ways! If you are currently doing or have done any sustainability-related activity with your students, we would LOVE to hear it and feature you! You can message us on any of our social platforms (Facebook, Instagram & Twitter all @usfstavros) or email Deborah Kozdras at dkozdras@usf.edu. View the document below to see the winners and learn more about the 2020 DooDads competition!
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AuthorsCreated by Deborah Kozdras and Cassandra Farrell at the USF Stavros Center Archives
March 2021
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