In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed that April 22nd be set aside as a day to celebrate the planet we rely on. The first Earth Day was a massive movement of American citizens young and old who were fed up with dirty air, polluted water and generally trashed America. The outpouring of enthusiasm for Earth Day and the public disgust with the sad state of the American environment resulted in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) being created shortly thereafter, by Republican President Richard Nixon.
Today Earth Day is a global day of action and education celebrated in 192 countries by 100's of millions of people that calls to awareness our dependence on our Earth, and our responsibilities as stewards of the environment.
What will you do today for Earth Day? Will you celebrate for one day, or will everyday be an Earth day in your life? I am going to share Earth Day with the 3rd graders at Middlesex Elementary, where we are going to think about how kids affect the environment, what we can do smarter and better to be more sustainable. Here are some of the ideas I am sharing today:
1. DON'T LITTER- There is an epidemic of trash on our roadsides right now, go pick it up!!! Don't put it there in the first place!
2. REDUCE- Buy products with limited packaging, recyclable packaging, or best- no packaging. Buy less in general, studies show it is not stuff that makes people happy, it is doing and being together.
3. REUSE- Buy products that have multiple uses, tupperware instead of plastic bags, resusable grocery bags, a steel water bottle, a travel coffee mug- all of these things cut down on waste production! Send unwanted clothes, toys, household items to a thrift store.
4. RECYCLE- When you do use stuff, recycle it! Newspapers, old school papers, soda cans/bottles, milk jugs, cardboard, and on and on. Please recycle batteries appropriately!
5. BUY GREEN PRODUCTS- My favorite green product are our rechargeable batteries!!! You can literally use them for years! This saves tons of money and the toxic chemicals that go into batteries don't end up in landfills.
6. FIND GREEN OPTIONS- Our family buys green energy from the electric company for just a little extra each month.
7. BE CONSERVATIVE- Turn off the lights! Take short showers! Always do a full load of laundry!
8. START A COMPOST PILE- This is so easy and reduces the number of trips to the dump. Place veggie scraps, coffee grounds, stale bread, leaves, grass clippings in a compost pile for great soil.
9. EAT LOCAL & SUSTAINABLE- Food is our greatest environmental threat because we all eat and we eat so much. Buy local and support your farmers, when you can buy organic. Eat low on the food chain- veggies and fruit keep you and the planet healthy. Avoid foods from harmful, unsustainable sources like PALM OIL and farmed shrimp.
10. CARE- The simple act of caring will make you a better citizen of Planet Earth. When you care, you act, you think about your choices, their impacts and your responsibility as a steward of this Earth.
Juvenile Spadefish
I took this picture this summer
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Water Quality and the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay Water Quality reading
Please read this article carefully and take notes on the topics included.
When you have finished the first, go onto the next page to learn about the other important estuaries in the U.S. and the threats to water quality that exist pretty much everywhere in America.
Chesapeake Sisters
Please read this article carefully and take notes on the topics included.
What is Dioxin?
Please read this article carefully and take notes on the topics included.
When you have finished the first, go onto the next page to learn about the other important estuaries in the U.S. and the threats to water quality that exist pretty much everywhere in America.
Chesapeake Sisters
Please read this article carefully and take notes on the topics included.
What is Dioxin?
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
CRAB Instructions
Dear Seniors, I need you to submit your abstract to me for publication in the CRAB. Follow the instructions below and submit asap electronically to my email. Thanks!
***Each student should have a 1 pg (maximum) double spaced abstract. Margins should be 1 inch on all sides. Title should be centered and bold, underneath that the student's name with a superscript containing a BG, W, or G to signify campus. Under that, the word "Abstract" in bold. In the past I have either assigned abstracts to categories, or if you have a specific category the abstract should be listed under that is fine too. Formatting gets difficult for getting these in, so it's probably just best to list the category next to the word "abstract" and I will move and abbreviate as necessary. Also, I need an asterisk next to the student's name to signify they were a ribbon winner. I will change that into the correct symbol when I format.
Each abstract should be saved individually with the following naming convention: LastName FirstInitial Campus, so mine would be Smith B Warsaw. If you can drop these all into a single folder for your campus, that makes things easier for me in terms of organizing and alphabetizing the final product. I've attached a sample of both a ribbon winner, and a non-ribbon winner for you to see formatting.
***Each student should have a 1 pg (maximum) double spaced abstract. Margins should be 1 inch on all sides. Title should be centered and bold, underneath that the student's name with a superscript containing a BG, W, or G to signify campus. Under that, the word "Abstract" in bold. In the past I have either assigned abstracts to categories, or if you have a specific category the abstract should be listed under that is fine too. Formatting gets difficult for getting these in, so it's probably just best to list the category next to the word "abstract" and I will move and abbreviate as necessary. Also, I need an asterisk next to the student's name to signify they were a ribbon winner. I will change that into the correct symbol when I format.
Each abstract should be saved individually with the following naming convention: LastName FirstInitial Campus, so mine would be Smith B Warsaw. If you can drop these all into a single folder for your campus, that makes things easier for me in terms of organizing and alphabetizing the final product. I've attached a sample of both a ribbon winner, and a non-ribbon winner for you to see formatting.
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