ecology projects

[Nova]

The last couple months of school I worked with a group of kids that named themselves EcoPolice. They built and maintained a compost bin and they made the biofilter for the fish pond, which is still doing very well. I stopped by school today to clean the filter material around the pump and everything is running fine.

Next year, I need more projects because I will start a new group of EcoPolice as soon as school starts. One project I want to do is recycle crayons. I will have the group put a box in every classroom where broken and unwanted crayons can be collected. Then they will melt the crayons down and make new crayons in different shapes and multicolored. I am going see if the kids could then sell the crayons at school and at an Earth day event to make money for the environmental club supplies and supplies for the courtyard.

Another project is learn about solar power. Making solar ovens to cook some brownies and other good food as well as simple machines using solar panels. I will spend the summer looking for small solar panels they could use.

So what other environmental ideas does anyone have that elementary school kids could do. I want to eventually have a project that helps the community.

 

[DrDave]

Great Idea!
This could be a great thread if we can keep the chat down and the technology going.

 

[addy1]

save pieces of almost gone soap (hotel soap bars), melt form bars to give away.

 

[fishin4cars]

Candle wax! same as crayons, collect and melt down, form a mold, add one or more wicks, make a large candle at the end of the years and give it as a award.

 

[j.w]

How about growing plants and trees from seed or propagation.
Here is a site I found on the net w/ some cute ideas:

http://crafts.kaboose.com/egg-carton-buggy-mobile.html

 

[Nova]

The first graders work with a local co-op to grow vegetables. The unused plants will be put into the EcoPolice compost bin and the compost used in the vegetable gardens.

There is space in the courtyard, if I could pull it off is a green house made from 2 liter soda bottles. It would not have to be as big as I have seen on the internet but this way the kids could grow vegetables during the winter, recycle and learn about solar energy all in one.

The crayons I like and the candle idea because it helps teach about states of matter changing from solid to liquid and solid again.

 

[taherrmann4]

The last couple months of school I worked with a group of kids that named themselves EcoPolice. They built and maintained a compost bin and they made the biofilter for the fish pond, which is still doing very well. I stopped by school today to clean the filter material around the pump and everything is running fine.

Next year, I need more projects because I will start a new group of EcoPolice as soon as school starts. One project I want to do is recycle crayons. I will have the group put a box in every classroom where broken and unwanted crayons can be collected. Then they will melt the crayons down and make new crayons in different shapes and multicolored. I am going see if the kids could then sell the crayons at school and at an Earth day event to make money for the environmental club supplies and supplies for the courtyard.

Another project is learn about solar power. Making solar ovens to cook some brownies and other good food as well as simple machines using solar panels. I will spend the summer looking for small solar panels they could use.

So what other environmental ideas does anyone have that elementary school kids could do. I want to eventually have a project that helps the community.

Not sure if this would qualify for an ecology project but you could get the area by the pond certified, I have attached a link for you to check out. I have had my backyard certified for several years now.

http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outd...4f9ecae9f-A07C0129-5056-A84B-C3A811F260342F41

 

[mogsie]

perhaps you and the kids could collect all the waste paper from school, and recycle it, you could recycle it into ecobricks which are used to burn on heating stoves instead of wood/coal, here is the info on making them :http://www.ehow.com/how_7338964_make-paper-fire-bricks.html
or ime sure there is info somewhere on making recycled paper insulation blocks !

what age are the kids ? maybe you could try a joint ecology/physics project and have the kids making a wind turbine to provide electricity even if its just enough to power a light by the pond ! ile have a think of some others also,
there is a lot more recycling projects but you do have to consider the kids health/ hygiene regarding the projects they get involved in !

 

[addy1]

Not sure if this would qualify for an ecology project but you could get the area by the pond certified, I have attached a link for you to check out. I have had my backyard certified for several years now.

http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outd...4f9ecae9f-A07C0129-5056-A84B-C3A811F260342F41

Neat I am going to do that. We have around 5....4 inch baby rabbits living among our plants, tons of birds. I never use bug spray and find the bugs start disappearing due to the predators that you are no longer killing.

 

[taherrmann4]

Here are some:

*worm composter for some of the caffeteria waste (obviously not all the kitchen waste or you would need a worm farm)

*Make a rainbarrel to water the plants

*You could have the kids collect the plastic shopping bags and get with a company like trex to recycle them into park benches. (did this with a company I used to work for several years ago right before the whole recycling of those plastic bags from the grocery store became more popular at least around here, we had several benches made and put them into parks).

*Have the kids collect aluminum cans and they can reinvest the money they get back into their pond or garden area.

*You could make a solar hot water heater (not sure what you would use it for in the garden). Saw this on tv once and it looked pretty neat. They used the black tubing that koiguy uses on his floating planter rings and put it on a 4x4 sheet of plywood painted black and the tubing was attached to that in a circular pattern, it was attached to a small pump. They used to warm their pool.

*Grow their own barley to use in the pond or you could take some and make your own beer.:lol:

 

[Nova]

Great ideas thanks. Don't think the school would let me make beer. lol
This is an elementary school the kids I work with are only 10 or 11 years old.

I was thinking of a rainbarrel and the cafeteria manager has agreed to give us vegetables left over from the food prep for our compost bin. Next spring the kids will use one garden bed for sunflowers and other bird seed plants to help feed the birds.

The area they will mostly tend to is an interior courtyard so anything wind powered would not really work. But I do want to come up with solar projects.

Paper is already being recycled but I do like the paper brick idea. I would like to start the school recycling cans and plastic as well.

 

[Nova]

I googled the brick maker and there are not too many places in the US that has them. A lot more in the UK.

 

[mogsie]

we used to make wine in chemistry class at school ! we didnt get any but mr cox our chemistry teacher took it all home with him !!!

 

[addy1]

we used to make wine in chemistry class at school ! we didnt get any but mr cox our chemistry teacher took it all home with him !!!

Well mogsie, your teach didn't want to be accused of teaching you all how to be winos! Was it good wine? sounds like a neat way to learn

 

[mogsie]

addy apparently he done this project with pupils every year !! he was on to a winner with that one wasnt he ! saved himself a small fortune