Citizenship
Middle School
November 2014
Introduction
Citizenship is knowing, understanding, and displaying a high regard for rules, laws, government, heritage, and for those
who have served and sacrificed for community and country. America Recycles Day is November 15th. The activity in this
newsletter encourages students to think about the benefits of recycling and the important role they play in the recycling
programs already established (hopefully) in their schools and neighborhoods.
We are pleased to announce our very popular annual poster contest. This year, the poster contest theme is Broward
100: Celebrating 100 Years of Environmental Protection. Please see announcements below for more information.
Activity: How Much Paper Do I Use?
OBJECTIVE: For students to get a real view of how much paper they use.
MATERIALS: Bathroom scale
 For one week, have students weigh all the paper in the blue bin and the trash in the trash can at the end of
each day.
o To weigh trash, weigh the empty can at the beginning of the experiment to get a weight. Then, each day
weigh the can with trash in it and subtract the difference – that’s how much trash is in the can.
o If your school only picks up blue bins once a week, weigh it each day and subtract the difference from the
previous day. That will tell you how much went into the bin that particular day.
 Track the weights on separate sheets – create graphs.
 Also, make note of anything that does not belong in the bin (take them out and weigh with the trash).
 Check the results at the end of the week.
o Have a discussion at the end – Did we recycle more than we threw away? (This can fit into a math lesson –
calculate the ratio). What kinds of things were in the blue bin that did not belong? Can we do better about
putting things in the correct bin? How?
o Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees. How many trees did the class save over one week from the paper
they recycled?
Resource: https://ocrra.org/app/webroot/img/gallery/File/downloads/recycle-school-elementary-072312.pdf
Announcements
POSTER CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!
Theme: Broward 100: Celebrating 100 Years of Environmental Protection
For this poster contest, students should design a poster (winners will be featured in the 2016 calendar) showcasing
environmental protection in Broward County through the past 100 years. Examples can include saving our air quality,
trees and mangroves, animals (panthers, sea turtles, and coral reefs), beaches, recycling and also highlight how climate
change issues have grown in the past 100 years. On the back of the poster the students should describe their
environmental protection concept and what changes have taken place over the past 100 years, especially here in
Broward County.
For complete contest rule and more information, please visit the Kids Club Contests page.
Everyday Green Expo
Located at Quiet Waters Park (Shelter #10)
401 S. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach
Saturday, November 15th from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Learn about environmental issues. Discover new ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Create treasures from trash and
experience how to live greener every day.
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Kids’ Corner
Food Trucks
Movie Area
Planting Ceremony
Trash-to-Treasure Demonstrations
Florida-Friendly Landscaping Demonstrations
Recycling and Donation Drop-Off for Electronics and Paint
Spread the Word!
Subscribe to our FREE electronic Environmental Character Education Newsletters Today!
The monthly edition of this newsletter is distributed only through a FREE electronic e-mail subscriber list. E-mail the
Broward County Air Quality program at airoutreach@broward.org to receive this valuable curriculum resource. The
newsletters are also available on our Environmental Kids Club web site at www.broward.org/kids.
Broward Air Quality Index School Flag Program
The Broward Air Quality Index (AQI) School Flag Program helps children, parents, the community and school personnel
become aware of daily outdoor air quality conditions using brightly colored flags. Each day, a flag is raised in
participating schools that signals the level of air pollution for that day and will be followed up with a mention during the
school’s morning announcements. The flag colors correspond to the colors used in the Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality Index, which tells how clean or polluted the air is for that day. When members of the school
and the surrounding community know what the daily air quality is, they can adjust their activities to reduce their
exposure to air pollution. Visit our website for more information on the Broward AQI School Flag Program.
Sawgrass Nature Center & Wildlife Hospital Benefit
The “Moonlight Masquerade Gala,“ which is the 17th annual benefit for the Sawgrass Nature Center & Wildlife Hospital,
is being held at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at the Plaza del Lago at Heron Bay, 11535 Osprey Trail in
Parkland. The evening’s festivities will include cocktails, appetizers, dinner, dessert, entertainment and a fabulous silent
and live auction. Come support environmental education and native wildlife and have a great time too! Follow the
Sawgrass Nature Center link for ticket information.
South FL Audubon Society: Plantation Preserve Birding
Saturday, November 15 - South Florida Audubon Society’s Paddy Cunningham invites TAS to join her for a tour of
Plantation Preserve in central Broward County. The preserve is on Broward Blvd., two miles east of University Drive.
Meet Paddy at 8:00am at the trailhead past the playground. Lunch at a local restaurant will follow. No fee.
For more information on both events, visit the South FL Audubon Calendar of Events page.
Important Links
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Environmental Character Education Newsletters
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Broward County Air Quality Program
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Broward County Environmental Kids Club
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NatureScape Broward
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STEM and Instructional Resources, Broward County Public Schools
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Broward County Public Schools Environmental Stewardship
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Facebook: Broward Environment
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YouTube: Broward Environment
This year’s newsletters support the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science
Grade 6 – Big Idea 1: The Practice of Science; Big Idea 2: The Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge; Big Idea 3: The
Role of Theories, Laws, Hypotheses & Models
Grade 7 – Big Idea 1: The Practice of Science; Big Idea 2: The Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge; Big Idea 3: The
Role of Theories, Laws, Hypotheses & Models; Big Idea 6: Earth Structures
Grade 8 - Big Idea 1: The Practice of Science; Big Idea 2: The Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge; Big Idea 3: The
Role of Theories, Laws, Hypotheses & Models
Common Core State Standards for Literacy & Mathematics embedded throughout.