Honesty
Middle School - February 2010
Character Education
Newsletters
Broward County Air
Quality Program
The Broward County Pollution Prevention, Remediation & Air
Quality Division continues to incorporate Character Education into
its educational efforts. Each month the newsletter will relate core
values to science and the environment in an effort to educate
students about good character and the importance of protecting
our natural resources. The curriculum resources and materials
provided include the applicable FCAT Science Test Item
Specifications.
February’s character trait is honesty. This month the theme is
reducing your carbon footprint through green shopping. Most people remember to recycle, but it is
just as important to monitor the items brought into your home/school/business and your shopping
habits. Some important things to remember include taking reusable shopping bags with you to the
store, comparing products and purchasing the ones with less and recyclable packaging, and
purchasing reusable products, such as rechargeable batteries and cloth instead of paper towels and
napkins. Speaking of which, when given the choice, be sure to purchase paper products containing
recycled content instead of those made of plastic. For more green shopping tips, visit
http://earth911.com/blog/2009/07/27/green-shopping-101/.
Make Your Own Reusable Shopping Bag
Sunshine State Standards: SC.D.2.2; SC.G.2.1
Taking your own reusable bag to the store with you is often a first step for those seeking to go green.
It’s easy, inexpensive, and makes a real difference. The truth is that both plastic and paper bags can
be bad for the environment.
Reusable bags often hold more and are sturdier, putting an end to the days of heavy items bursting
through the bag and onto the asphalt. The trend is spreading. Bags are becoming a fashion, as well
as, an eco-friendly statement.
Sometimes, the toughest part is remembering to take the bags into the store. Keep them in the car
rather than the house.
Using an old T-shirt to make a reusable shopping or grocery bag is a fun and clever activity that will
help everyone be “green”.
Tools and Materials:
Heavy-weight cotton T-shirt
Pins
Sewing machine
Medium size bowl
Water-erasable pen
Scissors
Teacher Preparation:
Bring in a sewing machine or sewing utensils for the elaboration of the bags.
T-shirt Bag Instructions:
1. Turn T-shirt inside out and pin bottom of the T-shirt along the hem. Using a sewing machine, sew
bottom of T-shirt closed. Flip shirt right side out and lay flat on table, making sure all seams are
lined up.
2. Place medium-size bowl about half-way over the neck hole. Using a water-erasable marking pen,
trace along the edge of the bowl. Cut along the outline, making sure to go through the front and
back sides of the shirt, in order to create an opening for the bag that's larger than what the neck
hole allows.
3. Line up the hems on the front and back side of the sleeve and cut the sleeve off, making sure to go
through both sides of the shirt. Repeat on the other sleeve. You’re hand-made T-shirt bag is now
ready to use.
Tip: A jersey shirt would also work well for this craft, as it is already sleeveless, and it's made of a
great mesh material.
Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/good-thing-t-shirt-bag.
Go Green Shopping Activity
Sunshine State Standards: SC.D.2.2; SC.G.2.1
The following exercise takes students through a set of stations that contain everyday products.
Directions: The teacher should ask the students to name characteristics that affect their decisions to
buy a piece of clothing, a toy, electronics, food or whatever they might purchase. Provide them with
this example: today you are going to buy a new shirt. What kinds of things are you going to think about
before purchasing this item? Write these characteristics on the board for everyone follow.
Typical responses include:
 Price
 Style or color
 Quality and durability
 Brand
 Material
Tell the students that today’s exercise is to go shopping in the classroom with the goal of making good
“green” choices on the products they purchase and whether or not they affect the environment in
anyway. (Teachers may go in detail as of how certain materials take longer time to degrade or how it is
better to consume organic products, etc).
Day 1: To prepare for this activity, the teacher should gather the following products to show the next
day and/or as a homework assignment, ask students to bring in some of these items:
Aluminum cans
Glass bottle
Go Green
Climate Change
Broward County Kids
Corner
Naturescape Broward
Plastic container
Juice containers (see station 3)
Incandescent light bulb
Compact fluorescent light bulb (teacher only)
Chips or crackers
School notebooks (with and without recycled content)
Fruits and vegetables
Grocery bags (plastic, paper and reusable)
The Activity (Day 2)
Part 1 - Set up seven small stations in the classroom to showcase each type of product. On a white
board, list the stations, what products are available at each, and what important information they
should think about at each. Below is the list of stations and the information to consider.
Station 1- Beverage & Food Containers

Plastic beverage & food containers

Glass bottles

Aluminum and steel cans
Discuss recyclable materials such as plastics, glass and aluminum. In Broward County, we can
recycle plastics #1 and 2, all color glass (except blue) and all aluminum & steel cans.
Station 2- Light Bulbs

Incandescent light bulbs

Compact fluorescent bulbs
Discuss the benefits of switching from incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs. Introduce
students to energy-conscious brands such as the Energy Star Label. Discuss where local energy
comes from: does it come from burning coal or from nuclear energy? A majority of students may not
understand the connection between leaving the lights on in a room and carbon dioxide emissions.
Station 3- Juice

Single serving juice container made of plastic #4

Large plastic container made of HDPE

Juice in #1 clear plastic
Discuss materials used in single serving packaging, recyclability of containers and time required to
decompose.
Station 4- Chips or Crackers

Bag of organic chips

Bag of inorganic chips

Single-serving packages of any chips boxed in more packaging
Discuss bulk vs. single serving size, packaging costs and wastes, and organic vs. inorganic.
Station 5- School Notebooks

Virgin paper notebook

Recycled-content notebook (various percentages)

Chlorine-free recycled paper
Discuss the idea of buying recycled and “closing the loop” in manufacturing i.e. making sure the waste
generated in the process finds other ways of being useful.
Station 6- Fruit or Vegetables

Select fruit or vegetables with local, imported and organic labels
Discuss transportation, energy, and water costs and health implications of pesticides.
Station 7– Bags

Brown paper grocery bag

Plastic grocery bag

Organic cotton bag, hemp bag, reusable grocery sack made from recycled plastic
Discuss the hierarchy of reduce, reuse, then recycle as well as the kinds of resources used to make all
three bags and how long they will last. Discuss why reusing a bag over and over is better for the
environment than simply recycling a bag (no greenhouse gas emissions emitted when simply reusing a
bag).
Part 2 - Tell the students that seven stations have been placed around the room where they have to
make imaginary purchases; keeping in mind that the goal is to purchase items that have the least
impact on the environment. Key things to remember are packaging, transportation costs & fossil fuel
use, pollutants associated with making the product, and disposability of the product.
Have each student visit each station and write down on in a notebook what could be purchased at
each station as a “green purchase.” Be sure they reference the discussion items written on the board
for each station. When the students are finished with all stations, have them go back to their seats and
begin the discussion and comparison of the purchased products. Explaining why each green purchase
has less impact on the environment. After discussing the choices of each station, ask for a volunteer
for each station of products to write on the board one helpful hint to keep in mind when shopping. Then
have one student (with legible handwriting or a word processor handy) combine all the hints onto one
document labeled Our Green Sheet and then copy or print that paper for each class member-preferably on recycled paper! Encourage the students to share the guide with their parents and friends
and to consult it to make their next shopping trip a green one!
Shopping Green Word Search
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Michael went to the grocery store to make purchases for the week. While there, he decided to
purchase oranges, milk, cereal, batteries, and shampoo. With green purchasing as a goal, which of
the following is most important for Michael to consider at the store?
A. The cost of each item
B. How fresh the oranges, milk, and cereal are
C. The transportation involved in delivering the items
D. The packaging of the products, transportation involved, and waste generated after being used
E. Remembering his reusable bags
Answer: D
2010 Poster Contest
Theme: Climate Change Impacts & Solutions Around the World
Open to Elementary & Middle School Students
Prizes Include Tickets to Local Attractions
In December 2009, the United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Copenhagen,
Denmark. Participants from 192 countries met to create a coherent global response to climate change.
In commemoration of this conference, the theme for Broward County’s 2010 poster contest is “Climate
Change Impacts & Solutions Around the World” and will focus on the impacts associated with the
changes in the climate and the solutions taken by communities around the world. Examples of impacts
include Arctic sea ice melting and coastal community impacts around the world. Example of solutions
include hydrogen-powered buses in Berlin, wind farms in Brazil, the banning of plastic grocery bags in
San Francisco, and the use of geothermal power in Greenland. All the impacts and solutions raise
awareness of world-wide issues and set in place actions to help reduce our carbon footprint through
mitigation actions and responses on how to adapt to those impacts.
Please visit http://www.broward.org/kids/kidsclubcontest.htm for contest rules and further information.
SPREAD THE WORD!!!
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subscriber list. E-mail the Broward County Air Quality Program at airoutreach@broward.org to ensure
that you continue to receive this valuable curriculum resource. The newsletters are also available on
our Website at www.broward.org/kids. Archived copies of the newsletter will also be made available
through the School Board’s BEEP system.
33rd Annual Waterway Cleanup
This year marks the 33rd Annual Marine Industries of South Florida’s Waterway Cleanup and the 18th
year of Environmental Protection & Growth Management Department participation. Over the past
thirty-two years, over 50,000 volunteers have removed an estimated total of nearly 1,850 TONS of
trash from the County’s waterways! This year, approximately thirty sites around the County are
scheduled to be cleaned up on:
Saturday, March 6th from 9:00a.m.-1:00p.m.
A full list of sites and additional information about the event can be found at:
http://miasf.org/waterwaycleanup/.
This year, you are encouraged to pre-register for your selected site online at the web address above.
This will assist the event’s planners in determining the number of T-shirts that need to be produced.
This event qualifies for student community service hours. This is a great way to make a visible
difference in the community as well as improve our environment.
C3 Challenge Winner
On February 9, 2010 the Broward County Board of County Commissioners recognized Gator Run
Elementary for winning the Conservation and Climate Change Challenge (C3 Challenge). The C3
challenge was an educational competition intended to engage students, teachers, school
administrators, staff, and parents in practical strategies to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gas emissions school-wide and at home.
Over 520 teachers from 42 schools participated in the challenge, by pledging to educate over 57,000
students on how to reduce their carbon footprint. As a result of the challenge, an estimated 9 million
pounds of carbon dioxide will be reduced through actions pledged during the campaign by all the
schools. This is equivalent to the energy used to power 530 households.
Broward County congratulates Gator Run Elementary for winning the first C3 challenge. Gator Run
had 72 teachers pledge to educate their students to reduce their carbon footprint at home and in
school. Through the commitment of teachers, students, parents and school administrators, the school
will reduce an estimated 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide. This is equivalent to the emissions
reduced by removing 139 passenger vehicles off the road. For more information about the challenge
visit www.broward.org/air/c3challenge.htm.