Tolerance
Elementary School - April 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.
Tolerance is the ability to recognize and respect the differences,
values, and beliefs of other people. Just in time for Earth Day, your
students can learn about tolerance as it relates to environmental
issues. Through participation in local Earth Day activities and
research, students will be able to educate themselves about
environmental issues affecting our county, state, and country.
Please see the Announcements section below to complete the Character Education
Science FCAT Warm-Up Newsletter Survey to help the Broward County better assess your
needs.
Earth Day Grocery Bag Project
Sunshine State Standards: SC.G.2.2, SC.D.2.2
The Earth Day Groceries Project is an activity that promotes
environmental awareness in a school and its community. It is a free
activity that thousands of schools around the world will be involved in
on Earth Day, April 22, 2010. The basic idea is this: a school obtains
large paper grocery bags from a local grocery store, students at the
school decorate the bags with colorful environmental messages, the
bags are returned to the store, and the store hands them out (filled
with groceries) to shoppers on Earth Day.
Earth
Day
2010
There is no cost for doing this project, but there are some arrangements to be made ahead of
time. The single most important contact is with the manager of a local grocery store. A person
at the school (principal or designee) should contact the grocer well in advance and ask for the
loan of a "bundle" (that's 500) of large paper grocery bags.
Once the contact has been made and the bags received, one person or committee should
coordinate the effort for the school or classrooms that will be involved in decorating the bags.
This is where part of the excitement and education really begins, as students decide what kind
of environmental message and artwork they would like to have on some shopper's grocery
bag for Earth Day.
Delivering the bags to the store can be made into a field trip for a classroom or small student
group. This is also a great opportunity to alert the local media. Many schools have reported
positive TV, radio, and newspaper coverage of the event.
There is a World Wide web site coordinating this project. The Earth Day Groceries Project is
one of the oldest and largest educational activities on the Internet. The web site began as part
of Arbor Heights Elementary School, and is now operated by a nonprofit organization.
The last piece of a school's participation is for someone at the school to submit a report on the
project web site. The school's report will then be listed along with hundreds of others who
have participated. This year, 2010, is the seventeenth year this project has been
coordinated on the Internet! Every report from the first ten years, from high schools to
kindergarten classes, is archived at the web site. There are also pictures from many schools
showing some of their students involved in the project.
Four Simple Steps
1. Borrow. Contact a local grocery store that uses large paper grocery bags. See if the
manager will let you "borrow" enough bags so that each student in your school can decorate
one. Let the manager know about the project and its environmental education message, of
course! Grocers usually get these bags in "bundles" of 500.
2. Decorate. Have students at school decorate the bags with pictures of the earth,
environmental messages, the name of your school, etc. Be creative! DO NOT allow students
to write their last names on any bags.
3. Deliver. A couple of days before Earth Day you and/or your students return the decorated
bags to the grocery store - with many thanks to the manager! The store then distributes these
bags (full of groceries) to happy and amazed shoppers on Earth Day.
4. Report. Fill out the Report Form on the project web site with a count of how many bags
your school made. Please, only one report per school. All reports will be posted on the Earth
Day Groceries site at: http://www.earthdaybags.org
You do not need to sign up or register, just have a great time with the project! For more
information, check the Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.earthdaybags.org/faqs.htm.
Another Idea: If you can't use paper bags, you can have your students decorate individual
fliers, or even bookmarks, which can be handed out to shoppers or inserted in their shopping
bags. These will be counted in the project tally, so do send in your report!
Go Green
Climate Change
Broward County Kids
Corner
Naturescape Broward
Earth Day Activity Book
Sunshine State Standards: SC.G.2.2, SC.D.2.2
Please visit the Environmental Protection Agency’s Educational Page and download the Earth
Activity Book at http://www.epa.gov/region5/publications/happy/happy.pdf.
Have your students complete the entire activity book.
Upon completion, have the students write a 250 word essay on what they have learned as a
result of completing the activities.
Some questions to think of are:
1. What are some things that the students will do around their house and share with their
parents to help save water, save energy, recycle, and keep the air clean?
2. What were the results of the “Taking care of the earth everyday activity”?
3. What are some things that they will do to celebrate Earth Day 2010 on April 22?
Take the Character Education Newsletter
Teacher Survey and Win Prizes!
Please take a few minutes to complete the Character Education Science FCAT Warm-Up
Newsletter Survey to help Broward County better assess your needs. This survey can be
completed by selecting this link or on-line by visiting www.broward.org/kids/ce. Your
candid feedback is appreciated. To thank you for your time, all responses that are received
(no later than June 4, 2010) will be entered into a drawing for a Disney "Sacred Planet" DVD
and the book "The Rough Guide to Climate Change" by Robert Henson. Thank you for the
opportunity to work with you and your students.
May is Air Awareness Month!
May is Air Quality Awareness Month and the Broward County Pollution Prevention,
Remediation & Air Quality Division in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, and local community partners are sponsoring a series of educational events and
exhibits to increase awareness about important air quality issues. Visit the Air Awareness
Month web site at www.broward.org/air for more information.
Spread the Word!!!
Subscribe to our electronic Character Education Science FCAT Warm-up Newsletters
Today!
The monthly edition of this newsletter is distributed only through a FREE electronic e-mail
subscriber list. E-mail the Broward County Pollution Prevention, Remediation & Air Quality
Division at airoutreach@broward.org to ensure that you continue to receive this valuable
curriculum resource. The newsletters are also available on our Environmental Kids Club web
site at www.broward.org/kids. Archived copies of the newsletter are also available through the
School Board’s BEEP system.