Instruction of environmental issues is integrated throughout our school's curriculum. All students at Mount View participate in our school-wide initiatives and are offered numerous opportunities to explore in greater depth environmental topics of personal interest. Field trips enhance our environmental objectives and give students first hand experience with solutions to environmental problems.
6th GRADE WATER CONSERVATION:
The
6th grade service-learning project, Kenya Connect, is an interdisciplinary project connecting Mount View Middle
School
students with schools in Kenya. Mount View students learn about African geography in their social studies classes and natural
resources in their science classes. To
foster sound water usage and conservation, students set goals for water
conservation at home and then connect their conservation
efforts with their care and generosity for the Wamunyu community in
Kenya by collecting
pledges from family and friends for each water conservation effort they make at home.
Through their efforts, they
have earned enough money to build 3 water towers for Kenyan schools! Part of the project has also been creating environmental games on ecology to
share with Wamunyu Primary School students, as well as becoming penpals with the students through English classes. Mount View's efforts are highlighted in this video from KenyaConnect: http://kenyaconnect.org/about.htm and the photo above shows the students in Kenya getting water from one of the towers that Mount View financed!
Content Connections:
Content Connections:
- math: calculating water conservation
- social studies: learning about African countries and geography
- science: learning about natural resources
- English: reading and writing personal letters
- art / design: creating bookmarks and environmental games
2010_parent_letter.doc | |
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6th GRADE RESEARCH PROJECTS:
The 6th grade research project combines reading, research, environmental science, and community awareness into a year long student centered project. Students work in small groups to identify an environmental issue in the community. Then they complete secondary research on their topic and construct a thesis statement. Using their thesis statement as a guide, students create original surveys and interview questions in order to collect primary research. Students may interview and/or survey members of the school as well as members of the local community. Primary data is collected and analyzed in order for students to propose a possible solution to the environmental issue that they have researched. This year, students have focused on problems such as air pollution, land development, invasive species, and water usage.
turfvalleyhousingdevelopmentpd3.docx | |
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6th GRADE OUTDOOR EDUCATION:
Each year in 6th grade, students participate in a 3 day / 2 night outdoor environmental education field trip at Camp Letts in Edgewater, MD. Camp Letts is located on a peninsula surrounded by the Broad Creek and Rhoades River and is an ideal location for students to learn about the local environment surrounding the Chesapeake Bay. Throughout the program, the sixth graders participate in a variety of lessons that use content area skills in an environmental setting, and they also engage in activities specific to environmental studies and the Chesapeake Bay.
Content Connections:
- math: calculating coordinates for an orienteering activity
- science: testing water quality
- social studies: learning about Native Americans' life on the Chesapeake Bay
- art: crafting bracelets from ultraviolet beads that react to UV levels in the atmosphere
- music: joining in campfire singalongs
- physical education: canoeing and playing relay games with environmental themes
Environmental Lessons:
- seining and identifying aquatic life in their natural habitat
- going canoeing and observe the erosion and weathering of the area's shoreline
- identifying blue crabs, horseshoe crabs, different species of fish, and other bay life
- playing a predator / prey eco game
- completing a scavenger hunt to identify plant and animal life native to Maryland
7th GRADE WATERSHED RESTORATION:
The seventh grade students participate in a cross curricular project to learn about the history, science, and economics of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Through a series of activities in each of their content classes, students gain the knowledge needed to volunteer at the Howard County Conservancy in Marriottsville, Maryland. The Conservancy is located in the school community and is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. During the field trip, students work to remove invasive species like the Multiflora rose that is native to Asia. The Multiflora rose has a short root system that cannot hold back sediment erosion, and as a result, more soil and silt is washed into the tributaries that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Removing the Multiflora allows native plant species to flourish. During the field trip, seventh grade students also work on the reforestation of the Conservancy's land. The students cut down old, sagging trees, and help plant new native hardwood trees, such as oak and maple.
Back at Mount View, students participate in a Waterman Presentation sponsored by the National Aquarium in Baltimore. During this experience, students learn about the history of the native people of the Chesapeake and the economy and science of the Chesapeake Bay. Students explore current issues related to the state of the bay, such as the harmful effects of pesticides and fertilizers on the populations of blue crabs.
Content Connections:
More detailed information about the the content connections is found in the detailed file below:
Back at Mount View, students participate in a Waterman Presentation sponsored by the National Aquarium in Baltimore. During this experience, students learn about the history of the native people of the Chesapeake and the economy and science of the Chesapeake Bay. Students explore current issues related to the state of the bay, such as the harmful effects of pesticides and fertilizers on the populations of blue crabs.
Content Connections:
- math: analyzing data about blue crab growth
- science: learning about watersheds and the Chesapeake Bay
- social studies: reading about the history of the Chesapeake Bay
- English: note taking and discussion of Chesapeake Borne
- reading: reading an article about the Chesapeake Blue Crab
More detailed information about the the content connections is found in the detailed file below:
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7th GRADE DEFORESTATION PROJECTS
7th grade social studies students enhance their learning of Latin America by conducting an in-depth examination of the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. Students use the knowledge they gain from their curricular readings, along with additional research, to identify the causes and effects of rain forest destruction. They then propose a feasible solution and either illustrate their findings or write an editorial summarizing their opinion based upon their research. Classroom discussions of the economic and political issues facing Central American countries highlight human impact on the environment and the myriad decisions that countries face when assessing economic development and sustainable environmental decisions.
8th GRADE CHANGE A BULB CAMPAIGN
Students in 8th grade science classes learn about energy measurements and conversions, the importance of energy conservation, and the way to calculate energy usage for both live appliances and phantom loads. After a series of lab activities and curricular exercises, students summarize their new knowledge in a persuasive brochure that compares how CFL and incandescent bulbs work and how their costs compare over their lifetimes. Students' brochures also dispel myths related to the perceived danger of the mercury in CFL bulbs and ask readers to take the Energy Star Pledge found on the school's website.
"MVMS participates in the ENERGY STAR Charge a Light, Change the World" campaign, a partnership between the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and organizations across the country to encourage individuals to actively help save energy at home, starting with a switch to energy-efficient lighting."
Content Connections:
math: calculating the cost effectiveness of CFL and incandescent bulbs over their life time and the amount of pollution produced to light these light bulbs over their life time
English: writing persuasive letters
science: explaining comparisons between CFL and incandescent bulbs
technology: using a phantom load detector to measure and calculate the energy used by appliances when they are not being used but remain plugged in
art: incorporating visual aides that are informative and capture the eye of the reader
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7th / 8th GRADE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION:
Mount
View Middle has developed a new environmental course for 7th and 8th
grade advanced level readers. Students are given one marking quarter to
learn about environmental issues and to design an environmental project
that effects change in the school community. Rather than simply research and suggest solutions, students are expected to sequence a plan to implement the projects. These advanced inquiry
and innovation projects create an energy in our school as students
become the leaders of our efforts to go green. From assessing the
feasibility of installing low flow faucets to sponsoring a shoe
recycling campaign, the projects are diverse in nature and reflect the
environmental concerns of the students who design and run the projects. Over 1/4 of the school's student body will have participated in this class by the end of the 2010-2011 school year
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GT SEMINARS
All interested students from all three grades are invited to participate in our GT seminars on environmental topics. This year's seminars included a debate team arguing the pros and cons of offshore drilling, our TV crew adding environmental news to its newscast, and a film seminar where students could script and record an environmental public service announcement.
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FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES (RELATED ARTS):
A member of the Master Gardeners association came to our school and demonstrated a raised salad garden. The idea is that you can grow your own vegetables so that you can use them to make a salad.
We learned how we can make the raised salad garden using 2 by 4's, screws, washers, bolts, nuts, chicken wire, a sheet of plastic, and duct tape. Then we learned how to make the actual garden using, soil, compost, growth pellets, water, and any seeds of our choice.
We are using this in our school as a source of salad ingredients for a salad in our FACS (Family and Consumer Science) curriculum. We are growing loose-leaf lettuce so that it can be harvested twice a year (spring and fall) and used as part of a lesson on frugal and healthy meal plans. We hope that our garden inspires everyone to grow their own lettuce at home! *WBS
We learned how we can make the raised salad garden using 2 by 4's, screws, washers, bolts, nuts, chicken wire, a sheet of plastic, and duct tape. Then we learned how to make the actual garden using, soil, compost, growth pellets, water, and any seeds of our choice.
We are using this in our school as a source of salad ingredients for a salad in our FACS (Family and Consumer Science) curriculum. We are growing loose-leaf lettuce so that it can be harvested twice a year (spring and fall) and used as part of a lesson on frugal and healthy meal plans. We hope that our garden inspires everyone to grow their own lettuce at home! *WBS