The Big Idea
My project, Geometry Goes Green, is aimed at helping sophomore math students develop a higher consciousness about being environmentally responsible. Through projects and explorations within the geometry curriculum, we will explore real-world applications that will not only deepen the students’ understanding of the mathematical concepts, but also increase their knowledge of conditions that hurt our environment along with ways in which they may help to reverse that trend. Here are some of the ways that I plan to integrate issues of environmental awareness within our geometry classes and for students to take what they are learning into their community.
We will focus primarily on three terms: reduce, reuse, and recycle. This year all freshmen and sophomore students at Carver Military Academy, named after botanist and inventor George Washington Carver, will have access to their own Chromebooks. As an introduction to the significance of this project, I will introduce the students to how George Washington Carver was regarded as an early leader in promoting environmentalism through his extensive research in agriculture. Since each 10th grader will have a Chromebook, this will be a wonderful opportunity for us to reduce the use of paper and provide the students with more opportunities to use technology in lieu of traditional worksheets or paper and pencil assessments.
I will assign a project in which students will pick an environmental topic, research and present it. Students will have an opportunity to explore various topics which might interest them: (i.e. Waste Production, Consumption, Alternate forms of Energy, Water Quality, Global Warming, Pollution, Environmental Justice, etc.) Once students have had an opportunity to complete their research, we will then institute an Environmental Day at our school and plan for it to take place on report card pick up day. This way students could not only present their projects to other students, but they may present them to visiting parents and younger siblings who are attending the school on that day.
I will help facilitate a student-led recycling program within the school. Students will set up an electronic recycling station where they could collect broken electronics and take them to a nearby recycling facility. Students could also set up a donation box for old books, toys, clothing and have a charity pick up their donations every month or two. Additionally, we will find ways to reuse paper within our school building and encourage students to use and refill reusable water bottles instead of plastic bottles.
I will search for ways to fund an environmentally informative field trip to either local landfill, recycling center or alternative energy plant. This field trip could not only help promote environmental awareness, but it could also provide our math department with an opportunity to professionally collaborate with other academic departments within our school and, through this effort, we could co-plan several interdisciplinary activities.
A local church recently began the installation of a “green roof”. We will closely track that project and examine the geometry involved in the architecture and construction of a green roof, how it will provide alternate forms of energy, how it will lower energy costs, and how it will collect and cleanse rainwater. Through deliberate and careful observation of this project in real time, I am hopeful that students will additionally discover the possibilities and options for them to pursue careers that will benefit the planet, conserve natural resources, or provide for more environmentally sustainable solutions in the future.
We will focus primarily on three terms: reduce, reuse, and recycle. This year all freshmen and sophomore students at Carver Military Academy, named after botanist and inventor George Washington Carver, will have access to their own Chromebooks. As an introduction to the significance of this project, I will introduce the students to how George Washington Carver was regarded as an early leader in promoting environmentalism through his extensive research in agriculture. Since each 10th grader will have a Chromebook, this will be a wonderful opportunity for us to reduce the use of paper and provide the students with more opportunities to use technology in lieu of traditional worksheets or paper and pencil assessments.
I will assign a project in which students will pick an environmental topic, research and present it. Students will have an opportunity to explore various topics which might interest them: (i.e. Waste Production, Consumption, Alternate forms of Energy, Water Quality, Global Warming, Pollution, Environmental Justice, etc.) Once students have had an opportunity to complete their research, we will then institute an Environmental Day at our school and plan for it to take place on report card pick up day. This way students could not only present their projects to other students, but they may present them to visiting parents and younger siblings who are attending the school on that day.
I will help facilitate a student-led recycling program within the school. Students will set up an electronic recycling station where they could collect broken electronics and take them to a nearby recycling facility. Students could also set up a donation box for old books, toys, clothing and have a charity pick up their donations every month or two. Additionally, we will find ways to reuse paper within our school building and encourage students to use and refill reusable water bottles instead of plastic bottles.
I will search for ways to fund an environmentally informative field trip to either local landfill, recycling center or alternative energy plant. This field trip could not only help promote environmental awareness, but it could also provide our math department with an opportunity to professionally collaborate with other academic departments within our school and, through this effort, we could co-plan several interdisciplinary activities.
A local church recently began the installation of a “green roof”. We will closely track that project and examine the geometry involved in the architecture and construction of a green roof, how it will provide alternate forms of energy, how it will lower energy costs, and how it will collect and cleanse rainwater. Through deliberate and careful observation of this project in real time, I am hopeful that students will additionally discover the possibilities and options for them to pursue careers that will benefit the planet, conserve natural resources, or provide for more environmentally sustainable solutions in the future.