Sustainability Camp Curriculum

COMMUNITY AND CITIZEN CONTRIBUTION

Time:     3hrs (full block)
Place:    Tofino Botanical Gardens and possibly various locations

Overview

Sustainability camp aims to maintain a strong focus on action oriented learning and community service. Many environmental education programs help learners build new awareness and put them on a path for taking action, but rarely do they allow learners to actually field-test their ideas in a real-world context during the program. Sustainability camp aims to do this. Studies on the effectiveness of environmental education programs have shown that hands-on learning set within a community context were most effective in prompting learners to share their knowledge and experience with their parents and fellow community members. This full block is dedicated to students designing and delivering a small action project where they make a contribution the community.

* Please note this activity must be introduced a few days in advance so that by the time of this block, students have action project ideas and small groups formed (see Program Flow)

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

Any or all of the following may apply:

• Grade 7 Science: Assess the requirements for sustaining healthy local ecosystems; Evaluate human impacts on local ecosystems.
• Grade 6 and 7 Physical Education: Participate safely in activities in a natural or alternative setting; an outdoor experience; Follow rules, routines and procedures of safety in a variety of activities; Identify and demonstrate positive behaviours that show respect for individuals’ potential, interests and cultural backgrounds.
• Grade 6 and 7 Social Studies: Identify and clarify a problem, issue or inquiry.
• Grade 7 Social Studies: Evaluate the impact of natural processes and human-induced changes in communities.
• Grade 6 Language Arts: Demonstrate a willingness to assume a variety of roles in group interactions.
• Grade 7 Language Arts: Create personal and informational communications, instructions, reports and lyrics; Develop strategies for resolving conflict and solving problems.
• Grade 6 Personal Planning: Encourage others to contribute to a safe school and community.
• Grade 6 Fine Arts: Demonstrate respect for the work of self and others.
• Grade 7 Fine Arts: Demonstrate leadership and responsibility within a group.

Objectives

• Students will understand that they play an important role in contributing, as citizens and community members, to creating ecological sustainability. They may also learn that making such a contribution can be a very rewarding experience.
• Students will engage in an action project of their own design that makes a real contribution to the local or regional (or provincial) community. Students may learn a variety of action skills, such as observation, investigation and inferencing skills, organization skills, communication skills, research skills, presentation skills, conflict resolution skills.
• Students will share their action projects with their peers through presentations, including their own reflections on what they learned through the process.

Materials

• Students may require a variety of materials, depending on the projects they choose. As students will have chosen their projects in advance, you should be able to have most materials ready for them. Keep it simple though!

Procedure

1. Introduction – DO THIS IN ADVANCE! (as an evening session on Day 3 – see Program Flow). Discuss with students how they have learned and experienced a lot so far at camp (and hopefully have been reflecting on that learning). Explain that an important part of learning new things, is acting on them. Explain that on (whatever day it will be – Day 5 Afternoon as per Program Flow) students will have the entire afternoon to deliver a small action project. Talk about what an action project is, or might be, using examples from the list below.
2. Encourage students to come up with their own ideas and make a decision and commitment in small groups. You will likely want students to form their groups on the evening you introduce the block, or by the next morning. Groups can be any size (2 to 6 people).
3. Some students may be very motivated and excited and want to develop their own idea. Some may just want a simple service learning exercise. Use the list of ideas below as a starter. Be flexible, and allow students to pursue their own aspirations, but be sure to focus on positive projects and courses of action.
4. Clearly explain that students will have from now (evening, or whenever the action project is introduced) until the Community and Citizen Contribution block to choose an action project they want to do and tell the facilitator. They can talk with their teachers, fellow students, and facilitators over the next few days to decide. When they decide on a project, also have them tell you what materials they may need. Remember – when you start the afternoon block, students should already be in groups and have their idea decided (you don’t want to waste time during the block doing this!)
5. Tell students that on the last day of camp, they will present their action projects to the rest of the class (ie. 5min presentation).
6. Students will have this entire block (block 9) to develop and complete their action projects. Ask a teacher, facilitator, parent chaperone to accompany each group during the block. Some projects will likely include travel into town, the beach or elsewhere.

ACTION PROJECT IDEAS:
Below are examples of action projects that could be used or adapted. Encourage students to come up with their own ideas, but you can use these as starters:

• Go on a biodiversity detective tour through local stores in the community, and record evidence of the world’s biodiversity found. Students could go into hardware, furniture, grocery, electronic stores, lumberyards, and others.

• Plan and build a model of a green town or city. Students could write a letter to the mayor and council and present their model.

• Conduct a bird survey and write an article for the local paper.

• Set up an information booth in town for a couple of hours on a topic of interest that students wish to share with others.

• Invite a local government official to The Ecolodge and conduct an interview about a topic of interest.

• Conduct a survey of the public (ie. on the streets in town) on a topic of interest.

• Conduct a supermarket survey in a grocery store(s). Focus on a theme, such as product packaging (overpackaging!), where in the world food comes from, or other themes.

• Make a brochure to hand out to people on the street in town. Brochure could be about climate change, biodiversity, water – any issue of interest.

• Interview local businesses about their views or practices relating to an issue.

• Make bookmarks about local wildlife (or other) and hand them out to people on the streets or on the beach.

• Design the menu for a low eco-footprint dinner for the entire class. Maybe they could even cook it!

• Make light switch covers to hand out to people – light switch cover outlines can be easily traced on paper and decorated with images and words such as “Turn out the lights!”, “Turn me off!”, etc.

• Make paper (easy to find recipes on internet), and send cards to people or organizations that have helped create positive change. (ie. students could research organizations they support and send thank you cards)

• Write a press release about what you learned at camp and send it to local media.

• Conduct a beach clean up or some broom bashing (removing invasive species)

• Spend the afternoon with Streamkeepers