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Our Curriculums |
Ocean Explorers
The Program
"e" inc.'s Ocean Explorers curriculum addresses the delicate balance of the ocean's ecosystems. Students from K-8 act as experimenters and investigators diving in to explore the workings of water (where did it come from, how old is it, why is it salty) and carry out activities like drawing, modeling, writing, and data collection to assess the populations, habitats, and life cycles of fish, whales, birds, turtles, etc. Our children become experts in understanding how beings can live in and depend upon the ocean for survival.
Once our students have gained an understanding of the ocean environment
and feel more personally invested in its preservation, they generate
ideas about how to protect it. For example, our 3rd graders can become
yearlong protectors of their local storm drains while their 5th-grade
counterparts may write letters to seek further protection of whales
at Stellwagen Bank. Middle-schoolers can hold a 'teach-in' to share
their new knowledge about turtles with others in their community.
Action is key to any "e" inc. program and
our kids work to engage their peers and families, having them fill
a pledge so the students can cover their classroom's wall with pledges
that indicate how each signer will conserve or clean up local water.
Read our story below to hear how our children do in Ocean Explorers.
The Activities
When the "e" educator gets to the after school
room and the children see the water-filled bag, he is swamped with
questions and offers of help. The six fish so far seem unalarmed,
as if this fuss is their due but the excitement lasts the entire session
because today is the day the fish arrive to stay. As soon as the fish
are settled, the kids gather around the aquarium with a clipboard
and a line drawing of a fish. "Pick one of these fish and find out
what is distinct about them. Put a mark on the page where you see
something unusual and then let's tell each other what we notice. "Their
induction as scientific observers has begun.
Roaming the Amazon Rainforest
The Program
In "e" inc.'s "Roaming the Amazon Rainforest,"
students use their imaginations to become involved in the sights,
smells, and sounds of the rainforest environment. Children are immersed
in both the rainforest's beauty and the systems that drive its growth
and diversity, including how rainforests work as an ecology zone and
how their survival impacts our own. Through exciting activities: building
cardboard models, water and plant experiments, doing scavenger hunts,
reading stories, and creating a focal animal puppet, students are
engaged in the rich variety of plant and animal life in the rainforest
and come to understand the impact of their own actions in a more personal
way. Students then learn about what they can do in their daily lives
to preserve the rainforests, as they make personal pledges to take
these actions in a sustained way and involve their families and friends
in doing the same.
The Activities
It's Tuesday and the children at the Mission Hill Charter School After School program are already thrilled to be in the Amazon Rainforest once again. They are on their first scavenger hunt, looking for as many as 25 species hidden in the backyard trees while, on their data collection sheet, they demonstrate what level of the tree they have found their particular beings. We are about to investigate how animals of all sorts make a living in the rainforest and this hunt serves as both an initial introduction to the varieties of fascinating creatures in the forest, as well as, an inquiry into how animals sustain themselves there. What do they notice first? That the food and hence the number of vertebrate species, are concentrated in the canopy - the unceasing green food production zone of the rainforest. Next, we will try to understand why the soil is not rich below and hence, why fewer beings are found there.
Global Warming
The Program
How can we help children and teens understand and work to mitigate
climate change? "e" inc.'s global warming
curriculum is geared to take this complex issue and make it accessible.
The challenge is in using interesting activities to tackle a serious
subject. In "How to be Cool about Getting Hot," students recreate
the process of "fossil fuel" formation using puddings and cake. On
another day, they track polar bear footprints in their building to
collect data on polar bear weights and births. We use activities to
investigate and to draw conclusions. This approach not only helps
our kids understand the phenomenon of global warming (as we touch
on such important concepts as the relation of the sun to the earth,
the role carbon plays in our lives, and the impact of greenhouse gases
on various animal habitat) but also helps them form an understanding
of the repercussions of their actions on the global environment. As
with all "e" programming, while engaging with science our students are also
acting to lessen the impact of CO2 emissions in the class and school.
Our kids make a difference.
The Activities
Today, we are standing at a busy street and our 6th graders are about
to collect real-time information on transportation in their neighborhood.
We have practiced this type of data collection in the class so these
teens feel prepared for grabbing information in small intervals and
in a dynamic setting like this street corner. Our goal here is to
assess how many people walk, drive, or use the bus and then look at
who uses a car alone vs. a car with one, or more than one, passenger.
Can you guess which way the data will go?
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