Environmental+Week+2-6+May


 * FIS Environment week 2 -6 May**

Bring in & collect tree pictures || Student forum lunchtime patrol || Sticking with the two goals that support our application to become an Eco School this year, the themes for Environment Week are the conservation of forests & environmental awareness about paper. The following resources will be available: · Links to short films about forests, deforestation & paper, links to concise information, prompts for discussion · Display about forests, trees & paper at the school entrance · Forest quiz · Page on FIS website for families [] 7mins //Of Forests and Men// United Nations commissioned film for International Year of Forests made by Yann Arthus Bertrand (//Home//, //The// //Earth from Above//) [] 5mins 40secs //‘What about the forests?’// beautiful BBC film of forests from //Planet Earth// with time lapse & ambient soundtrack [] 4mins 40secs Climbing the worlds tallest tree - young natural scientist describes climbing the world’s tallest known tree, to measure it. Fantastic. [] 4mins Forests //Planet Earth// BBC suitable for younger children [] 3 mins Forests //Planet Earth// BBC Baobobs and the smallest primates in the world with David Attenborough
 * Environment week || Homeroom/ assembly || To do || Also ||
 * Monday 2nd || Introduce Environment Week & Forest theme || Introduce tree mural ||  ||
 * Tuesday 3rd || Deforestation || Watch film, talk ||  ||
 * Wednesday 4th || Reforestation || Watch film, talk || Environment summit (Student Forum) ||
 * Thursday 5th || Paper or reforestation contd. || Watch film, talk
 * Friday 6th || Whole school assembly || Display completed trees || Lunchtime litter pick ||
 * Please, please, please** try to make at least 10 minutes per day for the activities: watch a film (or two) and allow the children to reflect & respond to these. As a school we are committed to sustainability and this is a week in the school year to focus on this. It is also no overstatement to say that the our survival depends upon there being sufficient forests :-)
 * Monday: Introducing forests** Short films:
 * Youngest children recommendation:**

Question: What do we understand about forests? Are they important and, if so, why? How do we interact with them? What do they provide us with? [] 4 mins Short film produced by school children in Singapore for their geography project. [] 3mins. 51secs. Photos of tropical forest in Borneo, Indonesia, by renowned National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum with facts about deforestation [] 3mins Deforestation Greenpeace & FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) [] 3mins 41secs Indonesia’s last forest frontier – flying over Papua to find out what is happening to the last remaining tropical forest. Bahasa Indonesian with English subtitles. [] 30 secs Google Earth reveals extent of deforestation in Amazon, UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) Global Awareness button reveals environmental change over last 30 years [] 15min Heart of Darkness Indonesia Journeyman pictures, incredible doc about deforestation in Indonesia. Good image quality, sound not so good. Questions: what do we understand about deforestation? What are the causes? What are our questions?
 * Tuesday: Deforestation**
 * Youngest children recommendation:**

[] WWF [] United Nations Year of Forests [] NASA [] National Geographic [] Mongabay.com - Rhett Butler [] Rainforest Action Network [] Ecology Global Network [] People and the Planet [] Global Trees Campaign [] DeforestACTION
 * Websites** excellent information on deforestation:

Action to prevent deforestation and to regenerate forests. The film of Felix is **essential**. The rest are all great & DeforestACTION provides good examples of school involvement. [] 8mins Felix Finkbeiner at UN: What do children think about adult inaction? What are children doing for themselves? Plant-for-the-Planet children’s initiative, goal 1 trillion trees. [] 3 mins Edward Norton (UN Goodwill Ambassador) our choice [] 2 mins China shows the way in forest regeneration [] 2 mins30 Nature Conservancy clear & informative - reforesting Brazil’s Atlantic forest [] 3mins Google Earth’s Outreach illustrates Greenpeace campaign to prevent deforestation for soya production ([] More on Google Earth Outreach [] 30sec WWF sustainable palm oil – how our choices affect wildlife [] 2mins Restoring forests in the Philippines [] 2mins WWF Living in harmony – deforestation in context [] 4 mins DeforestACTION Project enables young people to learn about and engage with this global crisis. (Taking ITglobal SHOUT program, Microsoft Partners in Learning & Orangutan Outreach) [] 4mins Report about DeforestACTION [] 4 mins Primary/elementary school students take action [] 4 mins High school students engaged with DeforestACTION Questions: What shall we do about deforestation?
 * Wednesday: Reforestation**
 * Youngest children recommendation:**
 * Youngest children recommendation:**

[] 3mins Looking at the paper recycling process [] 7mins Paper recycling process [] Forest, paper and printing facts 2mins [] WWF documents saving paper 2 mins Questions: do we collect GOOS paper in our classroom? Do we use it? If its not used, could we give it to students who will use it? Do we throw paper for recycling in the blue bin? Do we buy notebooks on recycled paper? Do we use electronic media, instead of printing if possible? Do we have any more ideas for saving paper?
 * Thursday: Paper recycling or reforestation continued**


 * Friday Assembly** – whole school assembly, details to follow.

Hopefully, you will be so engaged in finding out about forests & deforestation in the homeroom this week, that you will have no time to make the tree pictures. If this is so, please ask children to make the picture at home and encourage them to do this with their families. The pictures should be brought in on Thursday and will be combined into a forest at the end of the week (Friday). If you know that your students are so talented that they can draw **and also** listen and contribute to a discussion, why not give this a go?
 * Tree mural** – everyone (Faculty & staff included) is invited to draw a tree together with the animals, insects and plant species that live in this habitat (birds, insects, squirrels, cats, sloths, snakes, bats, people etc), on paper destined for recycling found at home. It may be best to start this activity after the children have started exploring the forest theme, have thought about trees & forests and have had an opportunity to look and explore a tree close-up.

In addition..
 * Thursday: Lunchtime patrol:** students from Student Forum will walk around the school to find out how well we are doing at saving energy and recycling.
 * Friday: Lunchtime litter pick** At lunchtime recess, there will be a litter pick in the school playground.


 * Why not visit the forest** **during the week?** Could your class visit the nearby woods to look at trees? Here are some suggestions for forest activities:


 * Observing the woods and trees far and near**. Start a good way away (500m), what can you see? Move in nearer in stages, focusing on one area, until you are close enough to observe it in great detail (magnifying glasses available from science lab). What changes do you see the nearer you get?


 * Tree observation and investigation**. Choose one tree and look at all of its different parts: roots; trunk; branches; leaves, and blossom. How many different parts are there? Perhaps there are sections: canopy, middle, lower? Can you see its roots? If you cannot see the roots, can you imagine where they stretch to and how deep underground they go? What is your tree doing at this time of year? What are its neighbors like? Are they related? Are there other plants nearby, or younger trees? Are there any animals or insects living on your tree? What is the habitat like around it (the forest floor, soil, temperature, light)? What name will you give your tree? Will you be able to remember it if you come back to the forest another time?


 * Tree heartbeat**: at this time of year (rapid growth of leaves/ blossoms) it is //allegedly// possible to hear the sap rising in trees using a stethascope (available from the science lab). Is this possible with a larger or smaller tree? Let me know if you are able to hear something!


 * Meet a tree**: children pair up in a clearing; one is blindfolded, turned around once or twice, and then led indirectly to a tree. Still blindfolded, they explore the tree with their hands and are then led back to the clearing, where they take off the blindfold. They then try to identify which tree they met. If this is tricky with the whole class try with one/two pairs.


 * Measure the circumference of a large tree** - how many outstretched arms reach around the tree? The width of our arms outstretched is approximately the same as our height, if children know their height, they can approximately calculate the circumference of a large tree.


 * Ageing a tree** can you find a tree stump where you can count the rings to find how old it is? If it is the same kind of tree as those nearby, perhaps you can approximate their age also and find out the average for the forest.

Sit back and look at the light reaching down through the tree canopy.
 * Listen** quietly to the sounds of the forest. How many different sounds can you identify?


 * Fallen trees**. Have any trees fallen in the forest? What happens to them? See if you can find a tree that fell a while ago and look at what is happening to it.


 * Visualizing a tree** If you cannot get to the forest, you could take your class on an imaginary walk to the forest. This is relaxing, calming and aids concentration. Description available soon...

Thank you for reaching the end of the document and for actively participating in FIS Environment Week 2011, United Nations International Year of Forests.