Before Monday, April 4th, please post your plans for our visit to Whispering Oak. What activities will you try? What visual aids/information will you bring? What are your expectations for this session? Please remember to dress appropriately in jeans and a t-shirt. Thanks:)
At this point and time, Katie and I have two ideas for activities we would like to do with the children. The first would be an exercise where we ask the children what various tasks and errands their parents must run throughout the day. On different pieces of paper, we will write out the location they have to go to in order to complete the task or errand. We will arrange all these pieces of paper on the floor and have some children navigate through them using little toy cars I will bring. Once they have done that, we will discuss the ideas of rural, urban and suburban areas and how urban sprawl eats up time for individuals and also causes a dependence on cars which creates a problem for people who do not have transportation and as a result feel trap in their environment. Katie has also created a brochure which has visual examples of urban development, green space and mega cities. We will give this to the children and then ask them to draw their ideal living spaces. Involving the kids in a hands on way and also giving them visual adds will make this a successful session and get them thinking right now about how to address these various topics from an artistic angle.
ReplyDeleteOur group has decided to create a power point with a variety of ways to communicate what we have learned about water conservation to the kids at Whispering Oak Elementary.
ReplyDeleteFirst, we will ask the kids ways in which they think would be helpful in conserving water. The points they make will be written on the board for everyone to read and reflect on. After we have a quick discussion about each, we will ask the kids to take 10 minutes to go around looking for any leaking faucets around their campus. We think this would be a fun and interactive way for them to be aware of water leakage. When they return, we will discuss how much water we actually waste from leaking faucets. The statistics of that even blew our minds, so hopefully it will make an impact on them and create awareness of saving water.
We then found a game online that is really fun and helpful in understanding the importance of water in our world. It has a perfect combination of fun and learning in one. For this, the kids will pick partners so they each have a turn at playing the game. Three laptops will be necessary for this activity.
When the games are over, we will all get in to a circle and talk about ways in which to visualize water conservation. We will then talk about different printmaking techniques and together decide the best way to convey these issues. In the power point, we will include pictures of the various ways in which we can print, and allow for them to decide the way that is most suitable. Hopefully, by the end of the session we will have gathered sketches and proposed ideas for the print.
Clem & Amanda
ReplyDeleteWhen we visit the school, Clem and I, are going to start off by asking the kids what you think you can recycle. Then we are going to ask what they do at school and at home to recycle. We are going to have them write it down, then show them other things, and ways, they can recycle. After that, we are going to show them a music video about recycling that they can sing along to. It is a song by Jack Johnson called the "3 R's" and it is a fun and uplifting way to inform them on our subject. After we have them sing and dance along to the song we are going to have them play some interactive quizzes online that they can do together. All of our activities include teamwork and a fun way to become aware of easy ways to recycle at home, and to make a difference.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USo_vH1Jz7E
Quiz: http://www.recycleguys.org/
Alexis and Moriah
ReplyDeleteFor our group meeting tomorrow we will be presenting the issue of providing sustainable food for the globe's growing population. For our activity we will be having a taste test to see what differences the kids find in conventional vs. local and organic food. We will have conventional strawberries vs. florida organic strawberries, conventional bananas vs. organic bananas, and minute maid orange juice vs. florida organic orange juice. We also have a short slide show to give them some definitions and visual examples of things like conventional food, organic food, local food, genetically modified food, and what sustainability means. The third part of our time with them will be a brainstorm to find out what they think some possible solutions might be to creating a sustainable system of agriculture that can feed the growing population while maintaining the health of our people and planet. We hope that our taste comparison will get the Whispering Oak kids thinking about the inherent differences between conventional and sustainable food production. Tasting the difference will provide them with a personal connection to the material and a foundation for understanding the information that we will then present in the power point. By prompting our team members with analytic questions, we hope that they will be inspired to think creatively about the issue of the global food crisis and about imaginative solutions. We’re both really excited to work with the Whispering Oak students because we know that children are capable of amazing things, including thinking outside the boxes that adult life constructs around our thinking!