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Growing Up Green: Presentations for Kids
(K - 5th)

When it comes to protecting the environment, no one has more to lose than those who will Flat Stanley inherit the planet that we leave behind: our children. We believe that children understand this and want a healthy environment for themselves and the wildlife that they love.

Using the popular character Flat Stanley and his friend Flat Sue, these lessons focus on the familiar principle of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Through the experiences of Flat Stanley and Flat Sue, children are encouraged to think about the impact that their day-to-day lives have on the environment and are empowered with simple steps that they can take to reduce this impact. The result is engaging environmental education to help our children become thoughtful, responsible consumers.

To schedule a presentation for children, ages K-5, select the topic(s) you are interested in and provide your contact information below. We will get in touch with you as soon as possible to discuss the details.

Topics

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...

What's it all about? TeachingGreen's series of three 1-hour lessons teaches kids that the best way to protect the environment - to reduce air and water pollution, protect water resources and natural habitats and help prevent climate change - is to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Kids are empowered to become stewards of the environment not just on tree-planting or beach clean-up days, but every day, for the rest of their lives. All lessons include a hands-on group or class activity.

Reduce

Kids know a lot about recycling, but what about that most important ‘R’, Reduce?

In this lesson, Flat Stanley and Flat Sue share their experiences from a recent trip they took around the world, during which they encountered pollution, deforestation, oil spills and other signs of a planet in peril. Drawing from these experiences, students learn that it is human activity that is to blame and that the best way to fix these problems is to REDUCE! Students learn what it means to reduce, and are encouraged to think about Growing Up Green Classroom Presentation specific ways they can reduce the use of energy, water, paper and other natural resources in their daily lives.

Reuse

A recent shopping trip at a large toy store got Flat Stanley and Flat Sue thinking: "Where does all this stuff come from, and where does it all go when we throw it 'away'?" The answers to these questions illustrate why the three R's are so important, and that by reusing, it is possible to greatly slow this flow of natural resources to landfills. Students learn that often, things that would normally be tossed can be reused by someone else or put to an entirely new use. Students are urged to look for opportunities to REUSE things and to ask themselves, before throwing something away, whether or not the item can be reused in any way, either by themselves or by someone else.

Recycle

This lesson on the why, what and how of recycling brings home the fact that far beyond what Growing Up Greeen Classroom Presentation

goes into the blue bin, all kinds of things can be recycled, including elephant poo. While traveling the world, Flat Stanley and Flat Sue had the good fortune of meeting these very lucky elephants and the people who care for them. They've brought this recycled elephant poo paper back with them and want students to understand how important this paper is not only to the trees that were spared in its making, but also to the survival of these elephants and the livelihood of these people. Using the elephant poo paper as an example, the importance of closing the loop by purchasing products made with recycled materials is stressed.

Beyond elephant poo, students learn how to properly recycle: that because different waste haulers accept different items for recycling, what goes into the blue bin at home may be different from what goes in at school, or at a friend's house, or at grandma's. Students also learn that in addition to bottles and cans, electronic waste (via Household Hazardous Waste collection), and food scraps and yard waste (via composting) can be also recycled. Students should leave the lesson knowing how to distinguish between trash, recyclables, e-waste and compostables.

Two Options

The Growing Up Green program offers you two options: you can request a speaker from TeachingGreen to visit your school to teach the lessons directly to your students, or if your school runs a docent program, TeachingGreen will train parent volunteers to teach the lessons themselves.

If you choose the docent options, you will be responsible for provding your parent docents with a computer, projector and any visual aids (simple household items) required. TeachingGreen will provide you with as many copies of the presentation on DVD as you need.

Fees

With the tight budgets schools are dealing with these days, we aim to keep the Growing Up Green program as affordable as possible. These fees are negotiable, so if they are beyond your school's budget, please contact us to discuss the options. With the exception of the docent program, these fees cover the cost of all presentation materials.

Classroom presentation: $50
Each additional classroom presentation on the same day: $25
General assembly: $100
Docent presentation: $100

Your Information

I'm interested in the following topic(s):

Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

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Growing Up Green: Presentations for Kids (K - 5th)