How green is your thumb ??

How green is your thumb?? http://apanyangku.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/green-thumb.jpg

2010International Year of Biodiversity The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It wasa celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The United Nations encouraged the world to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth. It washoped that there was be an increase in the public awareness throughout the world for the many elements of biodiversity so that future generations will be able to also witness the beautiful diversity and benefits of nature. What is biodiversity? It is simply the variety of life on earth Click on the Earth to find out more! http://blog.greenearthbamboo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Green-thumb1.jpg

Behind the News:Biodiversity Year Click on the video to view the BTN story about biodiversity. When you have finished doing that, turn to page 2 of your work booklet and complete the questions.

How we can help? It is so important that we take the time and effort to look after our environment because it looks after us so well. The great thing is that there many ways that we can care for our land, even right here at school. We can make our own gardens and composts, or walk to school. We can promote recycling through posters and songs, while also making sure that we have recycling bins around the school. We can teach our friends at school what things can be recycled, and how to look after our planet. Before we do that though we need to learn how to do these things ourselves. So hold onto your hats boys and girls as we go on our own little journey to make our thumbs a little bit greener. Lets click on the planet to begin!

School gardens Doing our bit at school Recycle Reduce The 3 R’s Protect biodiversity Reuse

A school garden A school garden can be created in a number of ways. For example you could set up a native plant nursery, a vegetable garden for the school canteen or for your own cooking classes, or you can make a bee garden. Gardening at school is fun because you can learn about the soil nutrients and also about all the different things that you can grow. It will also give many insects a place to live and the school will look nice and colourful! Click on the link below. It will take you to a website that has information about planting your own school garden. Using the information that you have read, turn to page 3 of your work booklet and complete the activity.

Captain Planet Watch the episode of Captain Planet below. When you have finished the episode, go to your activity book and complete page 10 of your work booklet. If you finish that move onto the next slide and take the environmental quiz.

Captain Planet Quiz Once you have finished designing and making your own character in Captain Planet, click on the picture below to go to the environmental quiz. There are three levels to choose from. Start as a beginner and see if you can work your way up to an Eco Expert!

Carbon footprint What is our carbon footprint? It is the impact an individual has on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced. There are lots of ways that we can make our carbon footprint smaller. Here are some of them: • Turn off the lights when you leave a room. • Turn off your computer or the TV when you’re not using it• Take shorter showers. • Walk to school or the shops with your mum or dad instead of going in the car. • Whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. .• Plant a tree.• Learn more about global warming so you can talk to people about it. Find out how big your carbon footprint is by clicking on the link below. When you have calculated that, turn to page 5 of your work booklet and complete the table.

Our Virtual Walk to School As we have already learned, substituting the car for our legs is a great way of reducing our carbon footprint. Today we are going to virtually walk to school as a way of finding out how easy this is to do. However, we also need to be careful of the hazards along the way. To begin our virtual walk to school, turn to page 7 of your work booklet and read the instructions. When you have finished reading what you need to do, go for your walk from the park to St. Edwards’. Don’t forget to write the answers to the questions on page 8.

The 3 R’s ‘Waste, and how we choose to handle it, affects our world's environment -- that's YOUR environment, everything that surrounds you including the air, water, land, plants, and man-made things. And since by now you probably know that you need a healthy environment for your own health and happiness, you can understand why effective waste management is so important to YOU and everyone else. The waste we create has to be carefully controlled to be sure that it does not harm your environment and your health.’ (National Institute ofEnvironmental Health Sciences, 2010) To find out how we can keep our environment clean by using the 3 R’s, click on the pictures below. But first, we need to fill out a class KWL so we know what information to look for KWL

Poster Time! Today you will be making a poster to promote the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. When you are finished, you can post them on the internet so that you can raise the awareness of the 3 R’s to lots of people! To make your poster you will be using the website Glogster. You can go onto the website by clicking the link below. When making your poster remember to think about what message you are going to send to your audience. You need to think carefully about the pictures, colours and words that you are going to use. To help with the poster, there are some images that you can use by clicking on the link below. Try to find your own images too. Before you start, make sure you turn to page 12 of your activity book as there is a detailed list of instructions and tips when you make your poster. Even though we have used Glogster before, you might like to refresh your memory on how to use it by clicking on the link below. Have fun guys! Pictures that you can use on your poster. Start creating! How to use Glogster

Protecting our biodiversity As a way of promoting the International Year of Biodiversity, you have been chosen by the local council to design and create a radio advertisement with a partner. In the advertisement you need to talk about why the United Nations have chosen 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity and how we as individuals and members of the community can do our bit to conserve and promote biodiversity. Be creative! For example, you may wish to write and sing a song for your advertisement. Remember it needs to be something catchy so that the listeners can really think about how they can help the environment. On a scrap piece of paper write a transcript of your ad with your partner and rehearse it. Make sure that you are both contributing to the radio advertisement equally. When you think that you have it perfect, use the audacity program to record your ad.

How green is your thumb ??