Green Deed Day 3

This is turning out to be as instructive for me as it is for the children.  I began the day by checking on the Bluebird box near the music portable. A sparrow had co-opted the box ( My bluebird expert friend, Sam Jones told me to remove the nest, clean the box, and cover it with plastic to make it temporarily inaccessible).  As I walked back I picked up a piece of plastic which had been shredded by the lawn mower, two magazines, a pen, and several other items.

Was I just unaware before?  Did I really not see trash that was right there?  Maybe I just saw what I expect and now that I am actually looking I am seeing trash in the environment.  As I traveled the road to work I noted that the further I moved toward Westmeade the less trash I saw.  The observation made me wonder why the areas around Antioch have a greater density of waste than those in Belle Meade. 

Later that day first graders came to explore energy and conserving it.  They went on an  energy scavenger hunt and found 25 different things that used energy in the library.  It was great fun!  The challenge for them over the next few weeks is to think about caring for our earth by finding ways not to feed the energy vampires.  They will be thinking about energy as it relates to recycling and building for conservation.  Last summer I met Helen Hall, whose sister lives here in Nashville.  Helen had written a set of books for primary students about energy consumption.  I purchased a set so that the children could read the works chorally and we have been planning this unit for some time as a combination of science and social science culminating in service education. 

It will be interesting to see the many ways the students find to conserve and recycle.