Last day of Sustainable Youth!

Today was the last day of Sustainable Youth at Nora Sterry Elementary for the school year!!
I think it was one of our best lessons and everything went really smoothly. We didn’t get to teach last week because the class went on a field trip. The week before that (May 18th), our lesson was about Habitat Loss and Extinction.
We decided to make our last day into a lesson about global warming, and also a fun review day. We met to plan the lesson on Monday morning. The information that I learned about global warming and climate change from the Global Environment Cluster lectures was really helpful.
When we got to the classroom, Tony introduced the topic of global warming and presented a slide show about the causes and effects of climate change. Next, I led an activity that simulated heat being trapped by the gases. The kids pretended to be “heat from the sun” and “greenhouse gases” and moved from one side of the room to the other, or from the sun to the earth. We made a point to teach that greenhouse gases are necessary for survival on earth, but too many are being produced by humans and causing climate change.
Next, Stefania presented examples of places or animals that are being harmed by global warming (polar bears, biomes moving to higher latitudes, and Kiribati with rising sea level). I also talked about coral bleaching and how this is caused by rising sea temperatures.
Then, we called on the kids for answers about how they can prevent global warming in their daily lives.
After that, Tony wrote all of our topics from the past 8 weeks on the board in a circle, and drew interconnecting lines between various subjects. The kids helped and we discussed how everything was interrelated.
Finally, we passed out a review test, went over the answers, and then cut up some watermelon for a last day treat!!
As we were leaving, Ms.Kingston, the teacher, presented each of the three of us with a bundle of thank-you cards that the kids had made. They were the sweetest things ever—colorful, scenes of us teaching, sustainable messages, and 5th grade grammar. Those cards made my day!!!!
Overall, it was such a positive experience; I feel like the kids learned a lot and they were always excited, bright, and eager to participate. I am really excited for next year!