Adopt –a- Hallway

Grade Level: 6-8

Academic Areas: Science

Duration of service: Year long

Character Virtues: Responsibility, Respect

Service Areas: Environmental

Service Learning Project:

The Adopt-a-Hallway project requires students to collect waste in their school hallways over a period of one year. Students will research the rates of decomposition of various matter and how this process affects the ecosystem. Students will need to be familiar with soil tests and affect of acidity on the breakdown of matter over time. Students will learn how to properly analyze/graph collected data and share the results with others. This year long project will take place within the school and will be run by the students with teacher facilitation. Students will demonstrate responsibility through the creation and performance of their duties on a daily basis. Students will learn to respect the environment value the importance of their role in maintaining that environment. Students will develop an anti-littering program for their community. The character virtues of respect and responsibility will exemplified by this project .

Learning Goal: To identify decomposition time table for a variety of materials found in the environment.

Learning Goal: To collect data and perform soil acid tests during the period of decomposition of the polluted material.

Learning Goal: To analyze and interpret data form this hallway clean-up.

Standard: MST #1, 4; H,PE,FCS #2

Standard: H,PE,FCS #2

Community need: Pollution and littering have become a safety and health issue in the school community. Students need to understand the importance of respecting the environment beginning in the school hallways and extending this virtue into the community.

Possible Community Partners: Students and Staff

Objective: Students will acquire knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.

Objective: Utilizing the data collected to inform others of the need to cultivate a clean and healthy environment.

Character

Virtue: Respect

Objective: Students will value the importance of a clean environment through their own actions

Virtue: Responsibility

Objective: Students will take ownership of keeping a clean and safe hallway.

1. Students will research the affects of decomposed matter on the environment. Students will need to be familiar with soil tests and affect of acidity on the breakdown of matter over time.
2. Students will develop time management and data collection template to be used throughout the year. Students will communicate this data through journals and graphs to other members of the team.
3. Students will augment data collecting skills through the use of proper graph preparation for accurate analysis.
4. Students and staff will collaborate on the appropriate time for waste collection and data analysis.

Key Service Activities  

1. Students create and perform their duties and plans of action for data collection and clean-up. (Responsibility and Civic duty)
2. Students will develop a means to inform their school and community of the results of their service project. For example, students may choose to produce a school video or public service announcement related to their findings.
3. Students will create a brochure to be shared with their town on the benefits of respecting the environment.
4. Student teams will present to the school / town board their data and share their experiences while participating in this Adopt-A-Hallway project.

1. (oral) Students will meet and discuss how respect for a clean environment is their responsibility and how the school community will be impacted by this project.
2. (written) Students will reflect each week in their journals on ways they’ve been responsible and could be more respectful by reviewing the time management and data collection templates.
3. (performance) Students will be able to reflect in a creative form (song, diorama, map, etc.)on how this small contribution can be applied to the larger community.

Inform local media of student achievement, certificates of recognition for all student/teacher participants will be given out at the School/Town Board meeting. Parents and friends will be invited to come to the presentation of certificate ceremony . A Public official will be invited to present these certificates to the students. County environmental officers will be invited to attend.