GSC 2015-16 Activities for Secondary Schools

October Challenge–Energy Efficiency and Conservation

Activity 1: Community Involvement and Action – Adopt-a-Tree to Conserve Energy

Overview

Trees can be used to produce and conserve energy. For example, wood from trees can be burned to release energy for heat or power. In the past, wood accounted for most of the world’s energy and heating needs. Today, in the United States, wood and other plant-based biomass fuels account for less than 5 percent of the fuel used for energy production because we rely heavily on fossil fuels, a non-renewable resource. However, trees can still be used to help conserve energy!

Activity Description

Research the uses of trees for energy and products, and the ways in which they can be used to conserve energy. The purpose of this challenge is to forge a closer connection with nature as well as to learn about the practical uses of trees as energy conservation tools.

Guidelines

  • Students should learn about the history of trees as energy sources and their evolving use as energy saving tools
  • Search for an adopt-a-tree program in your County and enroll in groups or as a classroom
  • Students should learn all they can about their adopted tree. What species is it? How old do you think it is? What animals like to live in or around it? What are its common uses for humans?
  • Now think of how this tree can be used to conserve energy for the school. What would be an ideal spot to plant it for shade? What do you think will be the effects of this tree on the school’s energy bill?
  • Measure and take photos of it regularly, make bark rubbings, and gather seeds/leaves/flowers from the tree
  • Create a campaign and share what you learned with family and neighbors.
  • Promote the adopt-a-tree program you enrolled in or sell tree seedlings for fundraising while educating the public about their uses as energy conservation tools

Activity 2: Hands-on Learning/Reporting or Presentation – How big is Your Footprint?

Overview

Many of our daily activities cause greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions result in what is known as a carbon footprint. The amount of land area required to support your resource needs is what is known as an ecological footprint.

Activity Description

How many planet Earths would it take to support your lifestyle? Find out using the online calculators listed below.

Guidelines

  • The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides an online carbon footprint calculator. Students will calculate their individual footprints here:
  • The Global Footprint Network provides an online land use calculator as well as scenarios to reduce your footprint. Students can calculate how much land area it takes to support their individual lifestyle here:
  • Students will develop a report or presentation detailing their results from both footprint calculators, the ways in which they can reduce their footprints, and what they plan to change about their lifestyle to accomplish these goals.
  • Now attempt to create an *infographic to promote your results. Consider publishing the infographic in a newsletter or on the school website to raise awareness about energy efficiency and conservation.

*An infographic is a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data.

Activity 3: Theatrical/Multi-media –Create a PSA for Energy Efficiency

Overview

According to Energy Star, a U.S. government program dedicated to protecting the environment through energy efficient practices, you can save up to 30 percent of your current utility bill just by making more efficient choices.

Activity Description

Students will experience first-hand what a difference a small change, like turning up the air conditioning a few degrees every day, can make for energy conservation. Then students will create a theatrical performance about energy conservation, global warming, and climate change.

Guidelines

  • Ask students to turn up the A/C a few degrees at home when no one is around
  • Keep track of the thermostat changes and review the utility bill at the end of the month
  • Do you think turning up the A/C a few degrees will positively affect the school? (Note, this is a tricky question as the A/C is required at schools for efficient learning. Think about whether a few degrees higher will make a difference to the room.) What are the environmental benefits?
  • Create a public service announcement(PSA) video, theatrical skit or flash mob about energy efficiency and what your temperature alterations have done to save you money and energy
  • We suggest the performance to be between 1 to 2 minutes long
  • The performance may be done in the classroom, in a school assembly, etc.
  • Video record or take pictures of what was done

Tip

To view an example of a PSA, search for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency YouTube channel and look for the videos titled: “Earth Day Message: What I Want.”

Activity 4: Create Your Own Energy Efficiency and Conservation Challenge

Overview

This activity is intended for Green Team members to use their creativity and apply their leadership skills to design and lead an energy efficiency and conservation project of their choosing.

Activity Description

By undertaking this activity, Green Teams will have the opportunity to design their own energy efficiency and conservation initiative.

Guidelines

Students work in groups to design an activity that will enhance their understanding of energy efficiency and conservation or the relationship between energy and water

Make sure the activity: 1) identifies a problem area, 2) helps solve a problem, and 3) leads to behavioral changes or greater understanding of energy efficiency or conservation

Remember there are points to be earned and prizes to be won. So make sure the information is resourceful, creative and has an effective message.

Creating your own activity earns you 1 bonus point in the challenge!

Activity 5: WE-LAB – The Water & Energy Nexus

Overview

Energy and water are intrinsically linked through the water-energy nexus. Producing energy requires water, while treating and delivering potable (drinking) water requires large amounts of energy. For example, a person uses four times more water in energy consumed by watching TV and turning lights on than by direct water use like taking a shower, brushing their teeth or washing the dishes.

Activity Description

Discuss as a group the water-energy nexus, the different ways to produce energy and how much water they use per day. Identify appliances at home and at school that include the water-energy nexus such as a low-flow showerhead with a Water Sense label. By saving water at home, you can save energy by using less heated water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save money in the process.

Together as a class, use the Water-Energy-Climate Calculator (WECalc) to calculate a sample home’s water and energy footprint in order to demonstrate how the choices made at home can impact our world’s freshwater resources. WECalc will ask the class a series of questions about home water use habits. Based on replies, it estimates water use and provides personalized recommendations for reducing that use.

Tips: How to save water and energy
Fix a leak by checking your plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems
Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth
Use low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators
Turn the temperature on your hot water heater down
Use a shower timer; and limit the shower to 10 minutes
Sweep driveways, sidewalks, and steps rather than hosing off
Use a dishwasher instead of manually washing dishes, but make sure the dishwasher is full
Flush only when necessary
Wash only full loads of laundry, and use cold water instead of hot

Guidelines

  • Research the importance of water and energy conservation
  • Together as a class, use a sample household to calculate water and energy footprint with the Home Water-Energy-Climate Calculator (WECalc)
  • Discuss different items in the home or school that incorporate the water-energy nexus (showerheads, washing machines, stovetops, etc.)
  • Students commit to implement three to five actions at school or home that will save energy, and therefore water
  • Present water-energy savings actions to the class through drawings, picture collages, or speeches
  • Provide pictures of class commitments and/or presentations
  • Contact Dream in Green staff to get faucet aerators and showerheads for your home and school

November Challenge – Waste Reduction and Recycling

Activity 1: Community Involvement and Action –Host a Swap Shop

Overview

One person’s trash is another person’s treasure! However, we live in a throw-away culture.Because we have the ability to create and purchase unlimited new products, landfills are overflowing with things that are still usable. Instead of tossing something that is no longer being used, bring it in and exchange it for something useful.

Activity Description

The Green Team will organize and host a swap shop for the school and local community to promote a less wasteful society.

Guidelines

  • Select a day and time to host the swap shop
  • Promote the swap shop throughout the school and community, allowing enough time to collect goods
  • Collect old, lightly-used items such as electronics, small furniture, household goods, books, clothing, sports equipment, bikes, gardening tools, magazines, and toys.
  • The Green Team may decide to impose a rule in which you have to bring something in order to take something
  • Create a fun and open environment for shoppers!
  • Donate any leftover items to a charity of your choice

Activity 2: Hands-on Learning/Reporting and Presentation– Composting at School

Overview

Sometimes waste is not necessarily the typical trash we are used to throwing away. In the United States, 40% of the food grown is wasted, equaling more than 20 pounds of food per person per month. Reducing the amount of food wasted has significant economic, social and environmental benefits.

Activity Description

This is a two-part challenge. First, students will watch a documentary about food waste and then make a compost bin for school.

Guidelines

  • Watch a documentary about food waste from the list provided below or find your own
  • Take notes of what you learned and what actions you will take from now on
  • Research the benefits of composting and make your own compost bin(s) (try using recycled materials for your compost site)
  • Collect food wastes and any other items that can be composted (article listed below) to fill the bin(s)
  • Make signs to place around school and near the compost bin(s) with messages from your notes based on the documentary
  • Use compost to fertilize gardens

Resources

  • Fertile Earth Foundation Compost DIY -
  • “Just Eat It” -
  • “Just Eat It” educational curriculum (multiple sources within this document):
  • Article:
  • DIVE! (
  • Examples of homemade compost bins can be found here:
  • Article:
  • Article:

Activity 3: Theatrical/Multi-media– The Pacific Trash Vortex(Activity created in collaboration with Debris Free Oceans)

Overview

A lot of our trash, especially plastics, ends up in the ocean where it is out of sight and out of mind. But what really happens to those plastics?

Activity Description

Students will learn about the trash vortex through the use of scholarly articles, videos, or news reports. Then they will develop an outreach campaignto spread awareness about what they have learned.

Guidelines

  • Research about plastics, micro-plastics, the Pacific Trash Vortex, and any other sub-topic related to plastic and watch one or more of the documentaries suggested below
  • Take notes of what you learned
  • GSC teacher leaders can guide a group discussion with questions such as:
  • Is this a problem limited to the vortex in the Pacific Ocean only?
  • What about our fragile Florida coastline?
  • Is this area an actual ‘island’ or more of a floating soup?
  • Why hasn’t anyone cleaned it up?
  • Do you as an individual person, or family, contribute to this ocean plastic problem?
  • Where does all plastic in the water come from? Why is there so much?
  • What can we do about this problem?What actions will you take from now on?
  • Based on the discussion, have students identify three important issues that should be addressed and shared with other students, and better yet, at home and the community
  • Design an outreach and awareness campaign about the vortex and plastics. Who is your target audience? What is/are the most important message(s)? What can they do to help?
  • The campaign could be a skit, public service announcement, or any other theatrical performance the group comes up with

Resources

  • Documentaries: “Plastic Paradise” ( “Bag It” ( “Addicted to Plastic”, “Plastic Planet”, “Tapped”
  • Article:
  • Organizations creating awareness about plastic: 5gyres.org, DebrisFreeOceans.org

Activity 4: Create Your Own Waste Reduction and Recycling Challenge

Overview

This activity is intended for Green Team members to use their creativity and apply their leadership skills to design and lead a waste reduction and recycling project of their choosing.

Activity Description

By undertaking this activity, Green Teams will have the opportunity to design their own waste reduction and recycling challenge.

Guidelines

  • Students work in groups to design an activity that will enhance their understanding of waste reductionand recycling
  • Make sure the activity: 1) identifies a problem area, 2) helps solve a problem, and 3) leads to behavioral changes or greater understanding of waste reduction and recycling
  • Remember there are points to be earned and prizes to be won. So make sure the information is resourceful, creative and has an effective message.
  • Creating your own activity earns you 1 bonus point in the challenge!

Activity 5: WE-LAB – Watershed Protection Campaign

Overview

All watersheds get water from rainfall. Rain flows as runoff over pavement and other surfaces which then runs into storm drains and eventually to canals and surface water. As it flows along, runoff collects everything in its path making water dirty and/or toxic to life forms.

Activity Description

Green Team members raise awareness about this issue through a campaign to inform others on the importance of ensuring waste does not enter the watershed. They may also promote waste reduction through art made by reused items.

How to Protect Your Water
Keep trash and chemicals out of storms drains
Don’t litter
Prevent garbage from getting into storm drains
Clean up after your animals and properly dispose of their waste in the garbage
Limit use of lawn fertilizers and yard pesticides

Guidelines

  • Research the effects of waste on storm water runoff and how to clean up your watershed
  • Think of ways to protect your watershed from waste and pollution
  • Organize litter pickups at school or find out if there are any river or beach clean-up projects in the area
  • Design an awareness campaign and create posters and flyers
  • Optional: Up to 2 bonus point will be awarded to students who create their own watershed with clay and rocks
  • It is important to keep track of how many people were educated (students, staff, and parents should be tallied separately)
  • Send pictures of posters created and the tallied results
  • If a watershed is created, send photographs of the completed project for bonus points

December Challenge –Water Conservation

Activity 1: Community Involvement and Action– What’s in Your Water?

Overview

Over 8 million people –plus the environment, agriculture, businesses and visitors–rely on South Florida’s limited water resources. Government efforts alone cannot provide the range and variety of information to assess water quality in each watershed. It is our responsibility to respectfully manage our water resources.

Activity Description

Students will learn about nutrient runoff and eutrophication, then test a community body of water and determine its composition.

Guidelines

  • Information about eutrophication and dead zones:
  • Further information about nutrient pollution:
  • EarthEcho Expedition Checklist:
  • Participate in EarthEcho World Water Monitoring Challenge:
  • Provide own information/research about eutrophication and water quality, get water test kits, develop report and present findings to school and the community.

Activity 2: Hands-on Learning/Reporting or Presentation– Water Conservation Eco-Art

Overview

Eco-art education draws inspiration from activist artists who have been responding to environmental issues and concerns in creative ways for decades, including Lynne Hull and Andy Goldsworthy. These artists, and the next generation following in their footsteps, have touched countless viewers through their understanding of environmental concerns as well their innovative solutions for them, thereby reaching people in ways that scientists have been unable to do.

Activity Description

For this challenge, students will become eco-artists and the goal is to design, create and implement an art installation. The installation should make the building more eco-friendly by helping conserve water.

Guidelines

  • Research what is eco-art and look for examples. Who are some of the famous eco-artists? Resources provided below.
  • Identify all the areas in which water is used around school and choose one for the project
  • Get creative! Design your masterpiece. Tip: have the brainstorming session outdoors to maximize inspiration!

Resources – check out these websites for inspiration

  • (Facebook page as well)
  • Environmental artists: Joseph Beuys, Hans Haacke, Agnes Denes, Lynne Hull, Xavier Cortada, and Andy Goldsworthy

Activity 3: Theatrical/Multi-media – Relay for Water Conservation