ITS THE KIDS — NEWS!
Students — Classrooms — Schools — Parents — Partners
The following stories feature students using the EFG Curriculum to understand the world and prepare for their future. Each of these modules are now available in Quests, with Explorers who lead students on the Quest, and downloadable Guides for students, teachers, tutors and other learning leaders. These Guides contain real world vocabulary, the Quest, research ideas in every subject, parent / partner involvement suggestions, community service ideas, and a portfolio assessment matrix to measure student competency. These Guides and posters, pins, and certificates can be found in the Book Store on www.itsthekids.org.
WATER
QUEST & GUIDE with “DROP”
Terrific Tuesday Club on Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base
Students, from military families at San Onofre School, studied all aspects of water in their after-school club. Each student conducted investigations on water quality, water geography, cost of bottled water, conservation, development on rivers around the world, and length of showers. They partnered with the South Coast Water District to obtain up to date information on water.
At Del Obispo Elementary School students answered the question “Is the San Juan Creek responsible for polluting Doheny Beach?” Students made regular trips to the harbor to test the water for bacteria levels and to pick up trash. The students asked the question “If the San Juan Creek is not responsible then who or what is?” Maybe it is a combination of factors. The students found out! They worked closely with The South Orange County Surfrider Chapter as well as The Ocean Institute, located in the Dana Point harbor. Students investigated information online, created Power Point Presentations and videos, and produced reports analyzing their data.
ENERGY
QUEST & GUIDE with “BULB”
Lakeside Middle School and Anaheim High School Transportation Academy in partnership with UC Irvine National Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research Center
Students from both schools, working in teams with graduate students at the University, participated in the Explore the Hydrogen Future fueling caravan, held at the UC Irvine fueling station. They learned how fuel cells work in automobiles and observed cars being fueled from the following automobile companies: Honda, Hyundai, General Motors, Nissan, Mercedes, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Students also heard presentations by key legislators and the Director of the National Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research Center.
The Tech Club, on Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base
Students researched the universities and colleges competing in the 2013 Solar Decathlon. This was held in Irvine, CA and sponsored by the Department of Energy. This contest featured solar homes designed and built by the college students. The 4th and 5th grade students researched solar energy in the homes and located the participating universities on a map of the world: The winning home was built by Team Austria — Vienna University of Technology. Other teams were from Arizona State University, Ball State University, The Catholic University of America, Carlton University, West Virginia University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, The University of New Mexico, Czech Technical University, University of Calgary, University of Kentucky, and Stanford University. The Tech Club will compare the 2013 homes with the 2014 Solar Decathlon held in Versailles, France.
*Photos will be featured on www.itsthekids.academy
RECYCLING
QUEST & GUIDE with “REDO”
Truman Benedict Elementary School
Parents working with each classroom at Truman Benedict School created a recycling program. The students calculated the amount items recycled and the money received in each classroom, grade level, and for the entire school. The custodian was a big help in this recycling effort. *Photos will be featured on www.itsthekids.academy
ECONOMICS
QUEST & GUIDE WITH “COIN”
San Onofre School in partnership with Union Bank
The 4th and 5th grade students asked questions, of banking professionals, to learn about economics, banking, money, security, and use of technology at the bank. The bank employees also discussed the meaning of the word “professional.” One student commented: “My Dad is a ‘professional’ because he is a Marine! He’s well trained, knows his job, is responsible, does excellent work, and get’s paid!” (ITK edit — He is also a hero!)
The following are excerpts from the student essays:
“The people at Union Bank have this really cool thing that when you take a picture of your check it sends it to your bank and it deposits it for you.“ “Banks have branches in different cities and states, but NOT in different countries.” “You can deposit money from any ATM for any bank.” “Banks have security doors so if somebody has a lot of metal an alarm goes off “
LAND
QUEST with “STUMP”
Homer Pittard Campus School with Middle Tennessee State University
The cedar glades are natural areas found in the central basin of middle Tennessee. The class project has been centered on the Flat Rock State Natural Area. The students visited this glade several times to identify endemic and common plant species. Some of these are found ONLY in Rutherford County. Each child chose one plant. They became experts on these plants and the zones of the glade. The students also continued to maintain the “Rescue Glade” on the Campus School Nature Trail, established by previous classes. These plants were rescued from glades in construction areas. The class interviewed Milo Pyne who discovered Pynes Ground Plum, a plant endemic only to Rutherford County. They met with Bertha “grandmother of the glades”, who presented a slide show and taught the students about the importance of protecting the glades. They also met with Kim Sadler from the Biology Department at MTSU to hear her knowledge about the glades. Students created a Cedar Glade informational booklet as well as their web page.
Marblehead Elementary School -The Kokua Garden
The garden began on Veteran’s Day, a school holiday, when twelve moms and their twenty-six children rented a sod-cutting machine to get the school lawn removed and prep the 55’ by 42’ plot! The moms took turns wrestling with the machine and the kids followed, looking for grubs and worms and rolling up the sod. From there, three ambitious Boy Scouts, who were ready for their Eagle Scout projects, got busy and built thirteen raised beds, made an amazing arbor, constructed four gates with a beautiful fence, dug trenches, laid a new irrigation system and mulched the pathways. Saturday workdays brought dozens of volunteers together, all wanting a school garden.
Kindergarteners planted a “Rainbow Garden” and “Vegetable Soup” garden from seeds and bulbs. We harvested and made the vegetable soup on a camp stove in one of the Kindergarten classrooms before school was out for summer vacation! Our First Graders planted vegetables that made the most amazing salad and a fun Harvest Picnic, investigating their life science standard of “What do plants need?” Studying “Life Cycles,” each Second Grader planted a host or nectar flower in their Metamorphosis Garden, which would eventually attract one of ten butterflies or caterpillars. Third Graders learn about adaptations of plants and animals, so they planted and studied California Native plants. In their science study of composting, each Fourth Grade class made a worm bin for their classroom. Fifth Graders planted a Native American Garden and painted water barrels for harvesting rainwater to use in the garden as they studied water conservation. In addition to giving us $500, the Garden Club was there for us every step of the way! *Photos will be featured on www.itsthekids.academy
THE ARTS
QUEST with “ART”
Students at San Onofre School, after completing The Arts Quest viewed all of the elephants in the 2013 Elephant Parade®. The students also designed their own elephants. They learned the Elephant Parade® is sponsored by the Save The Asian Elephant Foundation. The first parade, starting in Rotterdam in 2007 and was organized to increase awareness of the need for elephant conservation and to help elephants that stepped on land mines. Since then these parades have been held all over the world. The 2014 Parade is being held throughout the United Kingdom. Students found these locations on a map of the world. For more information go to: www.elephantparade.com
*The student designs will be featured on www.itsthekids.academy
Students in Yupik School District invited the elders, from their native Alaskan village, into their classroom to demonstrate native mask making. Students learned the history of this art form and how to carve masks. The students then carved their own masks and created a business plan to sell their original work to art galleries across the US.
DESIGN & BUILD
QUEST & GUIDE with ‘BUILD”
Carrillo Magnet School students took photographs of buildings and structures in and around Tucson. These photos represented different types of architecture and the history of their city. Students held a school photography exhibit that was open to the public and attended by city officials. A large mural was also painted on the La Pilita Gallery, a building across the street from the school that was transformed by students, teachers and parents. Students also worked on the landscape around La Pilita and made decorative tiles to divide gardens. *Photos will be featured on www.itsthekids.academy
SERVICE PROJECTS
SERVICE IDEAS ARE FEATURED IN EACH GUIDE
Bathgate and Ladera Ranch Elementary Schools — Clean Water Well
The students are using their school recycling money to build a well for Nkhoma Village in Malawi, Africa (To date they have raised over $3,000). The teacher traveled to the village in Africa, and representatives from Malawi had the opportunity to visit the school to say “Zikomo” meaning “Thank you!” This class used a large map of Africa as the backdrop for their recycling presentation and showed how water bottles can be recycled to create clean water for others. *Photos will be featured on www.itsthekids.academy
Somerset High School — Empty Bowls Project — Wisconsin
Students, teachers, administrators, school board members, and community members made ceramic bowls to help raise funds during the Empty Bowls Event. Participants were asked to make a $10.00 donation, which included a handmade ceramic bowl to take home and a simple meal of rice and water. Somerset High School students gathered information and made musical presentations, sign language performances and readings. They created artwork, informative posters, and PowerPoint presentations to promote awareness of world hunger and what can be done. Students then planned a community event to share their projects with the community and to raise funds to donate to Heifer International and Grace Place, a local shelter. Attendees at the dinner enjoyed a simple meal of rice and water in their new handmade ceramic bowl. Over $1,600.00 was raised!
JOIN THESE STUDENTS, CLASSROOMS, AND SCHOOLS TO APPLY SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE TO UNDERSTAND THE REAL WORLD AND PREPARE FOR YOUR FUTURE!
Go to www.itsthekids.org to go on Quests and download Guides for research ideas and to publish student work.
