Environmental Issue Instruction
At Commodore students are consistently learning about the environment, learning in the environment and considering how their actions impact the environment. One of the highlights of our curriculum is focusing project and art work on environmental education themes across grade levels. From Pre-Kindergarten classes through 8th grade, Commodore curriculum contains opportunities for students to learn to be decision makers about being healthier student who lives in a healthy school and community. They learn at each grade level what they can do to impact their lives and the lives of living things that surround them.
Early Childhood
In 2017, the Pre-Kindergarten class went to Patterson Park to learn about different animal habitats. They learned how different animals adapt to their surroundings and how they use camouflage to hide from predators. It was a very engaging and exciting lesson for both students and chaperones!
In 2017, the Kindergarten classes learned about the life cycle of a plant and the importance of eating healthy. The tie in is how plants grow from a seed and into fruits and vegetables. They also discussed the five food groups, balanced meals, and why people need to eat healthy to live a healthy life. Overall, they learned about where their food comes from and how to have responsible balance meals. They learn to classify foods into the correct food groups as shown in the bulletin board display which is shown in the pictures.
In 2015, the 1st Grade students studied different animals and their habits that help them to survive. In the pictures above, you can see penguins that the first graders created in their reading and writing class. Inside their penguins they wrote summaries of the non-fiction text that they used to learn about penguins. They included details about how the penguin chicks survive, "hugging their babies to keep warm," and asked questions that they could further research. In their science class, first graders were asked questions about hibernation. They used non-fiction texts to help them answer these questions.
In 2016, the 2nd Grade students studied the different migration patterns of the birds that can be seen in Baltimore City. They learned about how these birds adapt to the lost habitats taken away by human influence and pollution. At the end of the lesson they helped to create a safe-space for the migrating birds to rest by planting native plants in a sustainable garden.
In March of 2017, the third grade students designed a collage project based around Environmental Justice. They researched different topics about environmental issues such as, renewable energy and clean oceans, and created collages to show the members of their community that we need to stand together to fight for our Earth's rights! They created a gallery showcase during our school's Spring Arts Showcase and parents/community members were truly engaged looking at them. I have created a slideshow below to highlight some of the amazing entries.
In May of 2015, 4th grade students, explored the Chesapeake Bay via the perspective of a waterman through an outreach program of the National Aquarium. Students learned about organisms in the bay and how they are impacted by the loss of their natural habitat. They also learned how human can contribute to habitat loss or help to protect habitats. 4th graders also go on a field trip with Living Classroom's Lady Maryland boat. These pictures are shown below. You can see students working with this unique hands-on opportunity to discover organisms in the bay, learn about where they live in the watershed, and its commerce.
SCITech laboratory lesson extension:
In May of 2016, thanks to a grant from Towson University, a select group of environmentally conscious 5th graders got to participate in a field trip related around environmental science lab experience with Chesapeake Bay ecology being the centerpiece of the lesson.
The students all learned a lot about the different critters that are living in the bay and many students like Jamal left with a new respect for science when he said, "I never knew I could actually love science." Score one for the Green Team!
In May of 2016, thanks to a grant from Towson University, a select group of environmentally conscious 5th graders got to participate in a field trip related around environmental science lab experience with Chesapeake Bay ecology being the centerpiece of the lesson.
The students all learned a lot about the different critters that are living in the bay and many students like Jamal left with a new respect for science when he said, "I never knew I could actually love science." Score one for the Green Team!
Middle School
In April of 2017, The 6th grade was able to a have screen painting residency with master screen painter, John Iampieri. Our design for the works of art revolved around the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Ecology unit found within the Earth Science curriculum. The Science teacher, Mr. Ariosa, taught the lessons simultaneously with the painting lessons. These art integrated lessons were very successful and the students had a wonderful time during the residency. The works of art promoting green living and a healthy Chesapeake Bay can be found hanging in the hallways near the cafeteria.
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6th Grade Art Integration Lesson Slides | |
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In January 2018, the 7th graders went on a Biology-enriching field trip to the National Aquarium. Here they dissected squid to learn about body systems and adaptations and toured the aquarium to see biodiversity.
In November of 2017, the 8th Grade math and science classes used the native plant, garden space to learn. In this lesson they are grouping math manipulatives into equal groups to represent division. The science portion involved figuring out the number of migrating birds that would visit the garden (which was named an Audubon bird-friendly habitat) compared to before the change to all native plants, based upon the statistics given by our partners at Patterson Park Audubon. The findings were then presented to their parents/guardians during the Student Led Conferences at the end of the first trimester.
Middle Schoolers Reading about the Environment
During the 2015-2017 school years, middle school students at Commodore are engaged in a 75-minute reading intervention block. This impacts all middle school students. 6th to 8th grade students are grouped according to their reading abilities and access text right above their reading levels in order to improve their reading skills. Though the focus on this time is on literacy instruction, some of the fiction and non-fiction texts that are read at various levels support environmental themes. This year
- 36 students have read A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry. This text addresses environmental themes by discussing a river that is valued by a native american tribe, polluted by settlers and then cleaned up by an active community.
- 36 students have read Surviving Plants and which discusses special adaptations that different plants have to help them survive in different environments.
- 36 students have read Song of the Trees a novel in which a family tries to protect their land. The author brings to life the trees through personification and the family works to defend their forest.
- 42 students have read Feeding the World, a nonfiction text that discusses how genetically modified crops may help solve world hunger or cause havoc on the environment.
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Middle School Off-Campus Outdoor Education
In 2015-2018, as part of our curriculum at Commodore all middle school students participate in week-long outdoor education activities. In 6th grade students attend NorthBay and stay in cabins. They attend team building and adventure programming as well as environmental education classes and activities where students study the wetlands and Chesapeake Bay. In 7th grade students attend NorthBay's Chesapeake Wilderness Institute where students stay in platform tents. Students continue team building and adventure themes that they learned in 6th grade and experience different programming. In 7th grade they study the Chesapeake Bay watershed, collect and remove marine debris, and capture, tag, and release song birds. In 8th grade students attend Outward Bound during which they continue to use their team building skills and spend time learning to live off the environment.
In the first two pictures above, you can see 6th graders in an outdoor classroom. Students are learning about predator prey relationships. In the third picture they are observing birds of prey and looking for features that they have that allow them to be well adapted to hunt and eat their prey. In the fourth picture students are studying mock remains of an organisms and using the bones to guess what the organism may have been. As they study these predator/prey relationships, the staff discusses how humans impact the food chain and impact these relationships. In the picture at the left, students are collecting organisms from the bay and examining the variety of life that they find.
Here 7th graders sit in an outdoor classroom. They capture song birds using nets, carefully remove the song birds and place them into paper bags. Students help to measure, weigh, sex, tag and log the song birds that are captured. They also release the birds back into their environment. They learn how monitoring song bird populations is an excellent indicator of the health of the environment.
In the surrounding pictures you can see the 8th graders on their Outward Bound trip. Then spent 4 days and 3 nights in the outdoors, living only off of what they can carry in their packs and access from nature. As students hike a section of the Appalachian Trail, they learn to work together, observe the environment and take care of it as they live in it. This trip gives our urban students a new look at nature and how it is a habitat for any different types of living things.