Connections Quarterly Spring 2016 - Environment

Model Schools integrating sustainability These featured schools have made strong efforts to integrate sustainability content and skills into the curriculum. Compiled by Wynn Calder White Mountain School (9-PG; Bethlehem, NH) At WMS students learn that economy, ecology, social equity and personal well-being are integral parts of global sustainability. The Sustainability Studies program helps students build an understanding of these interrelated parts by offering an array of courses as well as opportunities beyond the classroom walls. All students are required to take at least one semester course in Sustainability Studies. Sustainability content and skills are also infused throughout the academic curriculum, including Biology, World History II, American Literature as well as a variety of electives. The school runs week-long field courses, such as Linking Local and Global Sustainability at Cite Ecologique in Colebrook, NH. Marin Country Day School (K-8, Corte Madera, CA) MCDS seeks to instill in students a sense of stewardship for the environment, grounded in a foundation of science and ecology, and to develop an understanding of complex environmental issues to enable participation in solving problems. The first grade social studies curriculum focuses on an in-depth study of the individual and his/her role in a community. Fourth graders explore native and non-native plants of Ring Mountain, a preserve behind the campus. Students ponder “What makes a sustainable food system possible?” while examining the MCDS food system, and the local system in Marin County. They visit farms, and local agencies that aim to provide healthy food for those who cannot otherwise source it on their own. The Evergreen School (PS-8, Shoreline, WA) As a part of the school’s mission, values and philosophy, the faculty at Evergreen is dedicated to teaching global and 21st-century skills in many areas of the curriculum and across grade levels. In the primary grades, environmental sustainability topics are integrated across content areas and students learn about human-built and natural communities, plant and animal habitats, human impacts on local environments, food and nutrition, and interrelationships in ecosystems. In intermediate level science classes, students are introduced to electrical circuits by using solar electric cells, and wi

Connections Quarterly Spring 2016 - Environment | Page 28