Respect
Middle School - January 2010
Character Education
Newsletters
Broward County Air
Quality Program
The Broward County Pollution Prevention, Remediation & Air Quality Division continues to incorporate
Character Education into its educational efforts. Each month the newsletter will relate core values to
science and the environment in an effort to educate students about good character and the importance
of protecting our natural resources. The curriculum resources and materials provided include the
applicable FCAT Science Test Item Specifications.
Respect is defined as showing consideration, understanding,
and regard for people, places, and things. January’s theme is
respect, and Florida Arbor Day falls on January 15th. The
mission of the Arbor Day Foundation is to inspire people to plant,
nurture, and celebrate trees. In our 2010 “Green Footprints
Calendar,” a student from Pembroke Pines Charter Elementary
West nicely captured the Arbor Day Foundation mission with her
drawing titled “Hug a Tree.” Be sure to educate students to respect animals, plants, the environment,
and ourselves by showing consideration, understanding, and high regard to all that share the planet
with us.
Writing and Drawing in the Field: Keeping a Nature Journal
Sunshine State Standards: SC.A.1.3.1
Length of Lesson: Approximately 70 minutes.
Resources/Materials:
Keeping a Nature Journal, a Naturalist's Sketchbook by Clare Walker Leslie
Into the Field by Leslie, Tallmadge, and Wessels
Clipboards, lined and unlined paper, pencils
Procedure:
What do forests mean to us?
1. Using the school library or the internet, read and discuss Robert Frost's "Stopping by the
Woods on a Snowy Evening." As a homework assignment, students should identify a special,
wooded place somewhere near their houses and draw a mental map from their homes to the
spot. In class, discuss features that make these spots special to the students.
2. Take the students outside and discuss writing in the wild and providing specific names for
features, river, tree and plant names. Begin with some free writing activities, encouraging
students to use detail in their writing. Have students volunteer to share their writing.
Contour Line Drawing of a leaf:
1. Use leaves that are randomly chosen.
2. After four-five exercises collect leaves and hand out again, having each student identify the leaf
they carefully drew.
3. For homework students must include line drawings of three different leaves in their next journal
entry.
Assessment:
Students will complete a Reflection Page after writing 6 nature journal entries.
Source: EE Weekly Newsletter
How forests have changed over time
Sunshine State Standards : SC.F.1.3.7
Length of Lesson: Approximately 70 minutes.
Resources/Materials: William Jaspersohn's How the Forest Grew
Procedure:
1. Teacher reads aloud William Jaspersohn's story How the Forest Grew, students take notes
regarding indicator species and tree species as well as wildlife to emerge at each succession
stage in reforestation.
2. Students will use their notes on succession to prepare an annotated drawing of each stage
entitled Nothing Succeeds Like Succession.
Assessment:
Students will:
1. Produce annotated drawings of a landscape undergoing the five stages of succession.
2. Create a vision drawing of how they would like to leave Florida’s landscape in 50 years.
3. Create a timeline which indicates an understanding of the historical time frame of forest use,
deforestation, and reforestation in Florida (forest loss and recovery) within the wider view of national
and international historical events
Source: Environmental Education
Go Green
Climate Change
Broward County Kids
Corner
Naturescape Broward
What a Tree Craves: Air, Sunlight, Food, and Water
Sunshine State Standards: SC.G.1.4
Objectives
Students will be able to:




Identify basic requirements for tree survival and indicate how these needs are met.
Explain that adaptations can determine a tree's ability to compete for basic survival needs.
Explain that the introduction of exotic invasive species is often a human activity that has altered
the environmental condition of forests.
Describe how changes in the forest ecosystems can affect tree growth.
Introduction: Students will learn basic parts of a tree and their functions in acquiring the survival
needs of water, sunshine, food, and air. Certain characteristics of tree species may allow them to
compete effectively for these limited resources, and students will learn how these relate to invasive
exotic species and their effect on the growth and composition of the forest.
Procedures: Background: A tree is composed of several structures that each have a specific function
that enables the tree to survive:

Leaves: use water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide gas from the air to make food (in the form of
sugar). Enough food is made by the leaves to supply the whole tree with food energy.

Branches: hold the leaves in place and help them to make the food.

Trunk: food moves through a system of "straws" or tiny pipelines in the wood from the leaves
into all of the other parts of the tree. The trunk also helps the tree to stand tall, enabling the
leaves to reach the sunlight they need, and stores food for the tree to use during the winter.

Roots: gather water and nutrients (minerals) from the soil, which are transported up the trunk to
the leaves, where they are used to make the food. The roots also hold the tree in place and
store some food for winter use.
1. Help the students to identify the requirements for tree growth such as nutrients, sunlight, water,
and air. Describe for them the parts of a tree that are responsible for the functions that enable
the tree to survive.
2. Divide the students into four groups: roots, trunks, branches, and leaves. If there are an odd
number of students, make the extra students leaves and branches. Give each student a "What
a Tree Craves" role card to indicate the role he/she is playing.
3. Scatter the "Tree Needs" cards onto the ground nearby. Tell the students that the different
needs of trees are represented by paper squares in the following colors: blue (water), yellow
(sunlight), green (food), and white (air).
4. Explain to the students that they must each search through the cards on the ground or amongst
the other players to find the needs that are listed on their role cards. For example, the roots
each must find a water card and a mineral card. The trunk must find a "root" player who has
already found its survival needs and escort that person to a "branch" player, who has already
found a "leaf player with all its survival needs met. The lucky "trunk" will be the one who finds
the extra branch/leaf, since that tree will be more able to make food for winter survival.
5. Start the game by yelling, "Go!" In short order, all the connections should be made so that there
are a number of completed trees in the forest, each having what it needs in order to survive.
Source: Barbara Morton, Wildlands Conservancy, Emmaus, Pa.
Carbon Sequestration is the absorption and storage of CO2. The most effective trees for carbon
sequestration are those that grow large with big trunk diameters and dense wood, have a long life and
grow slowly. Invasive trees and those which require a lot of maintenance are not good choices. Of the
following, which tree is the best for capturing carbon over a long life-time?
A. Brazilian Pepper (invasive exotic species)
B. Bald Cypress (native large tree with a long life)
C. Oleander (exotic small tree)
D. Black Ironwood (native small sized tree)
Answer: B
SPREAD THE WORD!!!
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Climate Change Impacts & Solutions Around the World
2010 Poster Contest
Open to Elementary & Middle School Students
Prizes Include Tickets to Local Attractions
In December 2009, the United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Copenhagen, where
participants from 192 countries met to create common ground for a coherent global response to
climate change. The theme for this year’s contest is “Climate Change Impacts & Solutions Around the
World” and will focus on the impacts associated with the changes in the climate and the solutions
taken by communities around the world. Examples of impacts include Arctic sea ice melting and
coastal community impacts around the world. Example of solutions include hydrogen-powered buses
in Berlin, wind farms in Brazil, the banning of plastic grocery bags in San Francisco, and the use of
geothermal power in Greenland. All the impacts and solutions raise awareness of world-wide issues
and set in place actions to help reduce our carbon footprint through mitigation actions and responses
on how to adapt to those impacts.
Please visit http://www.broward.org/kids/kidsclubcontest.htm for contest rules and further information.
The Environmental Education Council of Broward County, with support from the Broward County
School District, sponsors the annual Environmental Stewardship of the year awards. This ceremony is
for elementary, middle, and high school students and teachers as well as administrators and
volunteers. The nominees, their families and principals will be invited to attend a reception at that time;
winners will be announced during a special program following the reception.
Award Ceremony
May 7, 2010 5:30-9:30 p.m.
Alyce Culpepper Center, South Plantation High
To nominate a teacher, student, administrator or volunteer from your school for this most prestigious
award, please see instructions below. Applications are due to the EEC by January 29, 2010. For more
information please visit www.browardeec.org.