About ECO6IX
Team ECO6IX was asked "how can grade 6 students promote environmental education in their local community?" Our solution was to create an experiential learning method for the students at Irma Coulson Public School. Our team worked to create self-watering plant kits for the students in the classes we worked with, along with workbooks that include information about sustainability, Indigenous gardening practices, and food justice.
About Our project
Team ECO6IX ended up working with two classes of grade 3 and 4 students. Our team wanted to focus on the aspect of experiential learning as a way for the students and their teachers to experience a new avenue of learning about their local environment. Our planning for this project took many factors into consideration, including what we wanted the students to learn, who we collaborated with, and which school we would be working with. We decided to go in the direction of self-watering planters that come with a workbook for the students and a teacher’s manual.
For the making of the self-watering planters, we have provided the school with kits with the necessary materials as explained in the workbook. The kit includes materials such as seeds, gardening gloves, and soil. The workbook discusses sustainability, as well as recognizing sustainable food growing practices, understanding food justice and food sovereignty, and a step-by-step guide on creating one's very own self-watering planters. The teacher’s manual includes an introduction to our team, our project, our intentions behind our solution, and an instructional breakdown of each component of the workbook. Furthermore, additional recipes and activities are also provided to allow for a more enjoyable experience and increased student engagement.
Project Launch!
Our project was launched on April 21st, during the school's Earth Day celebration in which team ECO6IX invited the students, their parents, the teachers, and members of the community to celebrate the launch of our environmental project. The celebration included speeches from our members, our collaborators, and an overview of our project, goals, and the official hand-off of our deliverables.
View Photos From Our Earth Day Event:
View Our Student Handbook and Teacher's Manual:
About Our Collaborators
Grandmother's Voice
Our team recognizes the importance on Indigenous knowledge and practices concerning the environment and sustainability. To honour this knowledge and to be able to pass it on authentically to the students, we collaborated with Grandmother's Voice, and Indigenous Women-Lead organization based in Halton.
Throughout our project, members of Grandmother's Voice provided information that informed some of the information in our student workbook.
Members of Grandmother's Voice attended our Earth Day celebration at Irma Coulson Public School and spoke about the importance of Indigenous teachings, and also held activities for the students.
Conservation Halton
Our team also worked with a representative from Conservation Halton, an organization that works to prepare communities for the impacts of climate change, as well as create more sustainable communities.
Our collaborator is an expert on biodiversity, and their knowledge helped inform the information we included in our workbook, along with the construction of the self-watering gardens and their components.
Check Out Our Community Impact Video:
Credits:
Created with images by Pixel-Shot - "Fresh tropical leaves on white background" • lovelyday12 - "hand holding young plant for planting in soil concept green world" • singkham - "Farmer planting sapling into soil"