I am not an expert on either, but am aware of both and had not heard of a connection until this NY Times article pointed out that there were giant plumes of oil under the water in the Gulf and they were already documenting a 30% reduction in oxygen there. This is not good as plant and fish life need dissolved oxygen to survive. Once that oxygen drops to extremely low or 0 the area becomes what is called a dead zone. Wikipedia says there were over 400 in the world in 2008. You can see satellite images of some of them on NOAA’s page. So besides the visually obvious concerns of oil on the surface and coastlines we need to worry about what is less obviously happening underwater.

I did not find any lessons for dead zones, but the PBS station in Florida did put together a page of activities and information around oil spills. This is a good starting place for conversation and awareness building with your students. Unfortunately though I expect we are going to learn this spill is of such a magnitude that what has worked in the past will not work this time.

Bull Shark in South Africa

“As someone who works closely with sharks, I can answer that question. Sharks help balance ocean ecosystems, which we depend upon for our food and our livelihoods. Simply put, sharks help keep the oceans healthy, and that’s critical for a healthy and prosperous planet.” Manny Ezcurra, Associate Curator of Sharks and Rays, Monterey Bay Aquarium

This is an excerpt from an email from Monterey Bay Aquarium. I like it because it emphasizes the system that is the ocean and how even “scary” things may really not be, and do have a purpose. To go along with their call to help save the sharks they have a fun little poll your students can complete to say why they love sharks and a 3 min podcast you can play that talks about the importance of predators. Shark Poll.

And here is where I got this photo of a bull shark. It is a site filled with shark photos and basic facts on all the varieties there are.

Parents want the best for their children and they often assume the schools are doing the same, but that is not always the case.  There’s a new show on ABC that is eye-opening and inspiring called Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution that is worth watching.

World famous chef Jamie Oliver is on a mission to change the way schools in America feed our children.  In his show, Jamie is doing his best to change the town of Huntington, West Virginia which was dubbed by the CDC as the “unhealthiest city” in America.  The 6-part series is halfway finished so if you haven’t been following it, you can catch up on past episodes on the website.

In the third episode, he prepared a beautiful pasta dish with 7 vegetables in it.  He was scolded by the food director who, following the FDA guidelines, told him there weren’t enough vegetables in the dish and that french fries count as a vegetable.  In essence, she was saying hamburger and french fries met the guidelines better than the veggie pasta dish.  Watch it here.

It is up to parents to get involved.  Schools may try their best but if the guidelines they follow are flawed, the results may even be harmful to our children.  For more information and resources, see Jamie’s website and consider signing the petition.

~~ Rebecca Ho
Freelance writer on health and sustainability

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0&feature=player_embedded

If you are uncertain of the environmental importance of making the shift to tap water check out this 3 min video, and share it with your students.  I now never buy bottled water and have a water bottle in the house and in the car so I have no excuses. Besides all the larger societal issues, I really like not spending extra money for something I already have in great quantity.

Be forewarned, the majority of us living in developed countries have pretty large footprints, no matter what we do. The trick is to not feel awful and guilty and then ignore it, but to try to make some small changes that all added together will start to make a difference for all of us.

I like this one from Islandwood as a starter quiz that could be used with pretty much elementary through high schoolers. Its options are given with school kids in mind. It also suggests you recalculate the results to see what happens with just one or two changes – a great opportunity to explore different impacts.

Once your students have done this, and if they are motivated to make some changes at school, home, wherever, you could use one of the more in-depth calculators for further discussion. This one from Redefining Progress is very well-regarded and thoroughly researched (do note their request to university classes to help support them with a donation).

TED talks are given by individuals whom the TED organization has chosen to give a cash award to and the chance to state their “one wish for the world.” For Jaime Oliver that is to help children, and adults, know how to eat healthier. He recognizes this also demands help from the food business and even more importantly the schools. And he has some ideas, that he is piloting, for how to help schools feed our children better.  Well worth a listen (it is long, 20 mins), if you are interested in what we can do to help ourselves become a healthier nation.

Jaime Oliver’s TED Prize Wish

How to Pack a Litterless Lunch

“Earth Day Network is looking for teachers who lead by example and make a difference for their students and the environment.  If you are working to green a school, implement environmental education, or achieve policy reform.”
http://www.earthday.net/node/13458

Cool the Earth is a 501c3 who offers their program for free to schools but does request a donation for the materials you get with the program. I don’t know how much that would be but since you are able to print most of them from their site I don’t imagine it is a whole lot. That said, having worked for an educational nonprofit that primarily offered our product for free I think it is good to have to give some financial support back to the program. It allows schools to list a value in their budgets for the program and helps solidify commitment to participate. And they do help schools find ways to raise the funds (or you can contact me about green fundraising programs so your students continue learning about the impact of their actions in everything they do.:-) )

Quick synopsis:
- The program is designed to be spearheaded and primarily run by parents.
- You start with a kick-off assembly. While Cool the Earth supplies the script – fair warning you, the school members, will have to be the actors.
- You then have action coupon booklets for all the students that guide them through all sorts of easy actions to take (choose less packaging, use a clothesline for drying (if you can get a parent onboard), etc).
- They also have a way to have the school as a larger group take one action a month.

The nice thing about this project is that there is follow through via the coupons (kids sign them and return them to their teachers when they have done it), which are then tallied and tracked on a big all school banner.

What do you think? If you are a parent, does this seem like a manageable project to undertake? If not, what would make it more so? And if you are a teacher, do you have parents you think would help bring this to your school?