Environmental Education

VIEW EVENTS
 
Having a rich, green natural field around the school enhances students’ learning, interests, and attitude towards their local environment. Therefore, new teaching methods like inquiry, experiments, projects, and discovery are implemented in order to develop students’ cognitive, physical, emotional, and social skills needed to learn about the environment, in the environment, and for the environment. The school vision is to be a green eco friendly school in three major domains: curriculum, management of resources, and management of school grounds.

 

    1. Curriculum

 

        • Intra curricular – Formal Context
          The school is in the process of integrating environmental education to enhance students’ environmental knowledge, skills, and attitudes with extra emphasis on the ecosystem of Pine Forests. Environmental education is to be integrated in Languages, Math, Sciences, Social Studies, Arts, and Music in gradually in all cycles.

 

        • Local and global themes
          Students learn about natural processes in the environment, essence of the ecosystem diversity, human’s dependence on the environment, environmental issues, and means of protection.

 

        • Multiple approaches: infusion, imposing, and framing
          1. “Infusion” is merging of environmental topics and activities in the existing curriculum.
          2. “Imposition” or “Module within a Subject” is adding environmental themes to the curriculum such as energy consumption and chemical wastes.
          3. “Framing” or “Cross- Curricular” is integrating environmental themes across all subjects in the class.

 

      • Extracurricular – Non Formal Context
        Environmental extracurricular activities – indoor and outdoor activities- have been developed in the school program. Indoor activities are drama shows, art exhibitions, science fairs, paper recycling, and cleanliness campaigns; whereas, outdoor activities take place in the natural surroundings of the school, Ras-El-Matn, or in the other Matn areas, are hiking or planting pine and cedar trees. These activities are done in collaboration with environmental organizations like Association for Forests, Development, and Conversation (AFDC). Besides, Green School environmental club was established in 2009; its members, intermediate and secondary students, often participate in local and international environmental activities, contests, and exhibitions.

 

    1. Management of School Resources

 

Project-based learning strategy is applied to reduce the consumption of electricity, water, products, and paper gradually at school in five years. The action plan includes:

      • Auditing the use of resources
      • Recording the data on the checklist
      • Identifying the problems to be addressed
      • Implementing solutions to solve the problems
      • Monitoring the progress
      • Using solar cells, filters, windmills, and 3Rs

 

    1. Management of School Grounds

 

Students directed by teachers are involved in activities to develop their investigative and interpretive skills such as:

      • Collecting and recording data
      • Writing an information report on the biodiversity found in the school grounds
      • Identifying how biodiversity can be increased
      • Planting seeds, plants, and fruitful and non fruitful trees in the plantation field and the garden of the school
      • Surveying students, school staff, parents and community members to determine attitudes to the school grounds