QUILT BY CHRIS STAVER
The last two months have been a fascinating look at what happens to our planet when we cause less pollution. Photos of Venice and the clean water are astounding. Pictures of the clean sky over Los Angeles – amazing. Animals coming back to their old habitats. All of this in just a few months.
Obviously, at some point we will all re-emerge and begin to interact more with our environment. But maybe some good will come out of this and we will do it a little more responsibly. We have certainly seen how quickly our planet can begin to recover from some of the damage caused by humans.
I have written about several project ideas that have a theme of protecting and cleaning up our environment. Teaching children how to learn and think authentically is something I am obviously passionate about. We also need to take a good, hard look at what we are doing to our planet, and what we are leaving behind for our children and grandchildren. What better way to cover both than an authentic project about our environment. And the timing, with what is currently happening in our world, is perfect for this authentic exploration.
There are some really neat organizations out there that are making a big difference in cleaning up our environment. For example, 4ocean sells bracelets made of beads from plastic pulled out of the ocean (a huge environmental problem). For every bracelet they sell they pull a pound of plastic from the ocean.
There are many other grassroots organizations, businesses, and charities that are making a huge difference. Most started as a simple project. (Read about the start of 4ocean, it is an interesting story.) A really cool authentic project could be to develop a new way or idea to clean up, or prevent pollution, on our planet. Who knows…this project may become something that makes a difference.
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The Educational Journey 