"Service-Learning in you Place": Creating Sustainable Community Connections for Environmental Sciences

"Service- Learning in you Place": Creating
 Sustainable Community Connections for
         Environmental Sciences

The Relationship between
Environmental Science and Service
             Learning

• Increases engagement of
  students

• Provides real-world
  applicability

• Demonstrates citizen-
  science

• Promotes civic participation

Importance of Making Connections
               to Students Place
• Immerses students in local
  heritage, culture, landscapes,
  opportunities and experiences

• Forges strong ties between local
  social and environmental
  organizations and their
  constituencies in the schools and
  community

• Makes tangible contributions to
  resolving local and
  environmental issues and
  conserving local environmental
  quality

Developing connections in
            your community
•   Search local NGOs, state parks, existing
    relationships between universities and
    organizations

•   Meet with volunteer coordinator to find out
    their needs

•   Create a variety of projects to promote
    student interests

•   Maintain positive relationships between the
    community organization and the school

•   Encourage product-driven projects with
    tangible results

•   Create clear guidelines, timelines and
    expectations

•   Do not create more work for your community
    partners

Project Descriptions
 Paris Mountain State            AJ Whitenburg School
  Park Trail Project                Garden Project
Meet with Ranger Taylor and Review existing curriculum
  discuss possible projects  and study its effectiveness.
 including animal and plant Volunteer in school garden to
 species book, educational     assist in maitanence of
         games etc.                     garden

STEAM Middle School                Roper Mountain
 Native SC plant walk             Science Center Art
Design a native plant walk for         Project
 new middle school including      Create mural to enhance
  review of various types of     existing educational center
plants and creation of outdoor
             lab

Examples of Student
      Work

Plant and Animal Field
Guides for Paris Mountain
•   Wild Carrott (Daucus carota) is a flowering
    plant in the family Apiaceae. It is a variable
    biennial plant, flowering from June to August.
    The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink
    before they open, then bright white and
    rounded when in full flower. As they turn to
    seed, they contract and become concave like
    a bird's nest. The dried umbels detach from
    the plant, becoming tumbleweeds. Daucus
    carota is distinguished by a mix of bi-pinnate
    and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems
    and leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and
    occasionally a single dark red flower in its
    center. Wild carrot was introduced and
    naturalised in North America, where it is often
    known as "Queen Anne's lace". It is so called
    because the flower resembles lace; the red
    flower in the center represents a blood
    droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself
    with a needle when she was making the lace.
    The function of the tiny red flower, coloured
    by anthocyanin, is to attract insects.

Created recommendations for
   school garden program

Aligned Standards to school garden
             project
                  Kindergarten

                    Lessons

                    Number
Lessons              Number                  Description
                  Description

  1,3                 1, 3
                     K-1.4
                                      Recognize natural features
                                       of his or her environment

                     K-1.4
                                     Recognize that families of the
                                      past have made choices to
 10,13 natural features
Recognize          K-2.1of his or   her   environment
                                      fulfill their wants and needs
                                     and the families do so in the
                                                    present
                       1

Created Low-Impact Design
Fact Sheets for Upstate Forever

• Created the following LID
  for Upstate Forever's
  Educational Program:

• Pervious pavement

• Greywater recycling

• Urban Raingardens

Student Reflections on Project
•   I’ve enjoyed seeing how this Inquiry project has come together for each of the
    groups within our class. I think it was hard for me at first to see the importance of
    each step of the project, but now I see that each step was equally significant. I’ve
    enjoyed getting involved with the Greenville community and helping Upstate
    Forever produce documents that will actually be of use-- Ashley, on LID fact sheet

•   Overall, the project allowed me the opportunity to delve into an area of science I
    have no previous experience in. Doing this project, served as a great introduction
    to plant species in the Upstate. Additionally, prior to taking on this project, I had
    not previously visited Paris Mountain State Park, so that in itself was a positive
    learning experience. Overall, I look forward to now being able to have a personal
    resource for identifying some plant species and being able to pass that small bit
    of knowledge on to my daughter. I hope to take my daughter to visit Paris
    Mountain in the near future and show her a contribution her Mommy made to the
    visitor’s center-- Janet on field guide creation

•   I worked with Upstate Forever to develop an LID Fact Sheet for Pervious
    Pavement. This fact sheet will be used to give to architects, contractors, and
    engineers to provide them with some basic information about this stormwater
    handling technique. I personally learned a lot about this LID technique through all
    of the research that I conducted through the service learning project of this
    project. I not only learned about this technique, but I also learned the purpose
    behind other LID techniques-- Robin on LID fact sheet

Community members'
reactions to the projects
•   "Wow, the field guides look great! I stayed out sick last
    week, but over the last 2 days have been carefully going
    over the field guides you made. They will be a great asset
    to park visitors who want to know what's out there. As
    helpful as the field guide aspects are, I would especially
    like for folks to read your reflections pages, helping them
    get a perspective on the significance of Paris Mountain
    State Park - they helped remind me of the value of this
    place as a natural area that offers "encounters between the
    worlds," "away from it all" "to know [the park inhabitants]
    names, and know about [them]", ''who make the forest
    their home." Can you tell that I was inspired?"