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Sixth Grade spent the
weeks between Halloween and Christmas exploring how we manage our waste and
how we can learn better to protect our ‘aina. The Aloha Aina Project of the
Pacific American Foundation provided the curriculum. During the lessons
students compared our management of ‘opala, or waste, to the way the
Hawaiians managed their wastes in pre-contact Hawaii. They conducted a
waste audit of St. Anthony School to learn what types of wastes were most
common. An experiment in decomposition of kitchen waste was conducted
comparing the effectiveness of EM Bokashi to vermicaste and soil. A
fieldtrip to recycling centers and the landfill in Kapolei was a highlight
and illustrated the many ways that we can all help reduce the waste stream.
Finally, student teams developed recycling and waste management plans to
illustrate and implement what they learned.
One group created an
illustrated display of the four stops on our tour of recycling centers and
the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill
6th Graders
at Schnitzer Steel
Another group decided
to hold a clothing drive to benefit the St. Anthony Outreach and other
thrift stores in Kailua. Here is a photo of them with a small amount of
their donations:
A third group was
impressed with the way H-Power uses 40% of the island’s trash to power 5% of
our homes. They decided to write letters to the Honolulu City Council to
increase the waste-to-energy capacity of the city. Here they are reading
their letters to the Mayor and Council:
A fourth group decided
that our campus needed additional recycling cans. They researched, procured
and deployed a new recycling can for the school.
The last group decided
to create an original puppet show to teach younger children about the
virtues of recycling. Using Dickens’s A Christmas Carol as an
inspiration, they wrote, created the puppets, and performed their version to
illustrate the reasons we should all recycle.
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