Habitat Restoration
- Students and volunteers continued the monitoring of the 8 nest boxes located on the schools Bluebird trail. Our bluebird boxes were installed in 2008 and we have been monitoring and recording our observations since the installation of the trail. Students and Green Team Staff take an online course each year to become certified Blue Bird monitors.
Each year students on the Green Team complete a short online course to become certified Blue Bird Monitors. Pictures below show students from the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school year proudly displaying their certificates.
Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay
Fifth grade students created a video to share with our school and on our class webpage to show the importance of oysters to the Chesapeake Bay and information on oyster gardening. This was part of their Science Unit on Oysters as an activity to demonstrate their understanding. The activity was completed in October of 2015.
teammurphy5.weebly.com/class-field-trips.html
Native Garden Makeover
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The 2015-16 Green Team, staff and volunteers worked to makeover the front school garden. All non-native plants were removed, native plants were relocated, and cardboard was put down as a weed barrier. The Spring 2016-17 Green Team will be planting native plants in raised beds that will be created using cinder block. A grant was received from Cove Point Land Trust to cover a portion of the cost of the native plant and wildlife garden. Ace Hardware in Lusby donated 18 bags of mulch to the mulch that was purchased through the grant. A local business, Larry's Auto Service has volunteered to provide additional funding to cover the remaining cost of the purchase of top soil, native plants and additional mulch. A local church group, that also participates in a Good News Club at our school, has also volunteered to assist with creating the garden. We have provided pictures below that show the garden before and after. In spring of 2017 staff, volunteers and green team members will create raised beds with cinder blocks and plant native plants to create a native plant and wildlife garden.
A nature trail was created during our last recertification from an Eagle Scout Troop. Since then each year our students helped to clear the trail of overgrowth and fallen trees. On March 9, 2017, students, volunteers and staff cleared the trail of overgrowth and fallen trees and used fallen limbs to line the nature trail for students.
Water Conservation
- Appeal Elementary installed four rain gardens in 2009 totaling over 8500 sq. feet. The after school green team, staff and volunteers continue to maintain the rain gardens by adding plants, weeding, and mulching as necessary. The rain gardens have been a wonderful addition to our school grounds and provide a great habitat for local wildlife. The students and staff enjoy visiting the rain gardens and using them as a tool to learn about local plant and wildlife native to our area.
- Morning announcements are made and posters were posted around sinks helping to remind students and staff of ways to save water.
- Mr. Boxwell brought in native plants and shrubs donated by himself and local master gardeners to add to our rain gardens that continue to help filter run-off entering the Chesapeake Bay.
- Each year our students and green team members maintain the rain gardens by adding plants and removing litter.
During our February 2, 2017 green team meeting, students created and hung posters to remind staff and students about conserving water. |
During the 2015-16 school year, fifth grade students helped by keeping our Rain Gardens clear of trash and debris. This helps the rain garden do it's job of filtering our stormwater runoff before it reaches our bay.
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Native plants donated by master gardeners were planted in our rain gardens.
Solid Waste Reduction
Students, staff and volunteers work together to keep re-cycling bins emptied. The green team posted this list to show our staff and students what items can be included in our recycling bins.
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- School wide paper recycling continues and all rooms in our building.
- Reduction in the amount of copies made by all grade levels by using student journals.
- The 2016-17 Green Team created Nature journals for students to use during our Green Team meetings and to take home.
- During the 2014-15 school year the fifth grade students reused plastic soda liter bottles to create bottle buddies during a biography unit.
- During the 2015-16 school year the Green Team used cardboard as a weed barrier in the schools front garden.
- During the 2016-17 school year the fifth grade created houses using recycled items to demonstrate their understanding of good practices to reduce the amount of run-off and erosion.
- During the 2013-14 school year, Ms. Walker taught students how to use newspaper and paper towel rolls to plant seedlings for easy transplanting as the material breaks down.
Energy Conservation
- During the 2016-17 school year, classroom energy patrols are responsible for turning the lights off when they leave the room, turning computers off at the end of the day and make posters to educate our school on the importance of saving energy.
- All of these efforts have helped us achieve our electricity reduction goals through an incentive offered from school facilities. See attached report to see our efforts are paying off.
Students from our 2016-17 green team have placed stickers on light switches and computers to remind staff and students to turn off lights and computers when not in use. Students shared results of our December energy report on our morning announcements on March 3, 2017.
Each year the green team students create energy conservation posters to remind staff and students to turn off lights and computers when not in use. The pictures below show students from the 2016-17 green team hanging their posters near the light switches as reminders. We also have NRGPD (Energy Police Department) patrols that are in charge of making sure lights, smart boards and computer screens are off when leaving room. Pictures are included below.
dec_energy_report.pdf | |
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morning_announcements.docx | |
File Size: | 104 kb |
File Type: | docx |