Planet Earth DVD

Go Green for the EARTH DVD Contest

DisneyNature: EARTH shows us the beauty throughout the world’s ecosystems.

Contest Question:
In 200 words or less, tell us about the “green” ideas you bring into your classroom to help make sure that future generations will continue to enjoy all of nature’s splendor.

And the winners are...Erin Rice-Smith, Kim Leslie and Leatha Cruz!!!
Here are the winning entries which can help every classroom go green for the EARTH:

Erin Rice-Smith
“As a fourth grade science teacher, I feel it is very important that students understand how their actions affect the environment. I make sure students recycle paper and plastic, as well as Capri Sun pouches. However, the most important thing I’m trying to do is limit the amount of paper I use for students worksheets and assignments. I am using technology to put assignments online and have students submit them electronically, so no paper is wasted. For example, a recent current event project would have normally entailed students printing out an article or using the local newspaper and printing out the worksheet to complete the assignment. Now, students can look up the article online and type the response. Then the document is submitted through the county’s online classroom system, eliminating the use of 120 pieces of paper for one class assignment!”

Kim Leslie
“I am the science and PE teacher here at the Mosier Community School in rural Mosier, OR. We have a strong commitment to connecting our students to the natural world and "green" choices make up a huge part of our classrooms and daily life. My favorite "green" element to MCS is our snack-to-compost-to-garden program. Rather than bring a snack (which would likely have lots of packaging and be less than nutritious), students are offered a fresh seasonal fruit snack during their break time. The fruit usually comes from a local farm or even from a family with a student at the school. Rather than throw pits, cores or skin in the trash, students contribute all of their fruit waste to a compost bowl that is carried out to the compost bin on campus. Finally, that compost is used in the school garden to help grow basil, tomatoes, squash and other treats for kids to snack on or to be used in our school lunch program. MCS students understand where their food comes from and how they can be part of a sustainable (and tasty!) process.”

Leatha Cruz
“I am a teacher of 12th-grade Environmental Science students at Bishop Ford High School, and going Green is a focus in our classroom. We have gone green in a number of ways. All members of the class have created a “green contract” that we have signed, outlining pledges we have made to decrease our personal ecological footprints. We have already planned to hold a number of school-wide drives to collect gently used clothing and other materials that will be donated to a local charity. Everyone brings in a “green tip” of the day, and several students have volunteered to be “Green Scouts,” encouraging students in the dining halls to recycle their plastics and metals during lunch periods. In the springtime, we learn about green design, and students work in teams to design and build their own green homes, which are left on display in time for Earth Day. We all learn that going green is a process in which little steps made by everyone can make big strides.”

About Erin Rice-Smith

Erin Rice-Smith teaches 4th grade language arts and science at Pine View School for the Gifted in Osprey, FL. It is her third year teaching after changing careers. She enjoy teaching students about science and how they affect the word around them. She loves incorporating technology into the classroom; it opens the door of information for the students.

About Kim Leslie

Kim Leslie is a 3rd - 6th grade science teacher at Mosier Community School in Mosier, Oregon. She's been teaching science indoors and outside for ten years from the top floor of a school in San Francisco to the tops of mountains in Yosemite National Park. For the past three years she's been fortunate enough to live, work and play in the spectacular Columbia River Gorge where the chances to explore and learn about the natural world abound!

About Leatha Cruz

Leatha Cruz has been a Science and Math teacher at Bishop Ford High School in Brooklyn since 1998. She has had the opportunity to teach all high school grades, especially Physics for 11th grade students. For the past several years, she's enjoyed teaching Environmental Science to 12th graders. She loves taking science "out of the textbooks" and helping her students put it into action, instead of hearing more of the same question from students: "When am I ever going to use this stuff?"