Real World Economics (redux) provides you an opportunity to add points to your RWE presentations on a weekly basis. Every week we do a (S-Option) Student Option choice in RWE I’ll choose one article from all student assignments. I will link that article to the blog and I will post a question or series of questions that you must answer. You may earn up to five points extra credit on the previous week’s RWE assignment. This work will count individually – you do not have to work with your partner. I will post the due date and time, however expect that it will be at 11:00 PM on Wednesday of the week assigned. Students from Government and Senior Current Issues may choose to answer RWE ‘redux’. Points will count as blog spot check points. All written blog assignments must adhere to posted Blogging Guidelines.
Article selection for 9/22/08 – from Hillary Cole and Kalie Payne.
Costs, concerns push schools to use eco-friendly elements – USA Today
Question 1 – Identify the various ways, according to the article, that new schools are “going green.” Describe each.
Question 2 – The article addresses how “going green” effects the mindset of students. Cite the article and add your own thoughts in answering the following: How does the building of green schools have a positive affect on the students of those schools?”
Assignment must be posted by 11:00 PM Wednesday.
New schools are going green by doing a number of things. These include:
-Waterless urinals to cut down on the use of water for something used throughout the day that’s using too much water.
-Geothermal cooling is used for a source of air conditioning.
-Large Windows to let in more natural light from the sun to cut down the use of electricity to light a light bulb.
-Solar Panel to supply electricity to the building.
-The creation of a wetland to reuse wastewater from toilets in the school.
-The use of recycled building materials to construct the building.
-Energy efficient light bulbs.
These green schools are having a positive affect on students attending the green schools.The positive affect is not coming from what the students are learning, but from the simple fact that the school is “just a happy building. It gives you a sense of well-being,” says Dierdre Cook, principal of the green school Fossil Ridge. “The better you feel about where you are, the better you’re going to perform.”
I think that when most people start changing their lifestyles in an effort to become more green, they really do feel good inside, at least I do. The simple fact that you are doing something you know is not only good, but right, can positively affect a person’s mood and attitude.
5 pts EXTRA – GREAT JOB. Thorough. Well thought out.
Question 1:
Large windows, let more light in therefore they are using the natural light that the sun gives off instead of using light bulbs, which saves energy.
They are recycling more, instead of throwing things away. Photovoltaic solar panels on the roof which helps to save more energy. Wetlands let them reuse waste water for school toilets.
Question 2:
It was said that with natural lighting the students scored better on their tests. Going green gives you a sence of well-being and makes the building a happier place to know your school is making a difference, also the better you feel about where you are the better you will perform. Students often take what they learn from school and bring it home therefore if they know their school is becoming more eco friendly they could go to their parents and say ” wait mom if my school is going green, then we could go green and use more energy efficient light bulbs or recycle more too”.
5 pts EXTRA – nice student parent quote addition. Thorough.
1.Some schools use photovoltaic solar panels on the roof to help with energy, a wetland to reuse the wastewater for the school’s toilets. Also, they used plenty of recycled building materials. There are also low flow-faucets and wind power usage.
2.The green schools use large windows, which helps in keeping the student more aware than the artificial lighting. This is called daylighting. Some people believe that this has no effect over the students’ performance in school. However, there’s an emphasis on clean air at green schools and large, airy campuses. Going to a green school also helps to make the students more environmentally aware, which affects the world around them and at home.
4 pts EXTRA – Nice job on the first question, I think maybe there is more to the second than merely being aware. That’s important…could use a little more detail. Not bad.
Question 1-
To go green schools are making many changes. Schools are installing bigger windows in classrooms to provide “daylight”, which is allowing them to leave the artificial lighting tuned off. Some schools are installing solar panels to use as another form of energy. Schools are also recycling more, using environmentally friendly products, and they are using wetlands to help recycle their wastewater. The smaller things the schools are doing are just simply taking the students on nature walks, planting flowers, and most importantly, teaching them how to keep their environment clean and healthy.
Question 2-
“You’re used to seeing all these renewable and sustainable materials (at school) and you go to your house and you don’t see any of this and you’re like, ‘Hey Mom, we can put in different light bulbs that do this.’ It really makes you think about these things.” Chitti Raju, 14.
That statement shows that schools can’t expect their students to go green without setting an example of how to do so. If students continually see green materials and green ways of doing things, then they will realize that they can change a lot of thing around their home as well. I believe that it’s beneficial for everyone if schools go green. The students and staff of the green schools that are talked about in this article have only good things to say about it. They all feel good that they can contribute to helping the Earth, and they feel even better because they are setting an excellent example to the rest of the world.
5 pts EXTRA – VERY WELL DONE! both questions.
Question 1:
There are a lot of things that the schools can do to be greener. They can reduce their water and recycle their waste to be greener. You can build larger windows at school so you don’t need so much light and the natural light is enough to study and its better.
Question 2:
For example a company found that children generally fared better on math and reading tests in schools where natural light was more prevalent because it improves student focus and achievement. And their parents will be more environmental because the students are green at school, so they want to be green at home too. They say to their parents that they could do this at home because they do it at school and its better. That will be a generation that’s more environmentally aware than people are now.
repost
Question 1:
There are a lot of things that the schools can do to be greener. They can reduce their water and recycle their waste to be greener. You can build larger windows at school so you don’t need so much light and the natural light is enough to study and it’s better.
Question 2:
For example a company found that children generally fared better on math and reading tests in schools where natural light was more prevalent because it improves student focus and achievement. And their parents will be more environmental because the students are green at school, so they want to be green at home too. They say to their parents that they could do this at home because they do it at school and its better. That will be a generation that’s more environmentally aware than people are now.
repost
Question 1:
There are a lot of things that the schools can do to be greener. They can reduce their water and recycle their waste to be greener. You can build larger windows at school so you don’t need so much light and the natural light is enough to study and it’s better.
Question 2:
For example a company found that children generally fared better on math and reading tests in schools where natural light was more prevalent because it improves student focus and achievement. And their parents will be more environmental because the students are green at school, so they want to be green at home too. They say to their parents that they could do this at home because they do it at school and it’s better. That will be a generation that’s more environmentally aware than people are now.
4 pts EXTRA – Do you think maybe you could post it one more time. I’ve never had anybody do four reposts…maybe a little more detail in the question #1 listing. But all n all, nice job German girl.
Schools are going green but how? Simple really, in some states the new school buildings have to be more energy efficient by reducing their water usage and recycling more. In one school most classes room generally doesn’t use the lights because the windows let in enough light. Other schools plant flowers.
Having green schools affects the students because if the school is doing something good for the environment then they are going to be inspired as well to recycle more or something else that will help the environment. If one school does it and most of the students are going green then that might rub off on the people that they are friends with or close relatives. Then that might start a chain to where more and more people are helping out the environment.
4 pts EXTRA – Not bad. Could use a little more detail on question #1 – specific listing of all additions. Question #2 is good.
1) According to the article schools are “going green” in various ways such as, using daylight instead of artificial lighting which also helped students improve in math, solar panels on the roof to help save energy (heat), and a “wetland” where wastewater goes and can be reused for toilets (less water consumption).
2) The article talked about the difference in natural light compared to artificial light and how it helped in the areas of math and reading by increasing test scores. I agree with this statement personally because after sitting in my voc class for 2 hours I get a headache; when I go outside to wait for the bus in the sunlight my headache slowly slips away and I feel re-energized. The teacher slash mother in the article was shocked that her kids had learned about energy saving techniques at school and brought the knowledge home and passed it on. To have a “green school” makes you feel successful in knowing you are helping to save the world one school at a time.
5 pts EXTRA – VERY GOOD ANSWER ON #2 – Particularly bringing in your own circumstance. I like that in a blog. Shows you can adapt your schoolwork to the real world.
There are a lot of things that schools are doing to go green. They don’t use lights when they don’t need to, they reuse building materials and they even recycle everything a lot more.
when the sun is shining and the lights don’t have to be on, they will turn them off and just use the window light, they are saving a lot of energy by doing this. Instead of buying new materials for every project, they just reuse the ones from before and they are saving a lot of money. They are even realizing that they can recycle a lot more and save a lot more energy and money.
When you go to school you actually think ‘oh great another day at the place i hate the most.’ But when your school decides to go green, your thoughts change and you begin to think, ‘oh i wonder what were going to do today in order to make it more environmentally-friendly.’ In the article it states that children generally fared better on math and reading tests in schools where natural light was more prevalent because it improved student focus and achievement. I totally believe this.
5 pts EXTRA – Nice quote in para three – that your quote? Nice job all the way around.
Schools are going green by reducing the amount of water that is going into the toilet after flushing. They are also recycling which can save lots and lots of trees. Also, they are having solar panel which defiantly makes the difference with the energy being used. They could also use energy efficient light bulbs.
I think that the article is right. The more environmental things that they do (like having classes outside) the better they will do. Being outside in the fresh air makes all other thoughts go away (well it does for me). Not only that but, having the hands on activities helps a lot of kids learn better. Like Lily Kamali, 11, a fifth-grader who attends Great Seneca Creek Elementary School said, “Most of the time we don’t even turn on the lights in my classroom because there’s so much light from the windows,” I think that’s a great way to save energy. The reason I think this would work would be because if your eleven years old and your teacher turns the lights off and you work with just the light that is coming in from outside that would be really cool. That would make me want to do my best so that we could do our lessons in the dark again. That’s the same with being outside. If they want to learn outside and have activities they have to have good grades.
4 pts EXTRA- Good listing on question #1 – could maybe dig in a bit deeper on #2 but all n all pretty good.
Schools over America are making an effort to becoming Green. Some of these schools are just making small changes like recycling more and reducing their water usage. Other schools have taken a step up and have become certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Schools are using waterless urinals to cut down on water usage, Geothermal cooling systems that use less energy, and Photovoltaic solar panels. Some schools are also taking another step by teaching their students to be more environmentally conscious. for example it said in the article that students at Summerfield Elementary school go on nature walks, plant flowers and engage in recycling projects.
Schools that go green seem to have a positive effect on students. The use of daylight instead of artificial light helps students concentrate more because it allows students to focus better. Also students in Green schools are more environmentally cautious. They notice ways to be more environmentally friendly outside of school because it is what they are learning inside of school. These students are learning skills they can take home with them and they can make a difference of their own.
I think it is ridiculous that there are lawmakers that oppose green provision. They believe that the problem with schools going green is that “its failed to empower our communities, parents and teachers with the tools and authority they need to provide the quality educational experience our children need, expect and deserve.” I think that the fact that students are excelling in academics in green schools should prove them wrong. Also teaching students about how to become more environmentally friendly needs to be in the curriculum because this world is never going to change if students are not taught the skills to change it.
5 pts EXTRA – EXCELLENT JOB! Thorough. Clear. Opinionated.
Question 1
The various ways that schools are going about being green are by using waterless urinals, geothermal cooling systems, photovoltaic solar panels, reduce water usage, natural light by using big windows, and a lot of recycling.
Schools have been using waterless urinals to cut back on the amount of water used so that they can save money in the long run by not having a gigantic water bill. This is a good way to keep the scarcity of fresh water down as much as possible. They have been using geothermal cooling systems because it’s more environmentally friendly, and it uses the earth’s air. Another big advantage is the photovoltaic solar panels because it saves the school a lot of money when they can heat their school by the sun instead of having to pay for heat by propane of other resources. This allows the schools to use the environment to its advantage, while, being more environmentally friendly. Going along with using the earth’s resources they have installed giant windows in the school so that they’re using the suns light to light up the school instead of having to use electricity so much. This allows the school to be more environmentally friendly and save money in the process.
Lastly, schools have been trying to really enforce the fact of recycling because it’s a big help to the environment if you recycle all of your used resources that can be used again. This will hopefully help the environment at school, and trace back to helping it at your own house.
Question 2
Learning in a green school has been studied in 1999 and 2003. The results of that have been that it has found that children generally test better on math and reading scores when there is natural light present at all times. They have said that it improves the focus and achievement of students. Another studied found that Fossil Ridge schools scored among the best in Colorado said Principal Dierdre Cook. Students say that a green school is just a happy building, and you perform more in a place that you feel more comfortable and awake.
In my opinion, I would have to say that it would defiantly benefit Oakridge High School because I have realized that students are often tired during the day, which, natural light pouring in all the time could fix. If we could be more awake and motivated during the day I think that our math and reading scores would defiantly rise compared to our scores now. The most important thing is education and why wouldn’t we do whatever we can to improve the learning in our school. I know kids at Oakridge are a lot smarter than what is show on paper compared to neighboring schools, however, if you’re not awake then you will not succeed on your education and going green could defiantly benefit us.
5 pts EXTRA – GREAT JOB! THOROUGH. Well thought out. fact and opinion.
They are using windows for light so that way they are saving energy for the school. Also they are recycling more materials then throwing away materials. Also wetlands let them reuse waste water for the schools toilets which is a big help also.
I think that with the schools going green it is going to help out the students and there learning habits. The main reason I think that is because students are becoming way more eco friendly I think than what they used to and also I think that using all this stuff we are using to save energy I also going to help out the students not only in school but at there own homes also.
3 pts EXTRA – Nice start. Could use more detail particularly in part 1.
How do you encourage your customers to be more involved in recycling? Do you offer information in your pizza place on how to get started at home? Nice job Paige – hold on til I get some kind of answer from Amici’s/