Learning in Burnaby Schools

Month: May 2018

Sperling Forest Restoration Project

This year, division 8 has undertaken a project that started with the question “how can we make our forest more accessible for our community?” This began a long inquiry process into who owns the land, what community resources we can pull from, and what there is in the forest! 

We found out some very interesting information including the fact that there had previously been a house on the land before it was bought by the city. We also found out that originally, our school was planning on building a track on the forested area that neighbours our school ground. 

Some of the most interesting information that we found out is that the forest is overrun with invasive species. We researched these species and we invited community members to teach us how to remove those species to make room for native species to regrow. We have since begun removing species and creating a clearing in which we hope to have a learning space. This will be a gathering area for classes to share what they are learning in the forested area. The potential topics range from habitats, language arts, social studies and physical education.

Click here to learn more about their journey: La forĂȘt Sperling

  • Sylvie Godel, Sperling Elementary
 

Taking Action and Ownership through Green Team

Collaborative art inspired by The Earth Has Caught a Cold by Roxane Marie Galliez

This year, students at University Highlands Elementary inquired into how their actions influenced their local and global communities.In September, we examined our spaces and wondered how we might teach and re-imagine our waste and recycling systems. We became experts on recycling and composting in Burnaby, and explored the value of reducing our waste through litter-less lunches. We were able to connect with Simon Fraser University to design our program based on their Zero Waste Initiative.

After launching our own new Zero Waste systems at our December Celebration of Learning, students volunteer each lunch hour as Green Team Monitors to educate and help the members of our school so they can effectively use our new system, and understand the reasons why it is so important to care.

UHE’s New Zero Waste Recycling system

This past Earth Day, we launched our Litter-less Lunch Campaign, encouraging students and community members to re-think and re-examine our choices when purchasing food and bringing it for lunch. How can buying in bulk and using reusable containers help us to reduce our waste? How can reducing and eliminating our single-use items make an impact?

Every Thursday until the end of the year, we will be hosting a Litter-less Campaign to raise awareness and encourage our community members to notice their footprint and the consider ways they might be able to reduce it.

Please contact Kristina.Carley@burnabyschools.ca if you would like to learn more about their inquiry process, and to get powerpoint examples of introducing a new system and a litter-less lunch.