Schools have the power to help lower greenhouse gas emissions, while also teaching students about the effects of climate change and what they can do themselves to reduce their everyday environmental footprint.
At UPrep, English, science, and geography are just a few of middle school classes that talk about climate change. The teachers at UPrep have created curricula that bring the topic of climate change into their lessons and research projects to teach students about the long term effect of human activity on the planet.
“I do feel as though when we were able to talk, discuss, and research, we learned enough research to build our own opinions and conclusions on climate change,” seventh grader Mac Chandler said. “I think UPrep really makes students aware about what is happening to the environment and pushes them to help change it.
”English class has a unit that is largely focused on climate change and the effect that it will have,” seventh grader Bria Calhoun said. “Then science class focused on nuclear reactors and their effect on the environment.”
UPrep focuses on its carbon footprint by looking at its buildings and activity.
“We are using the garbage bins, the compost, the recycling bins to try to really draw awareness and make sure we can really reduce our waste,” Director of Middle School Susie Wu said.. Using the recycling and compost can really benefit the amount of waste we are putting into the environment.
Transportation methods to get to school play a significant role with climate change. “The buses really help with the need to use multiple cars, and they help cut down gas emissions,” Mac Chandler says. “UPrep’s campus is located in a large neighborhood area, which allows students that live nearby to walk to school easily, there are also bike racks on campus which encourage students to take other means of transportation to school.”
In a poll, students express their concerns about daily things that impact the environment, like the amount of trash the school produces.
As far as next steps, we could try to make things around campus more ethically sourced and resourceful in different ways. “I’ve definitely noticed different ways people can resourcefully package bagged food such as chips like wax paper and other things that harm the environment much less as plastic,” Mac Chandler says.
Another important opportunity for UPrep to improve its environmental footprint will be the new building, called ULab, planned for construction next year. “They are looking very closely at the systems that they put in, like the electrical lighting and all the gas lines. They are also looking at the architecture and making sure that it is sustainable,” Ms. Wu says.