Student Service
Learning (SSL)
SSL Links:
http://www.servicelearning.org/
http://www.mssa.sailorsite.net/home.html
SSL in the 7th grade
The SSL requirement in 7th grade is found in Life Science
and Language Arts. Since ECOLOGY is a major topic
in Life Science in 7th grade, SSL projects that focus on
improving the schoolyard habitat lend themselves nicely
to meeting both curricular and SSL goals. While the
planning and implementing of the program is usually done
in science, language arts teachers play an important role
in guiding student research before the planning stages
and then again during the reflection stage when the action
piece has been completed. Three components -- planning,
action and reflection -- are necessary to meet the SSL
requirement for 7th grade.
School Yard Habitat
(SYH)
What is a schoolyard habitat?
A schoolyard habitat is a diverse landscape, including wetlands,
forests and meadows that offers so much more than the typical
barren, blacktopped school grounds. The habitat provides
opportunity for formal and informal learning. Students
involved in the planning, implementing and study of habitat
will build skills in all disciplines. Research has
shown that students involved in these types of projects
have less discipline problems, a greater sense of community
and improved academic achievement (see State Education
and Environment Roundtable Executive Report at http://www.seer.org).
Working on upgrading habitat on schoolyards provides many
benefits. Given the large parcels of land on which schools
are found, decreasing the amount of impervious surfaces and
increasing the buffer zones can greatly improve water quality
in our local waterways. Doing so with habitat improvement
in mind greatly increases the positive impact local schools
have on our natural resources. By allowing students
the opportunity to turn their school grounds into a living
laboratory, we offer them the chance to learn about best
practices and the impact that individuals and groups can
have on improving the world around them. This allows
them to imagine a different future in which they see themselves
as part of nature as opposed to something they observe from
the outside or that must be “controlled”.
SYH Links:
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