Captain Planet Foundation’s ecoSTEM® EARTH KitQuick Start Guide

• What is in our soil?• What makes soil ideal for growing healthy plants?• How much waste do we produce? And why is it a problem?• How can we reduce waste?• How can we transform cafeteria waste into compost?• Can we improve our garden yield by using compost?• What else can we do to reduce waste and contribute to healthy soils?

Exploring

Where am I headed?

Hook Interest

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Ev

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE BECOMING CURIOUS

ENVIRONMENTALSTEWARDSHIP ENGAGE

Vermicomposting

Students will design a project to reduce waste and / or improve soils.

Students will reduce cafeteria waste by vermicomposting scraps with worms.

Multiple class periods

See-through Composter

Students observe decomposition rate of different materials using the See-through Composter.

Observed over 1 – 3 weeks

CITIZEN SCIENCE

Tea Bag Index

Students bury and dig up a tea bag to report decomposition to a citizen science research project.

2 class periods, 1 month apart

UNDERSTANDING

Stream Table Investigations

Students will design and conduct investigations of soil erosion and deposition with stream tables.

Students will engineer and Install a drip irrigation systemto retain soil moisture.

EXPLAINEXPLORE &ENGINEER

With the exciting supplies in the ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit, students can: • Test soils to determine their mineral and organic content

• pH• Nitrogen• Phosphorous• Potassium• Soil texture and type

• Analyze suitability of local soils for various plants, based on data collected from soil tests

• Observe decomposition rates for different waste materials• Collect data on waste generated in the school cafeteria• Design, engineer, and install a drip irrigation system • Convert cafeteria waste to organic fertilizer through vermicomposting • Design and conduct experiments comparing compost to un-amended

soils for plant growth• Investigate soil erosion and deposition with mini-stream tables• Contribute to a citizen science research project by burying and later

digging up an herbal tea bag to calculate the change in mass, using decomposition rate as a proxy for soil type

• Design and implement a project to reduce waste, institute recycling, reuse or refuse materials that are not biodegradable.

The comprehensive ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit can be adapted to intrigue and engage students from 3rd to 12th grade with standards-based investigations.

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 1

Captain Planet Foundation’s ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit

Dear Educator,Captain Planet Foundation has curated this ecoSTEM® Kit to provide you with learning experiences that demonstrate best practices in environmental education and engage students in authentic science and engineering investigations. All ecoSTEM® Kits include materials for an inquiry investigation, an engineering design challenge, a citizen science project, and an environmental stewardship activity. After you’ve used this ecoSTEM® Kit with your class please rate and review this kit to receive BONUS content. Survey Link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/My_Feedback_on_the_EcoSTEM_EARTH_Kit

How to Use the EcoSTEM EARTH KitVendor and Item Grades Learning Experiences and Investigations Lessons Links & Protocols

Engaging Activity

Educational Insight See-through Composter 3-12 Bury different materials in the see-through composter and predict / calculate rate of decomposition

Teacher’s Guide for See-Through Composter

Inquiry Investigation

Luster Leaf #1662 Soil Test KitsLab Aids’ Mini-Stream Tables

3-12 Test soils for P, N, K, pH and texture / type Explore phenomenon of soil erosion and deposition

Plant pH Preference List; Soil Test Kit Stream Table mini-kit instructionsSoil Texture Tests (shaker, ribbon, feel)

Citizen Science Projects

The Tea Bag Index citizen science projectSMAP soil moisture citizen science project

3-12 Explore decomposition rates as indicators of soil typesCollect soil samples in conjunction satellite imagery

Tea Bag Index ProtocolSMAP Activities and Protocols

Engineering Design Challenge

Mr. Landscaper Drip Irrigation Kit 3-12 Design, engineer, and install a drip irrigation system Installation Instructional Video 1 and Video 2

Environmental Stewardship Activity

Nature’s Footprint Worm Factory 360“Worms Eat Our Garbage” classroom guideUKonserve Re-usable Food Wraps

3-12 Investigate soil fertility, the soil food web and the roleof vermicomposting in enriching soilsInvestigate reducing waste at school / composting

Worm Factory Set-Up InstructionsSoil Food Web PosterResources from non-profit organizationsEarth 911,TerraCycle,Cafeteria Culture

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 2

See-through Composter• Set up Educational Insight’s See-through

Composter• Fill the compartments with soils

• Note that organic soils with living microorganisms will work best

• Weigh waste materials to be buried in soil• Bury different types of waste materials• Observe and record decomposition• Compare mass of each item, before and after

Tea Bag Index citizen science project• Weigh a rooibois pyramid-shaped tea bag• Bury it in the ground for a month• Dig it up and weigh the dried content to determine decomposition • Report the change in weight (decomposition) to the Tea Bag Index

Soil Testing• Test soil pH, using supplies from the kit• Use the chart of plant preferences to determine

which plants grow well in soil with same pH• Analyze results of test and determine what would

need to be added to each soil to neutralize it• Test soil P, K and N• Perform a shake test to identify soil texture

Drip Irrigation System• Design a plan for installing drip irrigation to

preserve soil moisture in the garden• Install drip irrigation system• Conduct experiments with irrigated and non-irrigated soils and plants

Stream Table Investigations• Divide the class into eight teams of four• Provide each team a mini-stream table • Supplement provided sand with additional earth

materials from the school yard, if desired• Allow students to design and carry out their own

investigations to explore constructive and deconstructive forces (deposition and erosion)

• Identify erosion and deposition on the school grounds

• Students may create models and design projects to mitigate erosion in the schoolyard

Vermicomposting• Set up the Worm Factory• Use the voucher or gift card to purchase red

wriggler worms (not night crawlers, which are non-native)

• Maintain appropriate conditions for worms to thrive

• Harvest completed compost and use it to enrich soils in school garden

• Design and conduct investigations about plant growth, comparing compost-enriched soils to other soils

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 3

Supplies• See-through

Composter• Bring your own:• Types of waste • Soils

Bring your own:• Pyramid shaped

herbal tea bag

Supplies• Mini-Stream

tables (8)• Sand

Bring your own• Water• Additional earth

materials (soils)

Supplies• Soils tests• Soils• Trowel

Bring your own:• Mason jar for

shake test• Mr. Landscaper

Irrigation Kit

Supplies• Worm Factory• Supplies included

in Worm Factory Kit Bring your own:

• Worms• Water

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 4

ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit Alignment to Next Generation Science Standards

NGSS Standard Grades 3-5 Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12 Learning Activity from the Kit

LS2.B Cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems

Matter cycles between the air and soil and among organisms as they live and die.

The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. Food webs model how matter and energy are transferred among producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem.

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration provide most of the energy for life processes. Only a fraction of matter consumed at the lower level of a food web is transferred up, resulting in fewer organisms at higher levels. At each link in an ecosystem elements are combined in different ways and matter and energy are conserved. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are key components of the global carbon cycle.

See-through Composter Recycling

ESS2.A Earth materials and systems

Four major Earth systems interact. Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller pieces and move them around.

Energy flows and matter cycles within and among Earth’s systems, including the sun and Earth’s interior as primary energy sources. Plate tectonics is one result of these processes.

Feedback effects exist within and among Earth’s systems.

Soil Shake TestSoil Testing for Chemicals

ESS3.A Natural resources

Energy and fuels humans use are derived from natural sources and their use affects the environment. Some resources are renewable over time, others are not.

Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for different resources, many of which are limited or not renewable. Resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic processes.

Resource availability has guided the development of human society and use of natural resources has associated costs, risks, and benefits.

Tea Bag Index projectDrip Irrigation

ESS3.A Natural resources

Societal activities have had major effects on the land, ocean, atmosphere, and even outer space. Societal activities can also help protect Earth’s resources and environments.

Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things. Activities and technologies can be engineered to reduce people’s impacts on Earth.

Sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources, including the development of technologies.

Reusable food wrapsVermicomposting to reduce cafeteria waste

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 5

Engaging students in authentic science with Captain Planet Foundation’s ecoSTEM® EARTH KitNot sure how to engage your students in STEM-related inquiry investigations, Next Generation science practices and engineering design challenges? No time for reviewing online lessons to sort the good from the bad? Tired of writing grant proposals to obtain materials? This Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® Kit provides simple-to-use solutions that are proven and effective. Find out about the instructional strategies here:

Best Practices in Environmental EducationOver the past 24 years, Captain Planet Foundation has funded ~2,000 projects that involved more than a million students in active learning and resulted in tangible benefits for the environment. That dual focus: engaging students in inquiry investigations while giving them a chance to make measurable differences in the world, is the hallmark of effective environmental education. We searched our archives to find the best examples from non-profit organizations and teachers who won Captain Planet Foundation grants, and packaged them for ease of replication. We hope you’ll find it easy and effective to engage your students in these learning experiences in your classroom or schoolyard.

Inquiry InvestigationsThe primary instructional strategy featured in each ecoSTEM® Kit is inquiry. Inquiry-style learning introduces students to a new topic not through reading, vocabulary review, or lecture, but by immersing students in an activity that sparks curiosity and generates questions. Thus primed for learning, students are then engaged in explorations that may include observation, investigation, model-making, or an engineering design challenge, coupled with research, data collection, and making sense of their findings.

Next Generation Science and Engineering PracticesEngaging students in authentic science and engineering practices and performance-based learning can be effective whether your state has adopted Next Generation Science Standards or not. The Next Gen science and engineering practices that students will use with the Water ecoSTEM® Kit include: Asking Questions and Defining Problems; Developing and Using Models; Planning and Carrying Out Investigations; Analyzing and Interpreting Data; Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking; Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions; Engaging in Argument from Evidence; and Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information.

STEM Learning and Environmental EducationThe significance of STEM learning is that it integrates the study of science, technology, engineering, and math in a way that is intended to prepare students for real world collaborative problem-solving, college, careers, and citizenship. The environment can provide an important context for STEM learning, and transform pointless project-based learning into more relevant, deeper understanding.

Citizen ScienceCitizen science projects involves students in authentic scientific research and allows them to contribute data to a study that is larger in scope and geographic area than the principal investigator could have otherwise undertaken. The citizen science projects suggested in this kit are the Tea Bag Index (burying a tea bag to determine relative rate of decomposition) and SMAP (collecting and testing soil moisture in coordination with NASA satellite imagery). Both require some materials not included in this kit (a pyramid-shaped tea bag for the former; and a trowel, empty tuna can, graduated cylinder, digital scale and lamp for the latter).

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 6

Engineering Design ChallengesEngineering design challenges are an essential part of STEM learning because they integrate science, technology and math in an open-ended problem-solving process that results in a product or project.

Just because students build something doesn’t mean they have successfully engineered it. An engineering design challenge typically entails students working in small groups (four is an ideal number) to tackle a problem, taking into account any number of constraints such as limited time, money or materials, conducting research that will inform their design, brainstorming possible solutions, narrowing the options down to one approach, planning how to create a testable model or prototype, building it, collecting data to evaluate the prototype, going “back to the drawing board” to repeat the process as many times as necessary to produce an acceptable solution, and then arguing from evidence (including data) to defend that solution as sound and effective.

The ecoSTEM® EARTH kit’s engineering challenge is to design and install a drip irrigation system in the best configuration, given the garden and irrigation supplies.

Environmental StewardshipResearch shows that students who study the environment as children are LESS likely to grow up to adopt eco-friendly attitudes and behaviors than their peers who never studied the environment. Three factors contribute to this unexpected result: 1) lack of “wild play” and affinity for nature during childhood; 2) a focus on negative effects of human actions on the environment, leading to feelings of hopelessness; and 3) indoctrination and politicizing of environmental issues without investigation of the underlying scientific phenomena. Captain Planet Foundation’s environmental stewardship projects are designed to empower students by providing opportunities to apply knowledge gained from inquiry investigations, explore nature with a sense of wonder and discovery, use critical thinking skills, and collaborate to solve problems that make a difference in the real world.

The ecoSTEM® EARTH kit will enable your class to conduct a school or community project to reduce waste. A Worm Factory is included to allow students to experiment with vermiculture, which can convert lunch waste into soil-enriching organic compost. Students may also design and implement a project to reduce any hard-to-recycle waste product at school, using ideas and inspiration from Earth 911, Terracycle or Cafeteria Culture.

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 7

Tips and Techniques for Teaching OutsideEffective environmental education requires students to have some opportunities for field investigations and stewardship projects outdoors. This may be an unfamiliar practice in your school, but it is worth overcoming whatever barriers may exist so that students can gain experience using authentic science and engineering practices. Check out these tips from nationally acclaimed environmental educators, Petey Giroux and Jerry Hightower, for effective teaching outdoors:

TIP #1: Organize students into Discovery Teams Give each team member an assignment in preparation for an outdoor learning activity. For instance, one student can check on the weather forecast and make sure everyone knows to bring the right clothing. Another team member can be responsible for clipboard organization, and others can make sure supplies are gathered and packed.

TIP #2: Use sensory exercises to quiet students before an outdoor lesson Remind students that the primary tools they will use outdoors are their eyes, ears, nose, and sense of touch. Gather students in a circle and try this ‘listen and share’ activity. Ask each person to listen quietly and choose a particular sound. Then have each student take a turn sharing information about the sound s/he chose, without repeating any other student exactly. If one student says, “I heard a bird singing,” the next student who heard a bird will have to say it differently, such as, “I heard a bird that sounds like this ...” This exercise helps sharpen students’ listening skills and allows time to become calm and focused.

TIP #3: Use Nature Journals every time the class goes outdoorsThese journals can be entirely hand-made or simple store-bought report folders, but each should have a student-created cover that relates to the natural world and a way to add pages. Require student observations, measurements, sketches, lab sheets, and so forth in the journals.

TIP #4: Clipboards are desks; trash bags are seats Prepare a classroom set of clipboards and have them ready to go. Attach the papers you will need ahead of time and have each student carry his or her own clipboard. Light-weight, rain-resistant clipboards can be made from foam core and pinch clips. Students can sit on folded trash bags, which are light and reusable.

TIP #5: Your vest pockets or fanny pack are drawers for teaching tools Aprons can be as effective as fishing vests, since both have many pockets. Get a crow or owl call whistle from a sporting goods store to use as a signal for gathering or ending an activity. A cell phone is a good idea for safety, especially if you are the only leader with your students. Be sure to carry a first aid kit, magnifying lenses, blindfolds, lesson props, field guides, wipes, etc.

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 8

TIP #6: You are the leader - be a role modelThis is important for outdoor learning safety. If your students crowd you and get ahead of you, you can’t stop the group when you need to explain or point out something. Position parent helpers at the back of the line for support. If you are enthusiastic about being outdoors and making discoveries, demonstrate respect for life, enjoy a walk in the rain, your students will do the same. But if you are annoyed, fearful, and uncomfortable, so will your students be. Demonstrate respect for the site and leave it like you found it. Be careful what you collect. Encourage releasing study items back to the environment.

TIP #7: Use soccer or traffic cones to mark boundaries for field work Keep students on the trail unless you are doing an activity that requires work in another area. Make sure students know where they should be during an activity, using cones as boundaries.

TIP #8: Recruit “Earth Parents” These Earth Parents can help you with field investigations and classroom field trips, providing support whenever students are outdoors. A good time of year to recruit grandparents, aunts, and uncles for this purpose is at the beginning of fall, at the same time you recruit Room Parents. Ask for help setting up and cleaning up activities so you can maximize instructional time.

TIP #9: Dress in proper clothes, including shoes, rain gear, and outerwear Encourage students to be prepared for outdoor learning. You can lead by example. Keep an extra pair of outdoor shoes at school for outdoor exploration. Collect clothes needed for the outdoors from unclaimed Lost and Found, for students who come unprepared. Teach students the importance of layering clothes so they can remove a layer when they get too warm or add a layer when the weather is cool. Send young children home wearing a paper leaf necklace the day before you plan to take the class outside, so parents can be reminded and dress children accordingly.

TIP #10: Be respectful of plants and animalsPoisonous Plants - Leaves of three, let ‘em be! Teach students to recognize poison ivy and avoid touching it. Poison ivy is a common plant and contact with skin can produce an annoying, itchy rash. The plant tissues are loaded with “urushiol,” a poisonous oil which takes about 3 hours to get going so washing with soap and water will help. A cloth soaked in apple cider vinegar will help blisters that have been opened. The vinegar dries up the itch in hours. Poison ivy does produce food for birds and deer. Animals aren’t allergic.

Petey Giroux was an award-winning and engaging environmental educator in Georgia whose legacy continues through the Dragonfly Grant program. Jerry Hightower is an environmental educator and Ranger with the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service in Atlanta, GA. Petey and Jerry were early leaders of the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia, Project WET facilitators, and advocates for engaging students in schoolyard habitat management and environmental stewardship projects. Jerry is still leading walks and paddle trips, engaging students in field investigations, training teachers to teach outdoors, inspiring people to appreciate nature in all its glory, and rangering.

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 9

LAB-AIDS© KIT #442 - MODELING STREAM EROSION AND DEPOSITIONStudent Worksheet and Guide

Water plays an important role in creating the landforms found on Earth’s surface. Moving water can remove andtransport, or erode, pieces of rock, or sediments from their original location. These eroded sediments are pushedalong by the moving water, sometimes for many miles and sometimes for only a few millimeters. Where the sedi-ments end up coming to rest, or deposited, depends on the size of the sediments and the force of the flowing water.Sediments are deposited in those locations where the force of flow becomes too low to push the sediments anyfurther. A delta is a depositional areas near the mouth of a river, where the flowing river enters a non-flowing bodyof water such as a lake or ocean.

Materials

For the class

2 bottles of LAB-AIDS® Stream Sand

For each group of students

1 LAB-AIDS® Mini Stream Table

1 LAB-AIDS® Rainmaker

1 30-mL graduated cup

1 plastic spoon

1 plastic cup of water

paper for covering your work area

paper towels

Procedure

1. Cover your work area with one or two layers of paper.

2. Set up your Mini Stream Table as shown in the diagram below:

3. Add three 30-mL cupfuls of dampened Stream Sand to the middle of the stream bed. Use the spoon or yourfingers to pack the sand into an even layer that covers the stream bed from point A to point B.

Student’s Name Class Date

4. There are places where both erosion and deposition can occur. Describe this type of location and explain whyboth erosion and deposition can occur in this type location.

5. Explain why it is important for people to understand and determine where erosion and deposition

a. are occurring today.

b. have occurred in the past.

442-WSP

4. Place the Rainmaker over point A of the Mini Stream Table as shown in the diagram below.

5. Add one 30-mL cup of water to the Rainmaker and observe. Use the space below to sketch the patternsproduced by the flowing water.

Point A Point B

6. Add another 30-mL cup of water to the Rainmaker and observe. Use the space below to sketch the patternsproduced by the flowing water.

Point A Point B

7. Add a third 30-mL cup of water to the Rainmaker and observe. Use the space below to sketch the patternsproduced by the flowing water.

Point A Point B

Analysis

1. Describe the major changes that occurred each time 30-mL of rain fell on the stream bed.

2. Where did the greatest amount of erosion occur? Explain why more erosion takes place in this location.

3. Where did the greatest amount of deposition occur? Explain why more deposition takes place in this location.

Note: If you have difficulty getting“rain” to fall from the rainmaker, gentlytap the side of the rainmaker or run afingernail along the bottom of it.

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 10

LAB-AIDS© KIT #442 - MODELING STREAM EROSION AND DEPOSITIONStudent Worksheet and Guide

Water plays an important role in creating the landforms found on Earth’s surface. Moving water can remove andtransport, or erode, pieces of rock, or sediments from their original location. These eroded sediments are pushedalong by the moving water, sometimes for many miles and sometimes for only a few millimeters. Where the sedi-ments end up coming to rest, or deposited, depends on the size of the sediments and the force of the flowing water.Sediments are deposited in those locations where the force of flow becomes too low to push the sediments anyfurther. A delta is a depositional areas near the mouth of a river, where the flowing river enters a non-flowing bodyof water such as a lake or ocean.

Materials

For the class

2 bottles of LAB-AIDS® Stream Sand

For each group of students

1 LAB-AIDS® Mini Stream Table

1 LAB-AIDS® Rainmaker

1 30-mL graduated cup

1 plastic spoon

1 plastic cup of water

paper for covering your work area

paper towels

Procedure

1. Cover your work area with one or two layers of paper.

2. Set up your Mini Stream Table as shown in the diagram below:

3. Add three 30-mL cupfuls of dampened Stream Sand to the middle of the stream bed. Use the spoon or yourfingers to pack the sand into an even layer that covers the stream bed from point A to point B.

Student’s Name Class Date

4. There are places where both erosion and deposition can occur. Describe this type of location and explain whyboth erosion and deposition can occur in this type location.

5. Explain why it is important for people to understand and determine where erosion and deposition

a. are occurring today.

b. have occurred in the past.

442-WSP

4. Place the Rainmaker over point A of the Mini Stream Table as shown in the diagram below.

5. Add one 30-mL cup of water to the Rainmaker and observe. Use the space below to sketch the patternsproduced by the flowing water.

Point A Point B

6. Add another 30-mL cup of water to the Rainmaker and observe. Use the space below to sketch the patternsproduced by the flowing water.

Point A Point B

7. Add a third 30-mL cup of water to the Rainmaker and observe. Use the space below to sketch the patternsproduced by the flowing water.

Point A Point B

Analysis

1. Describe the major changes that occurred each time 30-mL of rain fell on the stream bed.

2. Where did the greatest amount of erosion occur? Explain why more erosion takes place in this location.

3. Where did the greatest amount of deposition occur? Explain why more deposition takes place in this location.

Note: If you have difficulty getting“rain” to fall from the rainmaker, gentlytap the side of the rainmaker or run afingernail along the bottom of it.

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 11

Please complete this survey to let us know what you thought about the kit. Bonus supplies will be sent to the

first ten people who rate and review each type of kit. Bonus content will be made available to all who respond.

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 12

FEATURED CAPTAIN PLANET FOUNDATION EARTH GRANTEE:

CafCu received a Captain Planet Foundation Small Grant to develop the CafCu Cafeteria Ranger Kit, which is currently in development

www.cafeteriaculture.org

Captain Planet Foundation ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit | For more information contact Karan Wood at karan@captainplanetfdn.org 13

If you liked the ecoSTEM® EARTH Kit, you may like these other kits at www.captainplanetfoundation.org/ecostemkit/

ecoSTEM® ENERGY KitRenewable Energy

ecoSTEM® WATER KitImproving Water Quality

ecoSTEM® PolliNation KitPollinator Learning Garden

Knowledge is power and this kit sizzles with hands-on learning opportunities. Students will investigate electrical circuits by building snap-together electronic projects that demonstrate renewable energy. Invention kits provide opportunities to design and build wind, water, and solar powered devices. Students can test variables using multi-meters to measure the electricitygenerated by their inventions, and then refine the designs. As a class project, students will assemble a solar-powered room light and phone charger, to be shipped to students in a community without regular electrical service or with extensive outages.

This amazing collection of hands-on learning tools will leave kids awash in knowledge of how their choices impact the health of the local watershed. A water cycle kit enables students to model evaporation and precipitation. Students will use the water quality monitoring kit to investigate stream health by testing physical and chemical parameters or searching for pollution-sensitive macro-invertebrates. Actual samples from the Pacific Garbage Patch will let students explore how plastic pollution affects our oceans and wildlife. Students can then design and conduct a community education project, marking storm drains to prevent dumping into local waterways.

Students will grow appreciation for pollinators by collecting data for a citizen science project with microscopes, binoculars, and bug viewers from this kit. The cargo wagon, gloves, trowels, and seeds, as well as a gift card for local purchase of a raised bed and compost, will enable students to design and build a pollinator habitat. When students plant milkweed seeds at home, they will create a monarch butterfly corridor. A butterfly rearing kit lets students observe the phenomenon of metamorphosis, and the monarch health project enables students to contribute research that may stop the decline of the monarch butterfly.