Environmental Student Action Challenge

Students will be learning about their local environment this year by planting native seedlings and learning about their uses. Through land-based learning techniques in their Student Action Challenge project, educators will inspire environmental stewardship in students from preschool to grade 2 and the environment. With the help of Elders from their community, students will extend their learning to others by creating signage that displays their understanding and creativity.

The air we breathe impacts us all. Led by the grade 8 classes, students from kindergarten to grade 9 at Griffith Woods School will find out how different plants can positively effect the air quality. They will build a living wall to help clean the air in individual classrooms. Students will measure the air quality by looking at the levels of VOCs, CO, PM, humidity and temperature, determining which plants are best at filtering pollutants from the air. Ultimately, their project will improve the air quality in their school.

Students and teachers at Christina Gordon Public school have noticed a lack of natural space and functioning ecosystems around their school and are determined to create a change. They will be redesigning their current garden to include native plants, increasing the biodiversity and resiliency of the ecosystem. Students will be also plant trees and shrubs that can provide shelter for wildlife and natural wind coverage for the outdoor learning spaces. Students will research, design, and post educational signs for staff and other classes to use when planning and facilitating lessons and that can educate the community about the project.

At-home environmental learning is the focus of this Student Action Challenge project. Students will learn how to grow vegetables and local plants from home, since the COVID pandemic has led to the cancellation of their in-person classes. They will compare different growing conditions between students to learn how to optimize their gardens and enjoy the benefits of locally-grown produce, reducing their dependence on food grown outside of the province.

Students at Queen Elizabeth High School are working to reduce their environmental footprint by increasing the efficiency of their hydroponics system. All food grown will be used by their school’s foods program, reducing their need to purchase food from outside of Alberta and therefore reducing their carbon footprint. With support from the Student Action Challenge, students will create a new hydroponics system and demonstrate how to grow food in small, indoor spaces.

Last year, the town of Black Diamond challenged students at Oilfields High School to start thinking sustainably and reduce their environmental impact. Since then, students have been reducing their carbon footprint and the amount of waste they produce. This year, with the continued support of their town council and local partners, Sustainability Students will take their project one-step further by installing a compost receptacle system at the school. They will develop a multi-disciplinary team of students to create compost and use it to fertilize new school gardens.

Energy education is the focus of grade 4 and 5 students at Hillhurst school this year. Students will measure the electricity usage of various household appliances and track electricity use in their school and work to reduce their energy usage. They will learn about renewable energy sources by building basic solar cells and creating a simple electric motor from a bicycle. The multi-disciplinary project will span across many subjects and provide real-world learning for students, helping them to reduce their energy use and increase their environmental awareness.

Students in New Myrnam are driving home an ambitious project this year. They are collaborating with their Village Council and local non-profit groups to convert an electric golf cart into a renewable energy vehicle by retrofitting it with solar panels. Students from grades 5 to 12 will work on the vehicle, learning about how electrical technologies can help reduce their community’s dependency on non-renewable energy, all while learning about renewable energy systems and reducing their carbon footprint.

Grade 4 students are learning about pollinators and native species this year through their Student Action Challenge project. They will start seedlings this fall in their indoor hydroponic planters before moving them outside to the Living Wall in the spring. Plants will be chosen specifically to support Alberta pollinator species. During the winter months, students will create bat and birdhouses to help support biodiversity in their schoolyard, creating a more diverse and resilient ecosystem. Through learning about local plants and animals, this project will support life-long love of nature that will inspire students to make environmentally conscious choices in the future.

Grade 4 and 5 students at École Nouvelle Frontière are creating a closer connection to the environment with their Student Action Challenge project focused on waste reduction and composting. As part of their project, students will collect the waste from their lunches throughout the school year and create a mountain of trash – a visual representation of the impact they have on the environment and a reminder to work to reduce their impact. The funding from the Student Action Challenge will support their school garden by allowing them to integrate a vermicomposting system, fertilizing their garden and producing local produce.