School Kids Robotics Team Creates Sustainability Lessons for Elementary School Children

What will our world be like in a 100 years? You wake up and go outside, only to be welcomed by a fierce wind of hot, dry air, bringing a wave of trash with it. You bring your portable air breather, because all the clean air has been ruined by people polluting the air. The 4 seasons have now become only 2; Drought and thunderstorms. While this seems like a hellish environment, it will be so if we do not change our use of resources and burning of fuel. An important step in starting this massive lifestyle change is to teach the young generation to make better use of the environment and be able to sustain it for years to come. Our team has tackled three major problems in environmental sustainability and created a curriculum to teach elementary school kids the importance of taking care of our world. After each lesson the kids should have a full understanding on deforestation, trash, and energy saving. One issue the team aimed to fix is deforestation. Deforestation is a problem in many parts of the world where it is either cleared for farmland or wood. While cutting some trees down is okay and is essential for many uses, it is being cut down at an alarming rate, and being from Washington, we care a lot about our trees. In the curriculum, we teach how recycling simple things like paper and wood can save thousands of trees and how we can reuse wood products like books, planks, cabinets, drawers, furniture, etc. The team also implemented building awareness on better trash and recycling into the curriculum. Trash is a problem because it takes up space, it can leech chemicals into the environment, and it wastes resources that could have been recycled or reused. We can reduce our trash by buying reusable items and remembering to recycle. The tram teaches the kids on reusing things that still work, recycling to use what is left, and biodegradable materials that can be thrown in compost. Lastly, team focused on energy saving. Team believed that teaching little children conserving energy starting as simple as turning off a light when no one is in the room could go long way in building right habits. Team learned that energy savings can impact deforestation, pollution, and water savings. Team came up with several ideas to help kids remember and make changes in their day to day lives, including a rhyming song such this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR03ce5NE4I&feature=youtu.be Team also developed easy to follow, kids friendly web-site: http://astroboats.weebly.com/ We are passionate about helping young kids to learn about environment sustainability in a fun, life changing way. Authored by Ved Dave, Team member, Team Astroboats – First Lego League Robotics Team from state of Washington, USA