Related Posts
Breaking news: Japanese schools serving whale meat
Breaking news
WHALE meat is on the menu of a sixth of Japanese primary and junior high schools,...
Mountain lions killed on California hunting ranch
The Tejon Ranch, a massive, high-priced private hunting park located to the north of Los Angeles, California, will...
California’s only wild wolf returns to OregonJourney (aka OR-7), for a while the only Gray Wolf living wild in the state of California, has...
California community coexists with coyotes
Southern California is a strange place. It is the global center for popular culture; film, television, music, media,...
California: Solar farms pit govt against native tribes
A fast track approach by the US government towards certain renewable energy projects has drawn lawsuits and protests...
Tip of the Day
Go grocery shopping locally to help reduce your carbon footprint
California’s green schools
photo by Ucla90024 (Wikimedia Commons)
At Leo Politi Elementary, a public school in inner city Los Angeles, California, students learn about wildlife in a 5,000 square foot (465 square meter) oasis of native flora and fauna.
The school is located in a crowded, economically disadvantaged neighborhood – more of concrete jungle than a real jungle. But three years ago the school decided to clear a concrete area and turn it into an space for native California fauna. Soon insects and birds came to take advantage of the lush plant life.
Students have thrived in their new natural environment, with science scores rising six fold in just three years.
From the Los Angeles Times:
At our school, flycatchers drink the water in the vernal pool. Scrub jays hang out in the oaks. The snapdragon’s red flowers attract Anna’s and Allen’s hummingbirds. I can identify each of these birds when I see them.
–Jacky Guevera, age 10
Amazing what a small grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, some volunteering local high school students and help from the Los Angeles Audubon can do to transform an academically low-performing school into a beacon of science education.
In related news, next week the U.S. Department of Education will award its first ever Green Ribbon Schools award. Four California schools have been nominated.
Another L.A. Times article explains:
The award recognizes, among other things, schools that save energy, have environmentally sustainable facilities and offer environmental education. It is something of an environmentally friendly version of the U.S. Department of Education’s annual Blue Ribbon School award, which recognizes high-achieving schools.
California’s nominees are the Lawndale charter school, Environmental Charter School, Longfellow Elementary school in Long Beach, Grand View Elementary in Manhattan Beach and The Athenian School, a private school in Danville in Contra Costa County.
Tags: elementary, Leo Politi, Los Angeles, school
3 Comments
You can also log in to post a comment.
Other Greenfudge.org posts
Friday the 13th: Facts, Phobias and Folklore
Do you suffer from Paraskevidekatriaphobia or Triskaidekaphobia? If you do, then you will certainly love today—or perhaps not. Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th and Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13, both of which occur today. Lucky you! The superstitious history of this day is almost as mixed up as some of the superstitions that come with it. It would seem no source can agree on when the good luck/bad luck concept came to be associated with...
PETA Updates: Court Cases and Anti-Fur Ads
It would seem that a couple of updates are in order for two previous articles I posted on PETA. One of the articles mentioned yet another court case involving PETA. To make a long story short, an exotic animal company (US Global Exotics) was believed to be neglecting and mistreating the animals in their care. PETA sent in an undercover investigator to dig up any information they could on possible animal abuse. Proof was found and over 20,000 animals were taken...
Crab Species Discovered off Taiwan has Fruity Appeal
Another marine animal has been discovered and this one looks good enough to eat! Professor Ho Ping-ho—of the National Taiwan Ocean University—and found a new crab species off the coast of southern Taiwan. This particular crab has a striking resemblance to a favorite type of berry: the strawberry, complete with red coloring and those little white bumps. The finding was confirmed by crab specialist, Wang Chia-hsiang, and although the crab is similar to others found in Hawaiian and Polynesian areas, it has...
How can future oil spills be prevented
Image by marinephotobank Over the last several decades, there have been a number of headline making oil spills that have left the world with shocking images. We have seen the results of drilling in the ocean floors to find oil. We know that our dependency on fossil fuels drives an industry that requires destroying some of our most precious resources. Seeing pelicans covered in sludge and oil and other birds that can’t spread their wings, many people say that it...
Climate talks in Bolivia: Capitalism vs. justice
Bolivia has been hosting an international summit, named the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, in the city of Cochabamba. The talks began on the 19th and finish today. From a report by the Environmental News Service: More than 20,000 indigenous, environmental and civil society delegates from 129 countries were in attendance as President Morales welcomed them to the conference at a soccer stadium in the village of Tiquipaya on the outskirts of the city of...
It’s raining bloody bears – Plane Stupid’s ‘polarizing’ anti flying ads
Cute, furry and vulnerable despite being the largest land dwelling carnivore species on the planet, polar bears have become icons for climate change. Now they are being used in a controversial new anti flying campaign by the environmental activist group Plane Stupid. If it's attention they want, it seems to be working. According to Plane Stupid, 'It's really not about polar bears anymore', but the depiction of giant CGI bears plummeting to a grizzly end on the streets of New York...
The way we react to climate change may be making it worse
The headline in The Ecologist, ‘Human response to climate change is making matters worse’, is a bit of a f*&#(^@ downer. Upon reading the actual article, it doesn’t get that much better. A recent study has researched the impacts of human response to climate change on biodiversity. The study, recently published in the journal Conservation Letters, attempts to assess the impact of responses such as the biofuel industry, which has contributed to the destruction of rainforests and peat bogs in South East Asia....
Save Chimpanzees From Experimentation: Push The Great Ape Protection Bill!
The US is different from the rest of the world in many ways. You’ll find different laws, traditions, wildlife, and much more. It’s also the only country left in the world that still uses chimpanzees in invasive experiments. Every other country in the world has either completely banned or restricted the use of great apes for scientific research. It figures the US would be the only country still stubbornly holding out; continuing to experiment on humankind’s closest animal relative. Fortunately, there...
Globama: Help Convince the White House to Go Solar!
Even though they can’t seem to get a climate bill finished for the life of them, the US government has a chance to go green—for free! Sungevity is making quite a nice offer to President Obama: a rooftop solar panel system for the White House, for free. The deal would include a 17.85 kW system with 102 panels, installation and warranty. All of that won’t cost anyone—including us poor taxpayers—a single penny. The only costs that would come with it would...
Activists spill ‘oil’ at Tate Britain-BP party
In a bold statement against arts institutions co-operating with unethical companies, a group of activists poured molasses and threw feathers onto the steps to the entrance of the Tate Britain art gallery in London on Monday. The activist-artists, calling themselves ‘The Good Crude Britannia’ appeared during a protest outside the BP-sponsored Tate Britain summer party, which commemorated 20 years of BP’s support for the Tate. They were clad in black and carrying buckets of molasses emblazoned with the BP logo, which...
View all articles
Nice, huh? Something so simple can really spark interest in kids. Though they are from the city, they instinctively love nature and are fascinated.
The article made me smile, very inspiring…Come to think of it that law of nature is so simple, that if we show love and concern to nature we are the very first beneficiary of all its glories….
[...] Read more…http://www.greenfudge.org/2012/04/17/californias-green-schools/ [...]