Green Thumbs at Harding

·This was our first year participating in Earth Force

·Our purpose initially was to (1) increase knowledge about Earth Force, its purpose and the kinds of projects participated in by other Earth Force groups; and (2) to increase student awareness of environmental issues through reading and discussion of printed materials, searching websites, watching videos such as An Inconvenient Truth, and inviting speakers from places such as TREC and the Audobon Society to speak to our group.

·We participated in several short-term projects throughout the year while we were building knowledge and deciding on the type of sustainable project we wanted complete for the year. These included the following:

1.Creating a Christmas owl ornament using found items from nature such as twigs, thistle and sunflower seeds.
2.Making food items (cut oranges, apple slices, peanut butter mixed with seeds) for small mammals and birds to hang on trees and shrubs around the school during our very cold and snowy winter weather.
3.Reading about environmental dilemmas and working in groups to discuss the best solutions.
4.Playing games in teams to answer environmental questions for points about hazardous chemicals for the home and lawn, common pollutants, safe household deodorizers and cleaners, ways to reduce waste and recycling, and increasing biodiversity by planting native species of plants.
5.Creating posters for Earth Day, April 22, to focus on things students and their families can do to combat global warming.
6.Students spend an afternoon collecting garbage from around the school and areas in close proximity to the school. They collected 2 full bags.

·After much thought, discussion and a student vote, Harding Earth Force chose to focus on our school yard habitat as our sustainable project for the year.

1.We identified what trees, bushes, plants our school yard already had that supported local wildlife.
2.Students worked in groups to identify plants that could be added that would improve our school yard habitat and that would attract specific birds and small mammals.
3.Students identified native species of plants that could be added to our school yard.
4.Students identified ways that our school yard habitat can be used as an educational tool for its students.
5.Clay pots were added to flower beds to provide shelter for toads that would help reduce insect populations.
6.Students spent the last 5 weeks of Earth Force planting plants around the school yard.