LCHS LEAF Club hosts Earth Day Activities for area fourth graders

 

[April 20, 2023] 

On Thursday, the Lincoln Community High School L.E.A.F. Club hosted Earth Day activities for area fourth graders at Zion Lutheran Church in Lincoln. The goal of the day was to help impress upon students at a young age the importance of protecting our earth and our environment by being responsible with waste and trash.

Students in attendance learned about recycling and repurposing in order to cut down on refuse going into area landfills. There was also a lesson on the impact of waste pollution in our waterways and the efforts it takes to clean up that waste once it is in the water system.

Students also had the opportunity to create a mosaic earth on the back of a paper place using cut pieces of colored paper. While working on their mosaics, were quizzed by L.E.A.F. club members about the various aspects of our earth, such as how many oceans there are.

There was also a recycling relay/obstacle course race where students ran through the course, then grabbed up items from a large pile of trash and correctly identified them as trash or recyclable items by tossing them in the correct bin.

On the other side of the room, a contest was underway to see who could extract the most oil from a bowl of water using different tools. One student was given a sponge, another a syringe. The third student had a teaspoon and the fourth a supply of cotton balls. The fifth competitor was using an eye dropper to remove the skim of oil from the top of the water.

L.E.A.F. club members directed the competition and at the end of the timed session asked the kids watching to come up and “judge” who had done the best job of removing only the oil from the top of the water. The final verdict was that the young man using the sponge had done the best job.

Students also had the chance to ‘upcycle’ discarded containers. The stage area featured large oil drums that could end up in the trash into usable refuse containers or rain barrels. Students had the opportunity to express themselves artistically by painting and decorating the drums.

The LCHS LEAF Club is an extension of the school science program and is sponsored and led by Science Teacher Sally Aukamp. The mission of the club is to promote environmental awareness.

[Nila Smith]