ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE INSTRUCTION
The Mount Washington School (MWS) has continued to evolve over the past four years since being distinguished as a Maryland Green School in 2010. MWS has specific instruction of environmental issues which all classes incorporate into their curriculum. All students at The Mount Washington School participate in school-wide initiatives and are offered numerous opportunities to explore in greater depth environmental topics of personal interest. Field trips enhance the environmental objectives and give students a first hand experience with solutions to environmental problems. In addition, there is a "Green Culture" attitude among the students and teachers. The teachers are always presenting new environmental activities and practices and incorporate such activities into the lesson plans.
6th Grade
Sixth grade learned about:
- Effects of Population Growth on Environmental Resources (2/4-2/11/2019) - Find mathematical trends and the effects on our environmental resources based on population.
- Finding the number and percent of trees cut down in the rainforest (10/18) - Use models to understand percent of trees in rainforests are being removed or preserved. What does that do to our animal population or extinction.
- What Lives Here (2/26-3/7) - Learn science based models and information on animals existing in their ecosystem. Our school has a hands on based experience.
7th Grade
Seventh grade learned about:
- Water purification culminating to Inner Harbor Walk and Water Treatment Center (4/20) - Scholars learn about water pollution, and solutions to the problem. Clean water is needed for life to be healthy. What do healthy ecosystems look like and how can we attribute it to clean water? Culmination of learning takes a Healthy Harbor trip to downtown and water treatment facility on Earth Day.
- Healthy Nourishment Food Choices (4/24-5/10) - Scholars explore food options in nutrition and how it affects our bodies. They make projects based on their findings and present at the Academic Showcase.
8th Grade
Eighth grade learned about:
- Energy Conservation (3/20-4/20) - Students learn about how electricity is generated and distributed. From the history to key models, to present application. They Create presentations and games to share this knowledge with the lower grades at the Earth Day Celebration. In 2016 they worked with Baltimore Energy Challenge to add a power down day component to Earth Day and have energy audits.
- Recycling (10/30-12/20) - To understand recycling scholars learn the basics of reusing, then look at the larger scale of reuse called recycling. As reuse is industrialized there is business interests that are examined. Their knowledge strengthened our recycling at MWS in 2016.
Music
- Music of our World - One Planet Many Children (12/21/2017) - Students learned and sang songs about our world. Preformed at assembly and solstice celebration.
- Mindful Movement in Yoga (4/20/2016) - Mindfulness in movement was instructed by Yogi Josh at MWS and was a platform for demonstration on Earth Day Celebration 2016.
Art
- Our World Recycles (10/10/2018) - Students envisioned our world with artistic expression to share appreciation and global stewardship.
- Art in Nature Nature in Art (11/15/2017) - Students expressed their natural world through rubbings, pastilles and paint.
- Outdoor Fractle Art (4/22/2016) - Art of Fractile was painted on wall of Learning Garden on Earth Day by middle school art classes.