SDG week
Students in Griffeen Community College are always self aware of the many emerging issues which occur across the world. The Environmental committee hosted SDG week which took place in December.
Monday - During tutor time students raised awareness around energy consumption and the SDG. Students asked and answered many questions on the issues. We realised that every little bit of change we make can reduce our carbon footprint.
Tuesday - The environmental committee chose to focus on 'No Single Use Plastic' for the day. Students were encouraged to only bring in reusable lunch boxes and drink containers to reduce the amount of plastic created in our school.
Wednesday
The Environmental Committee looked at embedding the 'Give 1 Back Challenge'. In tutor time each student and teacher looked at how they could reduce their carbon footprint and energy consumption. Students filled out their number 1 pledge and these were used to rebuild our ice-berg for the polar bears.
At lunch time a movie club was hosted showing 'Over the Hedge'. This movie examines habitat loss and human overdevelopment. Students enjoyed discussing issues which arose while snacking on popcorn offered.
Photography Competition
A photography competition was run in the school. The 2 categories were:
- Choose your favourite animal and try to see the world through the eyes of that animal. Take one photograph from the perspective of that animal. Think about how tall it is, what it might see from its point of view. E.g. in the grass as small as an ant, reaching as tall as a giraffe or hanging upside down like a sloth!
- Take one photograph of some local wildlife or a habitat that is special to you. Think about what makes this area or wildlife so special to you and how your Earth Hour promise might help protect it. E.g. a river you enjoy visiting, a bird that you see in your garden or a green area such as a park or woodlands near your group meeting place.
Well done to all who participated. The winning photograph taken by our first year student is attached below. The very peaceful image is created with the ending of the day.
Giraffe Challenge
This year the environmental committee participated in the giraffe challenge run by Dublin Zoo in conjunction with SSE Ireland. This linked in with our school values and one of our mascots, the Giraffe which is the restorative animal. It also had many cross-curricular links with Science and Geography.
Students embedded the SDG’s of climate action, affordable and clean energy, responsible consumption and production, life on land and sustainable cities and communities.
Students lead the project themselves. They first visited the zoo where they explored the needs of the giraffes and considerations which needed to be taken into account when designing a habitat.
- They were introduced to the anatomy of a giraffe and analysed a real giraffe skeleton.
- They explored issues around sustainability and factors to be considered when designing a habitat.
- They created a design team and each student was given a different role.
- They visited the giraffe heard to take into account the size and location of the habitat.
In their design teams students had a number of tasks to complete over a couple of weeks. A3 sketch of the habitat. Physical representation of the habitat using reachable materials only such as newspaper, egg cartons, string etc. They then used their technology skills to create a 3 minute video.
Well done to all students raising some critical issues in relation to bio-diversity and the SDG’s.
Committee
Griffeen Community College Environmental Committee will be working on issues in relation to the environment and development education throughout the year. They will be participating in the Green Schools programme and Global Schools Passport. These 2 initiatives were chosen to raise awareness of issues which affect us both locally and globally.
We will be focusing on many themes throughout the coming years such as litter, waste, gender equality, energy and water. This will help students to understand the world that we are living in and make informed choices as global citizens. We have an amazing Community in Griffeen CC, which is clean and well maintained and the Environmental Committee hope to contribute towards this.
Committee members involve students from all years. They will be hosting various events through out the year and hope to embed practices in several classes. The Committee strives for a sustainable use of the earth’s resources and to create responsible students for the future.
(information on both programs can be found at http://www.worldwiseschools.ie
and https://greenschoolsireland.org)
