Tag Archives: sustainability

Light it Up with New York Liberty!

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Photos provided by MSG Photos.”

Last week a bright and curious group of kids from the Garden of Dreams Foundation visited the museum. They were joined by some special guest stars from the New York Liberty women’s basketball team and together, we explored solar energy in celebration of the WNBA's Green Week!

We began our energy investigation by discussing  what makes a building "green", taking a look at the museum's solar panels, and observing our solar power Green Threads exhibit. In just a few minutes, our energy experts were able to identify the pros and cons of solar energy. We don't pollute as much by burning fossil fuels, but how do we produce energy on a cloudy day? The kids observed from our solar exhibit that there is much less electricity output on a cloudy day,  when there's heavy smog, and at night.

Photos provided by MSG Photos

So they can become future solar energy experts and solve these conundrums, we wanted to give these kids a grasp on electrical circuitry, how electrons move from one place to another. We created our first circuit by joining hands in a circle and having two people in the circle each touch a finger to an electrode on the energy ball. The ball blinks and buzzes when the circuit is complete. The kids discovered how they could create a "switch" by unlinking hands anywhere in the circle and breaking the circuit. They especially enjoyed quick paced high fives that made for a silly sound pattern as the energy ball sputtered and buzzed.

Photos provided by MSG Photos

Our energy students then worked to build their own circuits with a battery as their power source. They knew the materials they would need- a socket, a light bulb, and wires. After fiddling with different wire combinations- Wa La! The light bulbs lit up one by one. For a bigger challenge, the teams tried to make their circuits larger by adding conductive materials. They tested brass buttons, felt, paper clips and beads to see which materials stopped electrons in their tracks and which allowed electrons to flow through.

Photos provided by MSG Photos

After the kids had great circuit success, we moved outside with some portable solar panels to see if we could have the same success with a renewable power source. At first, the sun was blocked by some ominous rain clouds. It had been a cloudy afternoon and we were worried the kids would leave with a skeptical view of solar energy. Our Liberty ladies encourages all the kids to wave their hands and try to blow the clouds away. At last, the sun peaked out from a clouds and our mini machines, propelors in this case, started spinning. With a little patience and help from our very tall guest stars, they harnessed the sun!

Photos provided by MSG Photos.”

These solar circuitry kits are a great investment that you can use again and again. We'd love to hear about any energy experiments you do in your classroom!

Haiku Traffic Signs

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Have you spotted any of the haiku traffic signs that have been placed around the city’s five boroughs? The next time you visit the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, check out the sign on our corner – Brooklyn Ave and St. Marks. The New York City Department of Transportation collaborated with artist John Morse in this creative project to get people to think twice about their fragile skin and bones before making any rash moves on our busy city streets.

This project ties together social and environmental aspects of sustainability. One of the biggest disincentives to commuting via bike is the risk of injury. Swerving around parked cars, avoiding car doors, and riding inches from speeding vehicles are all part of the daily life of a bike commuter, but biking in the city also leads to cleaner air and healthier urbanites. These cautionary words and images aim to lower the safety risks by reminding pedestrians, cyclists and drivers to wake up and slow down. Plus, they add some poetry to our street corners and art can be just as important as clean air in creating a vibrant, sustainable community.

Haiku is a great introductory form of poetry for first-time poets. Have kids clap out the syllables of these signs and see if they can figure out the haiku form for themselves. Challenge them to write their own “green street” haiku. What do they want to see on the city streets and can they express it in 17 syllables? We’d love to hear the haikus they come up with!

Farm to Table Card Game

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Where does our food come from? How many places does the slice of cheese on our burger see before it ends up on our plate?

At Brooklyn Children's Museum, we teach a program for school groups called, "It's Easy Being Green." We cover topics like proper recycling, energy efficiency, and sustainable food choices. The food activity splits kids into groups; each group is responsible for piecing together the life cycle of one ingredient on a burger. They're given cards that each represent one phase in, for instance, the journey of a slice of cheese. 

Now, here's the challenge: After students have pieced together the journey of their cheese (there are twenty cards or steps for the cheese alone!) they have to figure out how to remove pieces of the production-distribution-consumption-waste system to make the whole thing more sustainable. How can we get this slice of cheese to travel less? This activity can lead to great discussions on Farmer's Markets, local food, and composting.

Want to try this activity with your class? Email GoGreen[at]Brooklynkids.org for a PDF version of the full set of Hamburger life cycle cards!

 

Farm to Table Card Game

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Last month, we got kids thinking about where their trash ends up with Trash Talk and Loop Scoops. But let's start at the beginning. Where does our food come from? How many places does the slice of cheese on our burger see before it ends up on our plate?

At Brooklyn Children's Museum, we teach a program for school groups called, "It's Easy Being Green." We cover topics like proper recycling, energy efficiency, and sustainable food choices. The food activity splits kids into groups; each group is responsible for piecing together the life cycle of one ingredient on a burger. They're given cards that each represent one phase in, for instance, the journey of a slice of cheese. Take a look:

The journey starts here at "Sunset Farm". But why are we starting on a corn field if we're trying to get to a slice of cheese? 

To feed the cows! Unfortunately, most cows in the US are fed corn rather than the tasty grass that their stomachs were built to digest. The cow's milk then has to be transported to the cheese factory. That's two big truck rides so far for one slice of cheese!

The cheese then gets stored in a large warehouse with other grocery goods. 

A truck picks up the cheese from the warehouse and takes it to the grocery store where it's stocked on shelves and finally awaits your purchase.

Your cheeseburger can now be assembled and enjoyed! And now what? What about the packaging your cheese slice came wrapped up in? What about all your other food scraps? Where do they end up? 

Most of the time, they end up in a landfill.

Now, here's the challenge: After students have pieced together the journey of their cheese (there are twenty cards or steps for the cheese alone!) they have to figure out how to remove pieces of the production-distribution-consumption-waste system to make the whole thing more sustainable. How can we get this slice of cheese to travel less? This activity can lead to great discussions on Farmer's Markets, local food, and composting.

Want to try this activity with your class? Email GoGreen[at]Brooklynkids.org for a PDF version of the full set of Hamburger life cycle cards!

Girls in STEM

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In order to come up with inventive, creative solutions for the mounting global challenges we're to face- climate change, loss of biodiversity, more droughts, more extreme storms-we're going to need all hands on deck! Unfortunately, it seems that we might be pushing away a good 50% of those creative minds from the fields of science, math, and engineering. Check out these alarming statistics presented by The Engineering Project on the trends of women in science education.

What do you think about these stats? Of course, there are lots of different forms of intelligence and creative thinkers who thrive in other fields-education, literature, history, philosophy-are also vital as we adapt to our changing world.

What do you think? Have you seem girls in your classroom transition away from their interests in science and math? How big of a role does gender play in your classroom? Have you ever caught yourself reinforcing the false belief that boys are just innately better in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields?

Trash Talk and Loop Scoops

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We’ve covered trash in the past and most kids know the mantra “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” well, but do they really understand why it’s so important to reduce our waste? When you talk through the path trash takes from lunch to landfill, kids can easily see the problem, but it’s often something they’ve never thought about until you get those wheels turning! These awesome videos called LOOP SCOOPS from PBS Kids and the Story of Stuff Project could be really useful helpers in the discussion.

Let’s start with this question. Where does your trash from lunch go? Hopefully those candy bar wrappers and juice boxes end up in a trash can. And then what happens to it? The garbage truck takes it away. Where? Here’s where you may encounter some blank stares…but some might say dump or landfill. Now really, what is a landfill? It’s a big hole on the ground all sealed up to keep the toxic nasty things in our trash from getting into our soil and water (sometimes they leak!). So here’s the big riddle: What’s the problem with landfills if we can’t reuse or recycle everything we buy and use in our daily lives? They fill up of course!

Did you know we’ve filled up all our landfills in New York City? We have NO LANDFILLS and NO INCINERATORS. Since 2001, we’ve been exporting all of our trash to other states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia.

After your class eats lunch,  get them to sort their waste. Does it all need to go in the trash? What can be composted, recycled or reused? Is there anything we could do to avoid the trash that’s left over?

In Loop Scoops, Brad avoids contributing to the 4 Billion Juice boxes that end up landfills by drinking his juice from a reusable bottle, Oliver and Gabby learn about the metals in their DS game device and decide to hold off on buying the newest edition, and Ben goes for fresh squeezed vs prepackaged orange juice.

Check out these other great resources for teaching waste management:

NYC RRResource Guide

Trash FlipBook

E-Waste Cell Phone Drive

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During spring break next week, BCM is teaming up with Capstone Wireless to collect old and used cell phones (and accessories) to help reduce e-waste in New York and around the world. E-waste is one of the largest and most toxic polluters. In many countries, the process of recycling or disposing of electronics puts workers and communities at serious health risk. Precious metals can be harvested and sorted from old electronics but if not done safely, the process of reclaiming these metals from computers, televisions, cell phones, and other electronics can release dangerous toxins directly into the air and into ground water sources.

We can help by making sure our electronics are recycled in a responsible and safe way. Capstone has e-steward certification meaning that they display a “commitment to best management practices for electronics recycling and reuse”. Read more about e-steward certification here. Watch this video about the global problem of e-waste and how the e-stewards program is trying to help.

Remember, a great way to reduce e-waste is to consume less to begin with! Choose to get your electronics repaired before rushing out for that new upgrade. If your visiting the museum or just in the neighborhood from April 7th-15th, come contribute your old cell phones and accessories to our collection bin in the lobby.

If you have other e-waste to recycle, check out the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s new E-waste Warehouse in Gowanus where any New York resident, small businesses, or non-profit organizations can drop-off unwanted electronics for free.

Pinwheels and Wind Turbines

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Another fun way for smaller kids to see the wind in action is to make their own pinwheels.

1) Start with a square piece of paper at least 4 x 4 in. Paper with different colors or designs on each side will make your pinwheel pop! Encourage your kids to decorate each side differently.

2) Draw diagonal lines from each corner of your square and mark a dot in the middle. Cut along diagonal line to about an inch from the center dot.

3) Mark 4 dots it the bottom right corner of each triangle of your square.

4) Work in a circle folding each dotted corner into the center of the square. Push a pin through each corner and the center dot.

5) Push the pin through the head of an eraser on a pencil or a straw and Wa La!… you have your pinwheel!

Now you’re ready to go outside and see where it spins best. Ask your kids if it spins better close to the ground or over their heads. Do larger pinwheels spin faster than smaller pinwheels?

If you have older kids, check out this lesson plan on designing wind turbines. Kids learn about how the competing forces of lift and drag work to make turbine blades spin. Your students can then design their own turbine blades. KidWind even holds national and web-based competitions for new turbine designs. Check it out here.

Also, if you are interested in helping other educators teach about wind, you should consider applying to become a WindSenator. Wind Senators help spread the word about wind energy by holding workshops, KidWind Challenges, and regional events.

Let’s go fly a kite!

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One way to have less smoggy and polluted days in our future is to get our next generation of engineers, designers, and educators interested in renewable energy sources like wind. Check out this beautiful Wind Map that shows how much wind power there is at any given hour in the U.S.

Take your students outside to observe the wind! Kidswind.org offers some fun experiments for engaging kids with wind energy. See the Wind begins with a sturdy kite or large helium balloon, some streamers, and a windy day. Attach the streamers at 3 meter intervals along your kite or balloon string. Fly your kite! Students can observe and compare how the streamers close to the ground behave compared to the streamers high up near the kite. Is the wind stronger, smoother, or faster at different elevations? Why do the streamers behave differently? What does this mean for wind power?

via: Barry Joseph Flikr

Have your students all lay flat on the ground. Can they feel the wind? Now, what changes when they find someplace higher up to stand, like a bridge on the play ground?

How do we harness this plentiful wind?! Stay tuned for pinwheel and Wind Turbine projects.

Let’s go fly a kite!

by

 

One way to have less smoggy and polluted days in our future is to get our next generation of engineers, designers, and educators interested in renewable energy sources like wind. Check out this beautiful Wind Map that shows how much wind power there is at any given hour in the U.S.

Take your students outside to observe the wind! Kidswind.org offers some fun experiments for engaging kids with wind energy. See the Wind begins with a sturdy kite or large helium balloon, some streamers, and a windy day. Attach the streamers at 3 meter intervals along your kite or balloon string. Fly your kite! Students can observe and compare how the streamers close to the ground behave compared to the streamers high up near the kite. Is the wind stronger, smoother, or faster at different elevations? Why do the streamers behave differently? What does this mean for wind power?

via: Barry Joseph Flikr

Have your students all lay flat on the ground. Can they feel the wind? Now, what changes when they find someplace higher up to stand, like a bridge on the play ground?

How do we harness this plentiful wind?! Stay tuned for pinwheel and Wind Turbine projects.