Press Release June 2006
The results are in: The fourth
grade at
CAPCO’S Grand Prize and Most Creative Teacher Award goes to the teacher with the most creative and scientifically accurate teaching method. Ms. Wilkson submitted her lesson plans, a Power Point slide show of the 4th grade’s Ozone Awareness Night, a Power Point slide show of student activities along with their comments about what they learned, and a DVD of the class performing their ozone rap both for Ozone Awareness Night and for ABC Channel 13 Community News. This fourth grade class at Pilgrim worked hard on this project all year long: they interviewed an auto mechanic, a NASA scientist and the school’s AC mechanic. They created and manned interactive demonstrations for the public during their Ozone Awareness Night and completed all of the CAPCO testing requirements. They surveyed the school and community about their awareness of CFC free aerosol products.
Perhaps the highlight for everyone was the performances of a rap song about the Ozone Layer and what the students had learned. The students worked hard to perfect choreography to go with their rap. Having these students for five class periods a week was Mrs. Wilkson’s joy. Classes for Art, Music, Creative Writing and Computer Technology were utilized to explore atmospheric science and molecular biology.
These are some of the student
comments: Katey: “I learned that UV Light
breaks down CFCs, and that CFCs don’t hurt us . . . the Ozone Layer is
thinning. The Chlorine breaks away from the CFC and gets in between the ozone
molecules, then UV Light burns our skin and we can get cataracts and cancer.”
Ibraheem:
“I learned that every time CFCs come into
the air, the ozone layer weakens and that allows the sun’s UV light to get in.
It usually takes 10 years for CFCs to get to the ozone layer. CFCs come from
air conditioners and freezers when you break pipes.” Michelle: “I learned that you should wear long sleeves and long pants,
with sunglasses and a hat, with sunscreen on all the other places because UV
radiation from the sun can burn your skin. The ozone layer helps to protect us
from the sun.” Collin: “There are still countries that make and use
CFCs. I think they should stop. CFCs are found in machines that companies and
businesses have. I found out that the world still uses CFCs for Freon and
asthma medication. I like to study about the CFC molecule. I enjoyed being on
T.V.” Bobby: “I learned that CFCs
were banned in American aerosols in 1978. I learned there are other substitutes
for CFCs like HFCs and PFAs.” Rachel: “We did
research on the Internet that was about the ozone layer. We had a lot of fun on
this research. We learned a lot about the ozone layer and how it works.” Jessica:
“I learned the ozone layer is up in the sky, but you can’t see it. The
ozone layer gets torn apart because of the CFCs that are used in a lot of
things. We use CFCs in refrigerators.” Rae: “I learned that it is really
important to learn about the ozone layer. It will take 50 years to heal.” Jeffrey:
“I like that people learned about the ozone layer and how to save it at our
Ozone Awareness Night. I thought it was cool when little kids came to our
stations and had fun doing our activities. I liked being on TV because I lost
my fear of stage fright.” Mrs. Wilkson: “I hope
others will benefit from my contributions of lesson plans, which will be posted
on the CAPCO website www.nocfcs.org. Ozone science is normally taught in
eighth grade science curriculum, and then only briefly. I feel the health of
our planet deserves more attention, and I enjoyed introducing younger students
to scientific exploration through music, poetry (rap), art
and computer research.
Rap Chorus: “Save the Ozone
Layer, that’s our prayer. Be a team player, save the Ozone Layer.”
Karen Hall Wilkson
Preschool
and Elementary Music, Art, Creative Writing, Computer Technology