#student created

Type: student-created 

Item: poem meme

Unit: chemistry

Big idea:  “Chemical reactions may have a negative impact on the environment, but they can also be used to address environmental challenges.”

I am plant

and i feast

on greenhouse gas in air

That human make

Miam i say

as i cromch

Now it is me and human breathe

in venus colonie

Description: this poem is written from the point of view of a plant on Venus. It is photosynthesizing (which it calls “feasting”) on CO2, producing O2 that humans can breathe.

Relation to big idea: humans release many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, not only through breathing but other chemical processes as well. Whether it be by the combustion of fossil fuels or the metabolic reactions of livestock, these greenhouse gases in excess are harmful to the environment and are released through chemical reactions. However, another chemical reaction removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Plants do photosynthesis, which reacts CO2 and H2O to produce C6H12O6 and O2. As such, this chemical reaction helps slow down the environmental challenge of global warming.

Over the past couple of years I have noticed that teaching about 9/11 has gotten more difficult. With each successive group of students there are less and less personal memories of the day to draw upon. As the 10th anniversary approached this year I realized that my current students were between 2 and 4 years old on that day and do not have first-hand memories. They have grown up with a decade of war but are unsure what caused the attacks in the first place. 

As I discussed this with my students they realized that they will be among the last ones to pass through my classes who were born before 9/11/01. We designed this collaborative project to preserve the memories of those who lived through the event and to serve as a learning resources for subsequent groups of students. 

Please visit the project site and participate by contributing your personal memory from that day.  https://sites.google.com/site/september11project/home

Student Work: History channel style role play of the events of John Brown's Raid. Be sure to watch through the bloopers at the end.