Montgomery School's PEAS
In 2008, David Kline, a 4-6th grade science teacher in Chester Springs, Pa., was awarded a two year grant to develop and pilot an environmental education curriculum at Montgomery School. Programs for Environmental Awareness and Sustainability (PEAS) were the result.
The PEAS curriculum was piloted during the 2008-2009 school year. The seventh grade PEAS curriculum was a multi-disciplinary experience for students, incorporating math, science, language arts, global studies, music, physical education and art. Students focused on sustainable ocean harvests and worked collaboratively to investigate oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay and the impacts of commercial tuna fishing on dolphin populations.
Project-based learning activities and field trips to the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment helped the seventh graders to understand the impacts of over-harvesting and the effects of depleting ecologically important populations. Toward the end of their studies, students created presentations to educate others about ocean sustainability and to vocalize what consumers can do to support sustainable ocean food harvests. In addition to these presentations, the seventh graders developed educational games and activities to share with the community during Earth Day.
During the 2009-2010 school year, the fifth grade PEAS curriculum focused on sustainable watersheds and engaged students in learning about the anthropologic impacts on local streams and aquatic organisms. Students partnered with the Ruth Patrick Center for Environmental Research (Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science) to test the quality of a local body of water, Pickering Creek, located on Montgomery School's campus. To better understand the local stream system, students embarked on a field trip to Philadelphia Water Works. While in Philadelphia, students also visited the Patrick Center and met with scientists to learn about current research on issues affecting streams and waterways. Towards the end of their studies, students performed water audits in their homes and developed proposals to not only conserve water at home, but also at Montgomery School.
During the 2010-2011 school year, eighth graders continued to use the PEAS curriculum and studied topics in sustainable energy. Students worked to reduce their energy consumption and investigated what it would take to install solar panels on campus. Montgomery School is the 2010-2011 Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom featured school. They raised Brook Trout to be released during the spring and have set up a trout camera Wiki Page that can be accessed online, at http://montgomeryschooltrout.wikispaces.com/.
To enhance the PEAs initiative, Montgomery School applied for and was rewarded a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Education grant to integrate an outdoor classroom into the school curriculum. Projects that emerged from this grant included a GIS mapping project to map the flora and fauna on Montgomery School's campus, construction of a nature trail system, workshops to educate teachers and community members about sustainable land management practices and outdoor learning spaces and the development of a service learning project in which students restored a riparian buffer in a local park. This service learning project was facilitated by multiple partnerships with organizations including Natural Lands Trust, the Audubon Society, PA DCNR Department of Forestry and West Chester University. In addition to the outdoor classroom, David Kline and Montgomery School were awarded a startup grant and a continuation grant from the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited. This opportunity led to a partnership with the local Trout Unlimited Chapter and helped make Trout in the Classroom an integral part of the PEAS sustainable watersheds program.
Interested in learning more about the PEAS program at Montgomery School or taking a seminar to learn how to implement this curriculum in your school? Please contact David Kline at [email protected].