How To: Simple Environmental Camp/After-School Activity

Duration: 4 days
Purpose: Raise environmental awareness in one’s own community
Form: 5-8th*
Time: 1-2 hours each day
PCVs: At least 2, maybe more if you have a large group
*We used a 7th former to help with translation

Day 1: General Information
Educational Jeopardy/Discussion
Materials: Jeopardy Board
Divide kids into 2 teams.
Give kids 1-2 min to give their answer
Discuss the answers and spend extra time on the ones they got wrong

Environmental Jeopardy Categories and Questions
Trash:
How long does it take?
Plastic Bag - 50+ years
Glass Bottle - 1,000,000+ years
Cigarette Butt - 2-5 years
Plastic Bottle - 450-800 eyars
Rubber - 50-80 years
Pollution:
What pollutes the air? (cars, factories, burning trash)
What pollutes the water? (trash in water, oil, chemicals, sewage)
Why is burning your trash bad?
Why is water pollution bad?
How do you prevent pollution? (reduce/reuse/recycle, don’t litter, cleaner power aka solar, wind, pick up trash, talk about not littering)
Solutions:
You go to Dashkasan and you see a Chiko semochka bag on the ground. What do you do?
You see your uncle throwing a bucket of trash in the local river. What do you do?
After drinking a coke, your best friend, throws the bottle out of the marshrutka window. What do you say to him/her?
You finish a bottle of Fanta and now you have a bottle. What can you do with it besides throwing it away?
How can you educate your friends about the environment?

Day 2: Recycle Art
Materials: plastic bottles, old magazines, glue, yarn, scissors, etc.
There are a ton of things you can make from every day trash, you can make kids bring their own on pre-plan an activity. In Barda we made mobiles.
All you need is sticks, yarn and old newspapers or magazines.
Have kids work individually and encourage creativity.
Share everyone’s work in the end

Day 3: Environmental Walk/Scavenger Hunt
Materials: Checklist for scavenger hunt, prizes
Identify an area in or around your community where you can take the children.
Go to the area a day before the planned walk and outline a rough route.
Pick out items on the walk for kids to identify (broken bottle, 4 leaf-clover, etc
Divide the kids in teams with a PCV as each group leader.
Have kids find as many items on their scavenger list and have the group leader/PCV check the items off.
After you finish, have a brief discussion of what you saw and what we can do to improve or keep the area the same

Day 4: Clean Up/Picnic
Materials: Plastic bags (we used plastic bags to collect the trash in and put over our hands instead of gloves); hand sanitizer
Identify a small area to clean, as a group clean, the area for at least 30 min
Have a celebratory picnic (have each kid bring something, etc)

Notes from the Barda camp:
We had 12 kids show between the ages of 10 and 13 and we also got a 7th former to come and help us translate. We did our camp at the local “Usaq Park” and did our lessons and activities in and around it. For the nature walk, we went to the Barda forest which has a lot of cool looking trees and also a ton of trash piles everywhere. We had kids look for specific trees, leaves, bottles, syringes, birds, bugs and other pieces of trash. For the picnic we picked out the items we wanted and had kids sign up for what they’ll bring during the 2nd day of camp so they have enough time to get it done. All in all the kids had a ton of fun and so did we! Good luck!

June Update

The Environmental Committee is looking for a new member!
As AZ4 prepares to close out their service, the Environmental Committee is looking to fill their place with a new member from AZ5. Our mission is to “Raise PCV and staff awareness of environmental issues in order to encourage a positive change in environment of Azerbaijan.” If you are interested in applying, check your email for the application questions, or check out our blog at envcommaz.blogspot.com. The new member will join Kat Zigmont (AZ5 CED, Goychay) and Jeff Bailey (AZ5, TEFL, Ujar) in our attempt to strengthen the growing committee. The Environmental Committee was founded by Ina Arnaoudova (AZ4, TEFL, Barda) to try to do something about the environmental problems facing Azerbaijan. She was joined by Sarah Choy (AZ4, CED, Barda), Jenny Groza (AZ4, TEFL, Tovuz), and Mike Lee (AZ4, CED, Mingechevir), all of whom worked hard to create resources for volunteers to use when working on environmental issues. If you are interested in working with the committee, have any other questions about what we do, or have an issue you would like us to discuss, email us at envcommaz@googlegroups.com

If you are in AZ5 and interested in applying please submit to us answers to the following questions by July 7th:

1. Why do you want to be on the Environmental Committee?
2. What environmental problems are realistic for volunteers to tackle?
3. How do you think the environmental committee can assist PCVs in HCN education and mobilization?
4. What background do you have which will assist your role as an environmental committee member?
5. What project ideas have you had or implemented within your community or organization?

Earth Day 2008: Theory and Practice
Volunteers throughout Azerbaijan participated in the Earth Day Program this year, establishing a wonderful tradition of creating environmental awareness and promoting volunteerism. Not sure if your community will be receptive to environmental activities? Think again. Armed with resources provided by the Environmental Committee as well their own determination and perseverance, PC volunteers in all corners of Azerbaijan participated in the Earth Day Program 2008. The Program involved environmental based lesson plans as well as various activities with their local community members.

Check out THIS lesson plan to use in your classroom/club at anytime.

Earth Day Contest Results

Congratulations winners!



Sheep in a Field made of recycled materials by Roya Afandiyeva, Zaqatala












Flower Vase made by Sevinj Hajiyeva, Zaqatala












Flower embroidery made by E. Nagi, Agdam Rayon IDP settlement






All winners received an art kit and will be published in the next issue of the AzLander. Thank you to all PCV's and students who participated.

Some Exciting Spring Activities

Kindergarten Garden

by Sarah Choy (AZ 4)

In late winter I planted celery, carrot, lettuce and bean seeds in old NIDO cans and plastic water bottles. I then started planning a few lessons involving organic gardening with the local preschool I work with for my art enrichment program.

I cut up several plastic bottles for potters, bought beans from the bazaar, collected some dirt from the school yard and helped the children plant their own beans. I instructed them to watering their beans every other day and the amount of water that would be enough for the plant. We placed our potters on the window sill to get optimum sun exposure essential for healthy growth.

I told them that we will be growing our beans naturally and without any grown boosting agents. I then spoke to them about the importance of worms in creating good soil for our future garden. I later informed them that when our beans get big enough we will be able to transplant them into a garden I planned to build.

After 2 weeks the children’s beans weren’t showing any signs of growth. However the beans I had potted were about 3 inches high. But, I had faith that their beans would grow eventually. After our drawing lesson on BUGS, I went out into the school yard with my shovel and started digging a spot for our bean garden. The school director came out, as well as several of IDPs living in the school yard, and watched me for a while then later ventured into conversation with me about what I was doing. I slowly explained to them that I was planning a garden for the children and that I was teaching them about the environment. They watched my site mate Mere and I dig our child size grave of a garden space, lug blocks and rocks we scouted around the preschool grounds to build a wall, and dig up worms to keep for composting whilst speaking about things I was unable understand.

After Novrus holiday I looked at the children’s beans and was happy to see that they all had sprouted. It was time to transplant our bean sprouts. I took the children outside and taught them to dig a hole deep enough to support the sprouts height and to cover the roots. Then I demonstrated how to transplant their bean sprouts. I topped off the garden with a sign I made listing all the children in my class, most of which I haven’t seen during the winter months, protected it with Scotch, tied it to some twigs and roof tile and stuck it into the garden. Everyone was all smiles and giggles when we were done.

Later that week I planted a row of carrots, celery and lettuce in the garden and made a spot for the worms that I’ve been feeding coffee grinds, egg shells and apple cores. The children have been designated responsibility and ownership for the care of our garden and I’m surprise at how well the bean sprouts are doing. But, we have yet to see any beans growing. Once that occurs we can pick them, along with the other veggies, and make organic salads in class. Yay!

Imishli’s Environment and Health Global Youth Service Day Project
by Amber Dismer (AZ 5)

Situation:
Pollution of the Araz River is a growing problem in Imishli, with residents dumping trash, food scraps, and plastics and metals in the canal feeding the river. The canal is a main water source for city animals (goats, cows, chickens, and sheep), crop irrigation for local residents, and is used as drinking, bathing, and cooking water in the winter when the pipes freeze. The Ministry of Ecology believes this is a major health problem for Imishli residents. Twelve students and two teachers from Imishli School numbers 1 and 5 became aware of the situation and wanted to motivate their peers to clean up the canal.
Response:
Imishli’s youth group of 6th and 8th form students led an Environment and Health project for Global Youth Service Day. The students involved are Leman Qarashlu and Necef Huseynov from school 5, Nergiz Aliyeva, Zamin Balakesheyev, Iftixar Talible, Tamerlan Akberov, Taciye Imanova, Ayten Seyfullazady, Aysel Farzaliyava, and Xezer Abbasov from school 1. Imishli youth met in January to discuss project ideas and in April almost every day for three weeks to plan the cleanup of the canal, concert celebration, and lunch. Youth volunteers met with representatives from Imishli’s ExCom, Ministry of Education, Tourism and Culture, Ecology, Youth and Sport, and Health, Local Municipality, Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project, Development 2006 Social Support Public Association, Finca, Imishli Sugar Factory, International Bank of Azerbaijan, Dalga, World Vision Azerbaijan, Capital Bank, and local newspapers to ask for support and participation.
Walt Disney, an American organization, awarded the project 410 manat. These funds are still in the process of being transferred; in the meantime, various kind store owners allowed youth to take project supplies on credit. Youth also utilized available community resources to implement the project. Fizuli Abiyev and Mehman Meheiyev, Development 2006 Social Support Public Association representatives and Metanat Humbatova, and English teacher from school 1, provided two trainings on how to plan a community project and provided professional connections within the community to establish trust. Nizami Halinov, Head of Imishli’s ExCom agreed to speak on behalf of the canal cleanup. Halinov volunteered to donate local media coverage and trash removal services. Hasil Tagiyev, Minister of Culture and Tourism, gave youth leaders free access to Imishli’s Concert Hall. Directors from Imishli Schools 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 allowed youth volunteers class time to inform and encourage their peers to participate.
Results:
On April 27th 160 people volunteered to clean the canal and 210 people attended the celebratory concert. Youth, adults, and businesses’ awareness of environmental and health problems will lead to a change in their behavior and future dialogues. Youth mobilized their community to volunteer! Volunteerism promotes community involvement and ownership without financial compensation. This is youth development at its core! Youth also developed active leadership, decision making, and communication skills. Imishli residents and organizations recognized the value of youth as active leaders in their community. Imishli’s Sugar Factory donated 150 manat for the design and production of environmental awareness signs that will be posted along the canal. Youth believe these actions are a positive step towards changing the community’s behavior and actions. Additionally, three organizations have shown interest in future youth development projects. This process inspired youth to continue their efforts in making Imishli’s community a better place to live!

How Long Does it Last?

	Paper: 2-4 weeks		Rubber boot sole: 50-80 years
	Banana peel: 3-5 weeks		Tin can: 80-100 years
	Wool cap: 1 year		Aluminum can: 200-400 years
	Cigarette butt: 2-5 years		Plastic six-pack holder: 450 years
	Disposable diaper: 10 to 20 years		Glass bottles: Millions of years
	Hard plastic container: 20 to 30 years

http://www.w9dg.com/tchleavenotrace/033_dispose.html

Great Project - Check it Out!

Project Name: The Healthy Living Bike Action Campaign
PCV/Counterpart: Rob Gregor (AZ4)/ Bridge to The Future Youth Union
Grant Type: Small Projects Assistance (SPA)
Grant Amount: $3529.75
Project Summary:
The Healthy Living Bike Action Campaign will encourage the people (and specifically the young people) of Ganja to live a healthier, more active and more environmentally friendly lifestyle. The main component will be conducting presentations at all of the schools in Ganja to teach participants about the importance of being environmentally aware, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising daily and not smoking; participants will be taught simple and specific ways to infuse healthier choices into their daily lives. Presenters will gain widespread attention as they will lead by example in employing bicycles as their primary means of transportation for the duration of the actions.
Goals and Objectives:
Goal 1: Promote a healthier lifestyle

• Objective 1: To encourage students to make healthy dietary choices through the introduction of a food pyramid and basic nutritional information. Following the presentation, our hope is that at least 50% of the students will be able to recognize, label, and understand a food pyramid.
• Objective 2: To raise awareness about the negative health consequences of smoking. Following the presentation, our goal is that at least 75% of the students in attendance will be able to identify three diseases (and their symptoms) known to be caused by smoking.
• Objective 3: To explain the potential health benefits of exercise and offer specific suggestions for incorporating exercise into daily routines. Following the presentation, our goal is that at least 75% of students will be able to list at least two ways they can incorporate daily exercise into their lives (e.g. walking or biking to school instead of driving a car, playing football after school).

Goal 2: Promote a Clean Environment

• Objective 1: To illustrate how burning fossil fuels / emitting carbon affects the environment and offer specific suggestions for simple choices that can be made to reduce an individuals “environmental footprint.” Following the presentation, our goal is that 50% of students in attendance will be able to identify three environmental consequences of emitting carbons / burning fossil fuels and 75% of students in attendance will be able to identify three positive outcomes of riding a bike or walking.

For more information or to view the complete grant information, contact us.

March Newsletter/Earth Day Plan

Did you know that Baku was named the dirtiest city in the world?

Committee News

• The Environmental Blog is up with helpful websites, lesson plans and updates. Find it at: http://envcommaz.blogspot.com
• Environmental resources have been put in the lounge. We are working on organizing and making them available to PCVs.
• To contact the committee you no longer need to email each of us individually. Our group email is: ENVCOMM@gmail.com
• Check out our blog for information on the environmental Trans-Caucus Effort
• 2 new members from AZ5 will be selected this SUMMER, so expect applications in the coming months
  

Earth Day Plan

The Environmental Committee has created a simple plan for PCVs to follow for Earth Day (April 22nd). It's designed to help you lead small environmental activities in your community in honor of Earth Day. Attached are several lesson plans, a clean-up guide, and art project ideas to help you educate students and community members.

We thought a good way to get PCVs and their communities involved would be to hold a Nationwide Earth Day Art Contest. The attached posters outline the rules and should be used to announce the contest at schools, community centers, etc. Hard copies of the newsletter and the posters will also be included in your next bi-weekly mailer. The goal of the art contest is to inspire young people to think critically and creatively about Azerbaijan's environment: the good as well as the bad. Depending on the number of entries received, it will be up to you to pick the local winners and forward the best entries to the committee member nearest you. National winners will be picked at our meeting in early May.

Timetable:

1. Art Contest - Start Early! Introduce the contest ASAP and encourage students/community members to participate.
   
2. Earth Day Week – Use an environmental lesson/activity in your classes, and introduce the idea of doing a clean up. Collect final contest entries.
   
3. Weekend after Earth Day (April 26th) – Do a trash pick-up activity
   

The anticipated goal of the Earth Day Plan is to provide PCVs with simple ways to involve their communities in environmental activities in honor of Earth Day. Please email us (envcomm@gmail.com) if you choose to participate in order for us to get feedback on your outcomes.

You can download PC Azerbaijan developed Earth activities HERE

Problem Areas in the Caucuses

Check out this poster:
(Thanks to PC Georgia)

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/iarnaoud/poster_caucasus_eng.pdf

Trans Caucus Environmental Initiative

This is a letter from a fellow PCV in Georgia who wants to collaborate with other Caucus contries on projects. The initiative is very new, so if you are interested, have ideas, or want to hear ideas, feel free to contact Julien:

Dear fellow PCV's,

Thank you for your rapid responses! Even though this idea is in its very beginning stages, the interest level and excitement in your emails shows that this will hopefully be a fantastic opportunity for all of us in the region. All three countries are active in environmental projects on some level, but all are at different points in their program developments. For example, I believe that PC Armenia has had the longest running environmental program, and PC Azerbaijan has begun activities within the last 2 years. We here in Georgia have been active since 2003, but are currently designing a new 3-year plan for our Eco-Project.

There are opportunities for cooperation on many levels, and I'd like to see what issues you would like to see discussed, as well as your ideas for the size and scope of this possible cooperation. To this end, I've thrown together a rapid survey for you to complete. Feel free to include whatever information you think would be helpful for the group (past or current project descriptions, photos, active NGOs, report links, etc.) for all of us to become better educated with the collective state of the environment in the Southern Caucuses.

I've gotten us started by creating a Google Group, where we will hopefully be able to easily communicate (when some of us get Internet opportunities!) This group can be found here:

http://groups.google.com/group/southcaucasuseco

As a disclaimer, I hasten to add that I'm not too experienced with Google Groups, so if you run into any problems, just shoot me an email, and we'll try to figure it out together. I've started us off by uploading a poster that I think you might find helpful/interesting, and I'm exited to learn more about the region from all of you.

Attached, you'll find the aforementioned survey, so please take some time and fill it out. You can just send me (julien.katchinoff@gmail.com) the completed surveys, and I'll compile the information for all to see in a couple weeks. We here in Georgia have a tentative Eco-Meeting on the 22nd, so at the risk of seeming to boss the other countries around, if those could be returned by the 15th of March, we would greatly appreciate it. :)


Keep warm at site, and thanks for your help,


Julien

Great Earth Day Websites

Hey all,

Expect our quarterly newsletter towards the middle of this month. If you are getting anxious about activates and lesson plans, here are some great sites to keep you busy:


http://www.edhelper.com/EarthDay.htm - Earth Day Analogies, Coloring Activities, Puzzles, Mazes, Games, Form Specific Activities and more!

http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/earthday.php - Lessons, Worksheets, Information Handouts

http://earthday.wilderness.org/teachers/classroom.htm#1 - Great Classroom Activities and Printouts

Welcome!

Welcome to the Environmental Blog! This is the place to come for general information, lesson plans, cool websites, and anything environmentally helpful we could find. Enjoy! Please feel free to comment on anything and tell us what you need!

Sincerely,
ENVCOMM


Lesson plan websites:
http://pcukraine.org/materials/materials.php?topic=Environment

http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200603/LewinactivitiesBTJ.asp

http://www.eslflow.com/environmentlessonplans.html

http://iteslj.org/questions/environment.html

http://www.journal,naeyc.org/btj/200603/LewinactivitiesBTJ.asp