Students Make an Impact in Franklin County
Fourth grade students in Frankfort and Franklin County have been making a big impact in their environment. As part of a project with Bluegrass Greensource and the Franklin County Solid Waste Administrator, students in seven city and county schools have had the opportunity to learn about litter in their classroom, and then applied that to their own environment.
Students at Bridgeport Elementary, Collins Lane Elementary, Elkhorn Elementary, Good Shepherd School, Hearn Elementary, Peaks Mill Elementary and Second Street School all worked with a Bluegrass Greensource educator in their classroom to learn about pollution and how it affects our local environment. Using an Enviroscape model to demonstrate a landscape, students first learned what a watershed is and what watershed they lived in. Students then identified various types of point source and nonpoint source pollutants found within that watershed. Using items to symbolize litter, animal waste, and oil from cars, students saw where those pollutants came from and where they can end up as stormwater and move through their watershed. After identifying the various types of pollution in the environment, students then brainstormed best management practices, or ways they can reduce and clean up those pollutants.
Following the classroom demonstration, students then met again with educators from Bluegrass Greensource to do a project on their school grounds. Using the information they learned, the students made maps of their school grounds, and used the maps to track where they found litter, motor oil and stormdrains around their own school. Students then put their best management practices into action and collected litter from their school grounds. While doing the project, students were surprised to find more litter than they expected. Students also became more aware of stormdrains and how stormwater affects their environment, and many classes chose to display their litter maps in their schools to educate other students and teachers about litter.
Bluegrass Greensource enjoyed this collaboration with Franklin County Public Schools, Frankfort Independent Schools, and Good Shepherd School. Greensource is so proud of the impact these fourth grade students made in their community!
