Amherst Regional High School has been selected by the National Environmental Education Foundation (in conjunction with The Weather Channel) to receive a $5,000 competitive grant for our 9th grade program. Science teachers Jim Fownes, Nick Shaw, Tom Davidson and Kathy McCarthy are part of the team working on this curriculum.
We are delighted to have received this national recognition of our ecology/environmental science curriculum. The specific project recognized is a series of lessons and investigatory labs which comprise of a theme throughout several months, answering the question "How many trees equal one car?"
To answer this question, students will determine how much carbon the school forest stores in one year, and how much carbon is emitted by the school’s transportation use during a school year.
Field investigations include measuring tree diameters, determining growth rate, taking soil samples, estimating rate of carbon accumulation in trees, estimating velocity, volume and temperature of exhaust from a variety of vehicles, calculating the annual total carbon emission, and examining ecosystems, human impact, and matter and energy budgets. In each case, students are performing hands-on, place-based investigations by integrating mathematics with physical findings and major biological concepts.
The funding from the grant will make possible the purchase of carbon dioxide sensors for field use, as well as curriculum planning time. In addition to continuing curriculum development, this time will be used to develop a pre/post test for entering students, develop a booklet for parents/guardians on how to help their children succeed in 9th grade science, and work with our community partners from Amherst Regional Middle School and UMass.