BEYE Discovery: Week 5: Community Sculpture Project

Hi Families!

On Friday Beye Discovery hosted a collaborative pinwheel sculpture project, inviting Beye students and their families to celebrate the power of wind energy, a clean and renewable energy source!

The project was timed to coincide with 350.org's Moving Planet* event on Saturday, Sept. 24th and the Green Connection's Bike Tour hosted by Oak Park and River Forest schools and families who have implemented green practices for a healthier planet (community gardens, composting systems, green building practices, etc.)

This community project gave Beye Discovery participants the opportunity to be teachers, sharing knowledge about energy conservation, pinwheel construction and other creative methods to communicate a message (we provided stamps of the alphabet, nature and bicycles; blank paper and markers; and Model Magic to sculpt with). Sydney, a 4th grade student in Beye Discovery, receives special recognition for her contributions: locating and distributing energy conservation flyers, teaching others how to create pinwheels and creating additional pinwheels over the weekend to contribute even more in the development of the community sculpture. We thank you Sydney for your leadership and dedication!

Our Community Sculpture Project Goals:

· To draw attention to wind energy as a clean alternative to fossil fuels

· To consider energy conservation methods to reduce carbon that contributes to

climate change

· To foster a sense of responsibility and respect for nature and all that live on our

planet

· To engage with the larger community to share knowledge and experiences

Importantly, many of the materials used to create the sculpture are re-use items such as:

· cardboard boxes from local shops

· container forms and lids from food items such as yogurt cups and tofu

· paper from previous projects and student research

· magazine pages

When the life cycle of the sculpture has come to an end, the items used to create the sculpture will be repurposed or recycled.

*350.org is a grassroots movement working to solve the climate crisis by lowering carbon emissions to 350 ppm by the year 2050

Unfortunately, I missed some great photo opportunities with participating families early on, and those of Sydney teaching how to make the pinwheels, however I did manage to catch Cristal's completed frog below and a few Beye Discovery participants in progress. Photos of the completed sculpture follow. A super collaboration indeed!