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Section Five: Putting it All Together Through the Water Project Global citizens must be concerned about the

Earths air, water, and climate. (Noddings, 2005). Taking action through learning The previous units helped to build the stage for the students to understand that taking action is important in being a global citizen. Many of the units were done simultaneously with the water project up until the month of December. The water project encompassed all of the global citizenship characteristics that we were learning about. To recap, they included the following: -We are aware of the world and our role in it -We are responsible for our own actions -We understand that people around the world have different cultures and react to things differently -We understand that we need to care for the worlds environment -We participate and help the community around us and around the world -We help the world be a better place by taking action By this point of the school year, which began in October after the students were introduced to the world by completing their family history projects, we had already begun learning and acting on the importance of taking care of our local environment, our pen pals, corresponded with Tanzania Dave, and were about to begin the Cinderella Around the World unit. Learning about access to water around the world, I thought, would help connect the students even more to others on a global scale. Throughout this unit, I made sure to plan activities and real world experiences where the students were able to act locally first and then globally at the end. I kept Daisaku Ikedas quote given during a speech at Columbia University in mind, To be meaningful, education for global citizenship should be undertaken as an integral part of daily life in our local communities (Ikeda, 1996). Each class day during our morning meetings or through reflection and response journals, students were asked or we discussed what global citizen characteristic they felt they were when they did certain things. We also discussed the characteristics in relation to water. We discussed how our pen pals and Tanzania Daves lives are affected by water or lack of water. We constantly connected our units by cross referencing them in relation to water and the environment. This was important in showing how we are all connected. The World is Connected Through Water From the start of the year I knew I wanted to end my research with a unit on Access to Water Around the World. I also knew that I wanted to connect with other teachers across grade levels and across our different sites. At the beginning of this unit, I sent out the following email: Hello Everybody,

Many of us have spoken about working together across grade levels and across sites. Last week, Roxanna, Michelle, and I met to discuss the topic of water in particular. It would be awesome and super cool if all or some of you would want to connect in this area, too. The end result could be a Water Assembly where all classes share out on a specific topic related to water that they have studied. Encompassed in a collaborative unit like this would be connecting across sites and grade levels on field trips related to water topics. It may be something where you at your individual sites are connecting across grade levels on a water topic during school, too. We were thinking that if we had at least a couple of us at each site working on this, we could present in December. If we have enough people we would implore Renee (Events Coordinator) to do a school wide Water Assembly where our students would share what they learned. We would also be able to have interactive activities related to our individual themes. For instance, Roxanna would have a Weather Broadcast station set up for students to act like a weather man or woman potentially pulling in a local radio station. I know we all have a lot on our plates but I think this could be a really exciting, engaging event where our yearbook theme would wholeheartedly be embracedWE ARE ALL CONNECTED! Since the end date wouldnt be until December you could choose how long you would want to spend on it. Below are some ideas that we came up with. Please let us know if you would like to participate in this amazing, collaborative, engaging, inspirationashall I sayextravaganza of learning! I then ended the email with a plethora of ideas for topics that teachers (grades K-12) could choose from if they were not sure what they could do. Below is a sampling of the list I gave: Topics that could be explored: Water Cycle Why living things need water Investigate drought tolerant plants/create a drought tolerant garden/how much water can be preserved? Where does our used water go? Water issues/concerns and the Mexico border/pollution Water pollution/filtrationwater treatment plants Different ways to recycle waterold ways and new wayswhat is being tested right now? Desalination? I was pleased with the response. I ended up getting commitments from at least two teachers from each of our three main sites. This was a great way to show the students the connections between our school community. I went full force with my topic of access to water around the world. Several of the teachers at my site did as well. However, in the end the school wide Assembly fell through and it ended up being a site based water festival at my site. This will be discussed more in-depth later.

In my class I introduced the water cycle by completing an input chart that the students helped create. We read books and saw videos that all showed, for the most part, the same information. All highlighted the water cycle. We then learned a water cycle song and we learned movements for each of the words/phrases in the song. Through all of these different avenues, students learned and understood that water goes up and comes down in different forms and in different places around the world. We would revisit this idea in different ways, including morning meetings and reflection and response journals, throughout my research. About a month into our water unit I asked the students the following question during a morning meeting: What or how are ways we are connected to the world through water?. Below is a glimpse into our conversation: Sandy- We are connected to water by plants need water to grow. Larry- I think we are connecting because we are partially water. Kacey-I think were are connected because we actually use water for a lot of things. I then asked the students What are ways we use our water in the United States and San Diego John- we wash our hands Larry- We use ice Alison- Washing dishes I agreed, We do use water in those ways. Is using ice a want or a need? Do you need ice? No, I think it is something I want. Larry replied. How are the ways we use water different than the ways people in Africa use water? Jessica- They are different because they get their water from wells. I then prompted them by asking Our water is cleando we know that? All students agreed, Yes. I then asked, How do we know that?

One student said, because it goes through a water treatment plant. I then asked if students in Africa know that their water is clean. The majority of the students said no. I then asked Why? Because their water hasnt gone through cleaning. What might be in their water if it is not cleaned? Several students answered this question. Answers varied from Mold, bugs, dirt. Then one student said, there is something in water that can eat your brain and another said animal poop. Both of these answers were very insightful. The girl who said animal poop was quite right and I then said, that is true. Any other thoughts? and students then said pollution, germs, diseases, and bacteria. One student ended the student discussion with a final thought, Dirt has bacteria. I finished the discussion with, There is animal poop and other stuff in water sometimes and if water doesnt get cleaned then it has germs in it and those germs can make people sick. This was a great conversation to get the students thinking about how important water is to the global community. We then went into how we get our water in San Diego. The students were very interested to find out that we dont get our water from the area of San Diego. It comes from the Colorado River and goes through Parker Dam on the border of California and Nevada. This was important to show that we are connected to the broader world in how we get our water. We used several different resources to help us understand this concept. We completed a California input map. We watched videos, we contacted our local Water Authority and they sent out a plethora of informational materials and interactive books for the students.

Getting out into the local Community: What is in our local water sources? One activity I had students partake in was collecting water from a local water source near their house. They then brought their samples in to have the class observe it underneath a microscope. I made sure to give them several ideas of where to take water from which included homes, puddles, local streams, local reservoirs, their backyards, etc. I told them that we would also be pulling samples from our reservoir near the school and our

local stream near where we eat lunch each school day. The students brought in samples of everything from a rain puddle at the bottom of a backyard slide to tap water from a sink in their house. We set up 3 microscopes around the room and put water samples on slides to observe. Each student had observation sheets and was able to look at each sample and then sketch what they saw. They had to label which student sample they were sketching and where it came from. The students were very engaged and noticed many different things in each of the water samples. It was very surprising how different the samples of water looked. Even the tap water samples from different areas around San Diego looked different from each other. We then had a discussion about what they saw and how different each sample was. We also went on several field trips during this unit which helped the students on their journey to becoming global citizens. These field trips really connected to the global citizen characteristics of we are responsible for our own actions, we understand that we need to care for the worlds environment, we participate and help the community around us and around the world, and we help the world be a better place by taking action. Water Conservation Garden The first adventure I tried to get the kids to go on was a tour of a local conservation garden. There is a Water Conservation Garden in Rancho San Diego that has beautiful plants that are all drought tolerant. Any group can call and book a tour of this facility. We did this on a non school day and, unfortunately, only a few of my students showed up. It was a very educational tour and the students who did show up learned so much about water usage in San Diego. I ended up giving reflection and response journal prompts to the students who did show up and used them to help teach the class what we learned on the field trip. Our first stop on the tour was a little manmade pond where we discussed how it was a tiny ecosystem. The tour guide discussed the importance of keeping hands and other items out of the pond because it would mess with the natural balance of the ecosystem (this related to pollution in water sources in general). We then went to a picnic area where we watched a presentation from Ms. Smarty Plants. She was very informative. She discussed why it

is important to use drought tolerant plants in San DiegoWe live in a desert! She talked about where we get our water from (which we discussed in class before the field trip). She also discussed why it is important to conserve water (only 1% of the water on earth is usable for humans) and ways that we can do it. It was clear that this first part of the tour hit on we are responsible for our own actions and we understand that we need to care for the worlds environment. We then took a walking tour around the garden and another tour guide taught us about the different plants and other garden materials that can help in conservation. The students learned a great deal. In the picture to the left, Ms. Smarty Plants is using one of my students to demonstrate plant adaptations. Drought resistant plants have adaptations to help them naturally conserve water. I gave reflection and response questions to the students who came to the field trip and they returned them on the next class day. Before the class, I had created a powerpoint from the many pictures I took of the Conservation Garden. I then had the students who went present their experiences as we went through the powerpoint. This was a great way to allow the students who didnt go to be involved and learn about the field trip. The visuals really helped the students gain a better understanding of what a Water Conservation Garden is and why conserving water is important. Below is a list of the reflection and response questions that I thought would help the students think on a more global level and really hit on the global citizen characteristic of We are responsible for our own actions: Did you learn something new today? If yes, explain. Why do you think it is important to conserve water? For both of these questions, it was clear that Jessica learned that only 1% of Earths water is fresh water. She also stated that, We are wasting earths resources. Another reflection question that was asked was, How can you make a difference in the world by conserving water? Jessica said, Take a shower for no longer than five minutes. In class, we often discussed ways we can conserve water in our daily lives. I had the students complete a daily water log that had shown many students take showers for more than ten minutes at a time. We had talked about how much water we use compared to how much water other people in other parts of the world use. Jessicas answer showed that our discussions and what was learned by Ms. Smarty Plants on this topic had a lasting impression on her.

Some other questions asked about the Conservation Garden were as follows: Do you think you can help our local environment by using conservation action steps that Ms. Smarty Plants talked about? Why? Jessica stated, Yes, you can because by not wasting water we are saving Earth. This was a great learning experience for the students who went on the field trip. It was also a great learning experience for the students who did not go on the field trip. By seeing visuals and learning about the experience through their classmates they continued to learn about the importance of conserving water and how they can take action to conserve through a different avenue of learning. On the same day, I also played an online Peace Corp Challenge game to learn more about life in Africa and the importance of water to all people. To check for comprehension gained from the learning experiences of the day I gave a reflection and response journal prompt to the whole class, What is something important you learned from the Water Conservation Garden powerpoint, Larry and Jessica, and/or the Peace Corp Challenge Game? Dans response was typical of the responses of all the students, If we dont conserve water there will be no water. Sallys response also highlighted the thoughts of many of the students, I learned that we use over 100 gallons of water every 20 minutes to shower and now we should take only five minute showers. Others remembered that it is important to use drought tolerant plants in our area (desert) because they have adaptations to help them conserve water: I learned that plants with fuzz on them save waterthe fuzzy parts on the plants are called fibers and the hold the water until needed. Alison (3rd grade) I learned that I do not have to have strawberries to make a very pretty garden. You can get plants that only need two spits of water a week. Sandy (3rd grade) Many responses made about the Peace Corp Challenge Game highlighted the beginning thoughts of water pollutants and the importance of clean water: I learned how to make water fresh. To make water fresh you boil it in a container. Shawn (2nd grade) I learned that people in countries like Africa cannot tell if the water is clean or dirty, good to drink or bad to drink. Sally (2nd grade) There were five students who responded on the topic of bathrooms near water sources. This was taught through the Peace Corp Challenge Game. Elly stated, I learned from the website that if

there is a bathroom near a water pump the dirty water from the bathroom leaks into the ground and can get into the water pump. That is bad because you drink that water. These journal responses were very telling for me. As I read them I began to get a true sense of what knowledge the students were actually gaining through the many different activities and learning opportunities they were engaging in. They were beginning to think about the broader world around them and learning what steps they could take in helping keep our earth intact for all people. The students were also beginning to understand that issues related to water are everywhere on earth and many places struggle to get water to drink, even us. This was important to understand for the students and it was an important aspect of creating global citizens. Beach Clean Up Noddings stated that, because environmental issues are so complex, they provide a wonderful opportunity for critical thinking (2005, p. 59). This is one of many reasons why I was very excited to adopt a beach to cleanup up and was even more excited that my students and I would experience this day together. I imagined how much real world learning we would encounter from I Love a Clean San Diego and the actual hands on learning of what we would be doing. What a quality learning experience! Cleaning up a beach that seemed clean on the outside but had unearthed harmful trash in the depths of its sands was really exciting! This absolutely hit on several global citizen characteristics including we are responsible for our own actions, We understand that we need to care for the worlds environment, we participate and help the community around us and around the world, and we help the world be a better place by taking action. Well, I woke up on the morning of the clean up to pouringmist. So much so that my hair was dripping by the time I made it from my front door to my car not 7 feet away. My drive to work was an anxious one. My Site Lead called to ask if I wanted to cancel the event. I cant cancel because it is too close to clean up time and parents and students may still show up! were my stressed words to her. In the end, several staff and myself made our way to the beach (Powerhouse Beach in Del Mar). The turnout was not fabulous. About five of my students and their families came. We listened to a person from I Love a Clean San Diego give a wonderful presentation on the importance of picking up every piece of trash no matter how small. She discussed how little plastic items get in the stomach of birds because they think it is food and animals can die from this. She also discussed the Ocean Garbage Patch Trash Island, which is a massive mass of trash in the ocean! These points hit home with the students. After the presentation, we got our gloves and trash pickers and headed off to the beach to do our job. We found a great deal of small trash that wouldnt necessarily be spotted right away. The students

and their families were doing a great job of picking up anything they saw, from cigarette butts to pieces of Styrofoam. At the end of the trash clean up I handed out reflection and response questions to the students. These questions were similar to the questions that were given for the Water Conservation Garden. I reviewed the responses from the five students that showed up. The responses were similar for each student. Below are the questions and one students (Johns) responses to them: Describe how you feel now that you have helped make this area a nicer place for people to come to? To which John stated, I feel like I am proud of myself and happy that the beach is clean. Another question was What are the best things you discovered as you cleaned this area? To which John replied, I discovered dolphins waddling around thanking me for cleaning the beach. One last question I asked was, Do you think you have helped your environment? Why? John stated, Yes, because I prevented the pollution and I cleaned the dirtiness. Connecting our Learning in and out of School I ended up saving all of the trash we picked up from the beach clean up to allow the whole class to be a part of the taking action experience in some way. I invited the younger Kinder/1st grade class into our class. The K/1 teacher and I then explained to the students that we can help I Love a Clean San Diego by sorting the trash into categories to sort out what types of trash are at the beach (plastic, Styrofoam, smoking items, paper, other). I first showed a video that I took at the beach cleanup of the presentation from ILCSD on the importance of picking up even the smallest amount of trash. The presenter explained that birds see the trash and think it is food and it ends up in their stomachs. This was good to know because when most of us arrived we commented on how clean the beach seemed already. We discussed with the students how even though they didnt pick up the trash they could still help by sorting what was picked up. Students were in groups of four (we paired two older students with two younger students). The K-1 teacher and myself went through the different types of trash (Styrofoam, plastic, smoking items, etc.) with the students so that they knew what types of items fell into each category. We

covered the tables with plastic tablecloths and then gave each student gloves. Finally, we poured trash out onto each table and told the students they were to divide the trash up into the categories that we had discussed. The students loved this activity. They were very engaged in making sure that the items were in the appropriate categories and if they werent sure they would check with one of their table mates. We had one older student from each table tally how much they found of each item. We then had tables share out their findings. The K/1 teacher then graphed the information with the whole group. The numbers really surprised the students. Plastic and Styrofoam were the highest numbers collected. Paper was the least. This was a great way to connect the students who didnt participate in the beach clean up with the event. It was also a great way to connect our students to the broader world by taking action. The idea of how much trash there is at the beach and how harmful it can be really became solidified when we sorted and graphed it. The students who went to the beach clean up really understood the impact they made in cleaning up the beach. We found over 1,000 pieces of Styrofoam on the beach! Around this time I asked a reflection and response journal prompt on global citizenship, What global citizen characteristic to you think you are the best at? The three characteristics that received the most responses were being responsible for ones own actions, caring for the worlds environment, and respecting others and their differences. This was very interesting to me because I wasnt quite sure of how the students were internalizing the learning that had taken place over the last several months. Initially, the majority of the students connected with the environment. However, as time went on and they began to get a clearer understanding of what the characteristics of a global citizen actually meant students began to identify themselves with different characteristics depending on the individual. Four students identified that they connected with being responsible for their own actions. Five chose respecting others and their differences as the characteristic they connected with the most. At this point, only three students now stated that caring for the worlds environment was the characteristic they were best at. Visiting a Water Recycling Facility: The place smelled like rotten eggs! Since we had been discussing the limited supply of water on earth I thought it was important to have the students visit the Padre Dam Water Recycling Facility in Santee, California. Before our field trip to the water recycling facility, we had a class shared reading and discussion meeting about what we would see and what a treatment plant was for and how it worked. Once we got to the tour location we went on a tour of the whole plant.

Throughout the whole tour the tour guide made sure to let the students know why it is important to recycle water. We stopped at each step and our tour guide discussed what happened at that particular stage of treatment.

To be quite honest, the plant was very smelly! The students were reminded that the water that comes in to the plant is waste water from sewers and other places. The first stage was to separate the large debris from the water. The tour guide opened up the lid to this step and the smell was hideous. The students were very good about keeping it together during this section of the tour (I had a little harder of a time). As we went through each step the water got noticeably cleaner and less stinky. This process was such a wonderful real world activity for the students to witness first hand. We then watched a video that discussed the history of the plant. Once the tour was complete I handed out reflection questions for the students to answer. On the following class day we discussed them. Below is what we discussed: I asked What is something you learned at the Water Treatment Plant?

All the water that goes down our drain end up at Padre Dam to be recycled. Sally (2nd grade) They put chemicals in the water to make it clean. I thought chemicals poisoned the waterI didnt know it could make it clean. Kacey (3rd grade) The smell was from sewage treatment water. Shawn (2nd grade) There is lots of water in the world. It Smelled like rotten eggs. If we waste water and throw it away there would be now water for the whole world to share. Barbara (3rd grade) Purple fire hydrants and drain covers mean reclaimed water. Alison (3rd grade) We then discussed the question: What is something you learned about water? I learned that water is actually more precious than you think it is. Kacey (3rd grade) We cant live without water. Shawn (2nd grade) If it rains you can set a pan out and put it on the stove and boil it you will make it clean. Dan (2nd grade) Some people dont save water because they dont know how important water is. Mary (2nd grade) Water at the sewage plant smelled like rotten eggs. Elly (3rd grade) You can recycle water and people dont do it because they dont know. Alexis (2nd grade) I then posed the question Why do you think it is important to recycle water? So we dont run out of it and die of dehydration. Larry (3rd grade) So that people in the future will have water. There wont be as much clean water in the future. Leo (3rd grade) Cause if you dont recycle water then you will die Dan (2nd grade) The water you save is going to be water for someone else. Elly (3rd grade) So that people in the future can use and have water. Alison (3rd grade) All the people you can live longer. People on earth will have more water dirty water can be recycled into clean water. Sally (2nd grade)

So we will have more fresh water. Kacey (3rd grade) My next question was as follows, Why do you think recycling water makes a difference in the world? Because there will be water for everyone instead of people trying to fight for water. Dan (2nd grade) If you go to the bay or beachwhen you recycle water it could go to a different place that doesnt have a lot of water. Sally (2nd grade) We then discussed this question, What are ways you could recycle the water at your house? Dont wash hands for more than 20 seconds. Barbara By washing dishes in a bucket and dumping the bucket in the bushes to water them. Larry You can drive our car onto the grass and wash your car and water will drip off and water the grass. Dan When you wash your dishes the extra water can be used to water the grass, flowers, and plants. Elly Use water after boiling spaghetti to put them on weeds to kill them. Alison (3rd grade) I then asked How were you a global citizen when you went to the water treatment plant?. Ellys answer summed up the discussion. She said, We took action. I then asked, How?. She said, by learninglearning is a part of taking action. Taking Action for Clean Water In December, students completed another I connect, I wonder, and I notice partner activity with the pictures of Guinea, Africa to check for any growth in understanding from the first go around. Interestingly, the student responses were very similar to their first observations. I am not sure that this was a sign of lack of growth but more a sign of my lack of asking the right questions in order to figure out their growth in becoming a global citizen. Afterwards, in a group discussion, we again talked about how it is not enough just to learn about these topics and discuss them in class. Students need to take action outside of class by picking up trash when they see it on the ground (we discussed appropriate trash pick upi.e they may not pick up broken glass or cigarette butts unless parent permission or they had gloves etc.). I

discussed with them that I wont be with them all the time and they will have to take action on their own. They should not wait for someone else to take action first. I encouraged them to do something on their own to help the world, locally and globally. Before winter break in the middle of December we reviewed how important it is to conserve and recycle water at home. Again, the students brainstormed ways that they could recycle at home and conserve. They reiterated the thoughts that we had discussed before; taking shorter showers, recycling the dish water and watering plants with it, etc. I asked them to practice the conservation actions we discussed over break. At the beginning of January I re-introduced bacteria and microbes in water and why filtration is important. We completed an input chart on the main bacteria we would be focusing on, mainly E. Coli and Giardia. We all participated in a handwashing activity and then discussed what characteristic of being a global citizen making sure that we dont spread germs and we wash our hands falls under. Students said many different characteristics and explained why each could fit. However, the one that students connected with the most was, we are responsible for our own actions. This was solidified when I posed the question, Why do you think it is important to wash your hands? in a reflection and response journal prompt. Below are some of the responses from students: If you dont want to wash your hands then you touched someone else that is getting germs on them. Kacey (3rd grade) It is important to wash your hands because if you dont you will get sick. Alexis (2nd grade) If you touch other people, friends or family the bacteria will spread on to them and theyll probably touch other people too and presto youll have a lot of unhealthy people. Sandy (3rd grade) We shared out our thoughts from our reflection and response journals and then I asked the questions, How is it connected to being a global citizen? Elly stated, When you wash your hands you wont spread germs to others. You are being responsible for your own actions. I then asked, How were you a global citizen over winter break? Kacey said, I picked up lots of trash. Mary stated, one day on break our dad was smoking when he was in the middle of it he threw it in the trash and never did it again. I wanted to know how she thought it connected to being a global citizen so I asked her, How was that being a global citizen?

She said, ahhhhe was taking action? Larry then said, I picked up lots of trash , too, at the beach. Sally then said, For Christmas, I helped my mom decorate the tree and I helped my mom clean up- I respected my mom. Elly added, We have a new shampoo that is shampoo and conditioner so we are saving water in the shower. We again, reviewed how we need to be global citizens outside of school and how it is important to act responsible always not just when they are with me. We also reviewed other ways students conserved water over beak and why it is important. The next day, we continued our discussion on bacteria, again, mainly Giardia and E. Coli. I explained and discussed why and how this happens especially in places like Africa. We had a morning meeting discussion on why they thought bacteria are in water. We reviewed the thoughts they had stated before on this topics. We watched some youtube songs on bacteria and completed a bacteria input chart on what each was (the students laughed when I called E. Coli poo bacteria but it definitely stuck with them). We then discussed that their assignment was to brainstorm a cartoon that could put these types of germs into kid terms so that others could understand them. We talked about the elements of a cartoon and how the bacteria could be the villain of the comic strip. Who might be the hero? Some students said, soap!. I made sure that they knew they would be working through their cartoons like the writing process. Their brainstorm would be the beginning of several steps to get to their final cartoon. I let them know that their final cartoon would be displayed at our Water Festival that was in a couple of weeks. We had discussed water filtration on a big scale through San Diego Water Authority activities and the Padre Dam Water Treatment Facility previously but now was the time to discuss it on a smaller scale. We had discussed steps in water purification but what does that look like for us? If we were to create a water filter of our own what is the process? We have treatment plants that clean our water before it gets to our faucet but what about places like Ghana, Africa who may not have faucets and a water supply. This began our discussion on water filters. Bringing in the Experts Through my water project I connected with the general manager (Mike Robeson) of ProCleanse Water Filtration. Through this organization companies and/or people buy water filters for

families in need in developing countries. Since we had already discussed the types of bacteria commonly found in dirty water and why people in developing countries need clean water it was an easy transition to begin discussing water filtration on a smaller scale and the students understood the need. King state that because doing activities should not only deepen the understanding of the difficulties faced by others, but should engage participants in actually making a difference in their lives. (2012, p. 11) This was going to be the perfect fit for a culminating taking action activity where students raised money to purchase these water filters. This was also where I was going to connect the whole site to water. By this point, the school wide water festival fizzled out and it had become a site based event. I decided to involve the whole site in fundraising for water filters. The first thing to do was to get buy in. I asked Mike from ProCleanse if he would come to present in my class and possibly for the whole school site. I then connected with the other teachers of the onsite classes and they all were on board for the presentation. I also discussed the fundraiser that I wanted to do and they were on board to participate in the fundraiser as well. Some were a little unsure of age level appropriateness (i.e. our kinder-1st grade teacher wasnt sure if her students were ready for this type of activity). Before Mike came to present, we discussed what he would talk about. I knew that my students would have background on why clean water is important all over the world and different aspects of our work with global citizenship but I wanted the other students to have a good idea of the what and why of clean water and the water filters, as well. When it was time for the presentation, all onsite classes and teachers were present. Mike discussed his role in the company and showed visuals of the areas and families they work with. He talked about why it is important to know about more than just the area we live in. He then discussed the water filter and how water filters work. After he gave his presentation I gave an overview of the fundraiser. We had a site goal of raising $2,000 to purchase 10 water filters (each unit cost was $200). Each filter provides clean water for a family of 4-6 for over 10 years. Our purchase would go to a new project starting in Ghana, Africa where ProCleanse, World Vision, the University of North Carolina, and other companies teamed together to research whether the water filters help the quality of life of the families using them. I gave a reflection and response journal prompt when we went back to class to gauge their comprehension of the ProCleanse presentation, What did you learn from the presentation from Mr. Mike?. There were three common theme that ran throughout the responses. Filtering water is more complex than first thought

I learned that sometimes after even you clean water it is not good to drink because there are viruses they are really small. Kacey (3rd grade) I learned that there is a special kind of clay located in Mississippi. Oh, I almost forgot one. I learned that this clay catches the dirt and germs from the water and it gets cleaner. Alexis (2nd grade) Even flushing the toilet can waste water I learned that when we flush the toilet we waste 25 gallons of water! Shawn (2nd grade) Germs in water make you sick I learned that if you drink too much dirty water you get diarrhea. Elly (3rd grade) The saddest thing I learned today is that over 1,000,000 people die because of water infections. Leo (3rd grade) Goal Setting to Take Action I then had my students make personal goals for the fundraiser on how much they wanted to raise. Their goals were very thoughtful and doable (some said their goal was a $1 a day, others said $10 a weeknot many goals were exactly the same) and I then had them think about what they could do to help. Some students said that they would do chores around the house. Some said they would have a lemonade or cookie stand. Others said they would walk puppies. I discussed this procedure with the other teachers in case they wanted to walk their students through the same steps. I handed each student a pledge sheet and they wrote their goals and what they were going to do to achieve their goals on their pledge sheet. They would use these sheets to write down how much money they received from donors or activities they did (Appendix C). The deadline for this fundraiser was the middle of April, after our spring break. At first I was so excited about the goals the students made and I thought for sure we would more than meet our site goal of $2,000. However, as the weeks went on I became a little worried about the lack of enthusiasm from all involved. The teachers were all very busy and it was hard to keep myself motivated let alone the whole school site. I periodically sent emails to my class and the other teachers reminding them of the fundraiser but I just wasnt sure it was enough. Then, I began getting some feedback from parents. One student was selling candy bars and other stuff and had made $55 by the beginning of March. Another student planned on doing a bake sale over Spring Break (I received an email after she did it and she raised $100!). A kindergarten student had a bake sale and raised $236! As I talked about my fundraiser with family and friends, three different families said they wanted to donate enough to purchase one whole water filter. I began to get very excited. Although this was all great news it was a small number of students who were actually communicating to me that they were raising money. What I realized after speaking to one parent

is that although I gave them choice in what they wanted to do to raise their goal, some of the students needed more direction. I ended up coming up with an idea to have a garage sale, bake sale, and lemonade stand over the spring break. I emailed all families and I discussed this with my students. I asked them to clear their clutter and donate items to the garage sale. This was a way they could help raise money for our fundraiser. I also asked people I knew if they wanted to donate or bake something. I emailed my class, my family, and my friends about the date and time of the sale. I also posted the garage sale on Craigslist. The day before the big event I had a preparation party with family, fellow teachers, and friends sorting donated stuff and baking goodies for the next day. People were more than happy to donate their old items and we had an abundance of goods. We ended up with four televisions, a dresser, two rugs, and many, many other items. We started off strong in the morning and we were finished by 12 noon. I had several students come and either bring more items to sell or buy things. We ended up making $550 from the garage sale. Success! This was a clear example of how taking action can produce great results. In that short amount of time we raised enough money to purchase almost 3 whole water filters which would give three families clean water for ten years. I asked a reflection and response journal question when we came back from break: How do you think your actions with donating items and raising money for the fundraiser made a difference in the world?. The overwhelming theme that emerged was that we took action to help people in Africa. Sandy, a 3rd grader, summed it up beautifully, Lots of families in Africa struggle to keep their families alive every day. Thats why all the bake sales, garage sales, lemonade stands, and all those other things helped. Giving those families life through clean water. Because everyone in this classroom and even out of this classroom helped to get the water filters. The Water Filter Fundraiser wrapped up in early April. On the last day we had an onsite bake sale. We sent out emails and made flyers the week before highlighting the bake sale and the last day of the fundraiser. The money started flowing in. By the last day it felt like people and students were handing me envelopes of money left and right. Each time a student would hand me money I would ask them what they did to raise the money. Beyond the previous mentioned bake sales and candy bar sales, students saved their allowance or asked family and friends for donations. The best response came when a mom with three boys gave me 3 different checks for her sons. The checks were in the amounts of $20, $24, and $24.27. I was very curious about the $.27 so I asked the eldest boy what the $.27 was for. He told me that he did chores to raise his money for the fundraiser and when he cleaned under the couch he found $.27 and he wanted to put that toward his amount. In the end, the total amount raised was $2735.27. When I wrote our final total on our posterboard thermometer of earnings I asked him, do you know whose $.27 that is? and a huge smile crossed his face. He turned to his friend and with all the pride in the world said That is my $.27! The Water Festival: Taking Action and Sharing our Learning Even though the water festival did not turn out to be as large scale as I had hoped in the beginning it ended up being a fun event where our whole school site could learn about the water

cycle and partake in water activities. We began the event by having our students sing the water cycle song with movements that they had been practicing since the beginning of the water unit. Then, each classroom had activities related to the water units they had studied. In the K-1 classroom students had been studying ocean creatures and the effects that pollution has on them so their activity was creating recycled trash art. In the middle/high school classroom they had presentations related to different types of water filters and other topics related to water. We also had a movie viewing on water from the San Diego Water Authority. We sold tickets and popcorn and the proceeds went to the fundraiser. In my classroom, I had several different activities going on. First, I had made a powerpoint of all of our activities related to water in the classroom. I had this continuously playing throughout the festival. I had made copies of this powerpoint to hand out to the students parents. We then had the comic strips displayed. The students were able to explain what was going on in the cartoons and what the types of bacteria were. These ended up being very thoughtful and creative although not as neat as I had hoped. We had two hands on activities for the people coming in to my class to engage in. First, I had little peet pots with cuttings of drought tolerant plants and soil. Families could plant their own and take it home to plant in the ground. Second, we had a build your own water filter activity. Students could choose four items from cotton balls, different sizes of rocks, charcoal, sand, coffee filters, etc. They then would build their filter in any order they wanted according to how they thought dirty water would filter the best through it. Three to four kids/teams would build their water filter at a time and then we would pour dirty water in them and observe which came out the cleanest. Teams had a recording sheet to record their thoughts. This was a great end of unit activity that helped wrap up many aspects of the topic of water that we had been studying in class. The students loved getting their hands dirty, literally, with the two activities in my class as well as the activities in the other classes. Throughout all of the units studied in this research, students began their journeys to becoming global citizens. Only time will tell if our shared experiences have a lasting impression on them and they truly become global citizens. Dewey stated that the central problem of an education based upon experience is to select the kind of present experiences that live fruitfully and creatively in subsequent experiences. (1938, p. 28). My hope is that our

experiences during this time will live fruitfully and creatively in future experiences. I hope the students draw from them and take action themselves instead of waiting for someone else to take the lead.

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