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Environmental Studies 472

Los Arboles Middle School, Green Wall

Project
Alexis Hernandez, Cambria Novelly, Emilio Santamaria, Emily
Towne, Jack Flynn, Josh Brooks, Kathryn Patrick, Pita Alvarez

Introduction

California State University, Monterey Bay’s capstone is the final project of students’
undergraduate careers, compiling all of the undergraduate experience and knowledge into a
tangible community-based action. For our Spring 2023 Environmental Studies capstone project,
we partnered with a 7th-grade science class at Los Arboles Middle School (LAMS) in Marina,
CA. Throughout the months we were with them our goals as a class were to teach the 7th-grade
Falcons about actions they can do to combat climate change. We talked about the importance of
native species, the effects of climate change, and ways they can step up and make a change in

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their own homes and communities. In doing so we allowed them to develop a sense of agency
and responsibility to the environment while showing them that their voices will be heard. For the
start of the green wall project, we, as a group, pitched six action projects to the Falcon students.
During this activity, we had Falcons vote for the top four action projects they were interested in
participating in the most and the reason behind the decision. As a class, we narrowed our action
projects into four groups, Berry Edible, Pollinators, Green Wall, and La Voz. While doing these
projects we referred to the Head, Heart, Hands model from Julie Singleton (Singleton 2015),
which revealed the impact that different learning styles have on students and describes the
benefits of teaching from more nontraditional perspectives.​

Image 1: Original design plans for the structure as well as the plants and designs that the students wanted to put on the pallets.

As leaders of the Green Wall project, we partnered with seven students in the group and
created two green walls for LAMS. We reused wooden palettes and lined them with agricultural
fabric to put the plants in. Then used repurposed paint, to paint the palettes, built free-standing
supports for them, and put them in different locations on the campus that the students thought
would be good spots. While encouraging this hands-on creative learning we also discussed the
term embodied energy which is defined as the total amount of energy that is used in the making
of a product, it attempts to measure the total of all the energy necessary for an entire product’s
lifecycle. We defined the term embodied energy to students each week we visited them through
informal conversations. Once they understood that term we emphasized the importance of
repurposing materials and how that can lessen our environmental footprint by not just reducing

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our energy usage but by reducing the amount of one-use products we use. Our group wanted to
focus on giving the 7th-grade Falcons the confidence to bring this critical thinking about the
environment into their everyday lives and encourage more mindful climate actions they can carry
on with them throughout their livelihood.

Project Overview

The primary focus of building the green walls was using recycled materials to build a
green space that did not have to be physically planted into the ground. We wanted to make sure
that the Falcons were very involved in the decisions that were made for planting and designing
each of the pallets we used for the green walls. Throughout our project, we implemented the core
idea of embodied energy to teach them about how their actions contribute to climate change. We
wanted to teach them about how reusing recycled materials and not contributing to consumerism
in the world reduces their carbon footprint over time. At the start of our project, we focused on
reviving old wooden pallets through sanding and making sure the surfaces were good to paint on
as well as building planters with agricultural fabric. The students were able to then paint on the
pallets with paint that we collected from donations. They designed small signs for each of the
plants that they wanted to plant on each green wall and enjoyed having creative freedom with
them. We wanted to make sure that each student had a voice in the project and was able to
contribute. In every class we had the students take a survey to show us how they felt the day
went by using the head, heart, hands model (Singleton 2015). This helped us to understand when
they felt the most connected to the project and the different aspects that we needed to focus on
developing further. For them to understand how their actions contributed to the environment
around them was the most important aspect for us to encourage throughout the entire project
which is further analyzed within the project outcomes.

Project Outcomes

Every week we had students at Los Arboles fill out an End of Lesson Reflection survey
through google forms to track student’s responses of how well they understood the material of
that day, what element of the Head, Heart, Hand they used the most, and how much fun they had
that day from a scale from 1 to 5, and something they learned or enjoyed. Our entire project was

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a hands-on project; from the first day the green wall project started, the Falcons students quickly
chose what activity they wanted to do. During our activities, we would conversate with the
Falcons to better understand them and for them to know us as well. Some students, like Isaiah
and Joseph, had a lively energy that kept the group engaged and enjoyable, as students like
Ashanti and Tommy, were reserved at the beginning of the project. We adapted our activities by
separating our group into two different activities so we could work closely with each other while
attempting to develop their sense of agency and responsibility towards the environment.

The Falcons were a group of students all with different unique

abilities and drives to learn and enjoy the project on hand.
Many different insights were gleaned from the students
participating in this project. Either if they found this project
interesting from the beginning like some of them and became
passionate about it and truly enjoyed the main different aspects
and layers this green wall project had to offer or if they slowly
became interested in the project. While others were more
interested in being social with other students inside and outside
of our group. Overall there was a lot we as CSUMB students
learned the biggest one probably would be their feelings
towards this style of learning. The Los Arboles students
seemed very passionate about participating in a type of learning that was very hands-on with a
lot of creative measures to it. Being outside in the environment at first was seemingly looked
down upon by the students as in the beginning, they seemed to want to stay inside and be on
electronics like Chromebooks. However, as the project continued and we worked outside more
and more with our hands either with building or painting and later planting. They slowly became
more engaged and more passionate about the style of learning that we were using rather than a
typical classroom setting.

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 Image 3: Our completed pallets after painting them and starting to plant inside the pallets.

There was also some insight into the student's feelings about the school and working with the
group of CSU: Monterey Bay students. The Los Arboles students were passionate about sharing
their ideas and how they were not fans of going to school but they had certain classes that they
enjoyed. Over time they started to mention that they enjoyed this class specifically on the days
on which our group of CSUMB students would show up.

Image 4: Planting on the final day getting the kid's hands in the dirt and bringing the students a sense of ownership of the project.

The main reason for sharing was because they enjoyed and shared that it almost felt like a break
from the actual school work they were doing in other classes. Mentioning it felt like a free period
to do something outside of their normal routine and be a bit creative. The overall discussion of
the environment was not an extreme topic, the CSUMB students mainly focused on topics such
as reusability, embodied energy, and having a positive impact on the environment. The Los

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Arboles students seemed to connect with these topics while discussing how important it is to
create these green spaces inside of the school that will overall have a positive impact. There was
some variation between the students connected the most however in the end it felt like everyone
in the group had a lot more of a well-rounded knowledge of embodied energy and reusability.

Our group used Do-Go-Know Journals, Head Heart Hands Model, and Post-Class Lesson
Reflections to assess the Los Arboles students throughout the semester. When we started the
project at the beginning of the semester we took the responses from the post-class reflections the
students did to understand what they learned and took away from each day. These were
conducted through Google forms that contained questions rating the amount of fun they had, and
how well they understood the material with a numerical scale of 1-5 after each day that we were
working with them. We also included questions like what they used the most in terms of the
head, heart, or hands model. The “head” means the students liked to brainstorm and think about
what they envisioned the green wall project to look like. The “heart” means the students were
compassionate about an activity they did, and the “hands” meant the students liked hands-on
work during the project. As the semester progressed we noticed that most of our group of
students were choosing hands which was concurrent with their interest while working through
the different steps they took to complete the project. The Do-Go-Know Journals helped us to
summarize our progress and plan for the future after each day we were working at Los Arboles.
The “do” was used to describe what we accomplished, the “go” was used to talk about how we
accomplished a certain portion of the project, and the “know” represented how our group knew
what the students’ thoughts were.

Group Reflection

While working with the Falcons throughout the months we were able to learn and
complete two green walls that were implemented in two areas at the middle school. By having
the students involved in the green wall-making process we were able to discover each of the
student’s strengths. All the students enjoyed being hands-on by participating in painting either
the palette, plant signs, sanding, and when it came to the final day of the project to plant. While
the students were able to sand, paint, and plant we did run into time constraints. This led us

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CSUMB students to meet up outside of the designated classroom time to seal the pallets twice to
assure the student's paint designs and wood will not rot when water comes into contact. Having
to cut and staple the agriculture fabric to create the plant pockets and taking apart a spare palette
to construct a support stand for both green walls. While not having the Falcons being involved
with those three tasks for the green wall they were aware of the process. As we wanted to be
sustainable by limiting the number of items being purchased we were able to outsource most of
the supplies like paint, paint brushes, pallets, nails, tools, and other materials which keep our
project cost to a minimum. Therefore, it only led us to purchase sealant, agriculture fabric, soil,
and most importantly plants. As we were only able to create two green wall pallets which
enhanced the school’s campus space. Due to this, the students are not able to gain access to the
school’s garden. If we had more time we as CSUMB students and the Falcons would want to
create more green walls and add them around the school since the school lacked student voice
and connection to nature.

Individual Reflection

Alexis

Before stepping foot into Los Arboles Middle School I was nervous about working with the
students as this is my first time working with that age group because I felt like they weren't going
to engage with the project or pay attention to us. While I didn’t feel comfortable being a leader
within the group as I don’t like the attention. I was able to be there for my classmates for support
when it came to painting the base coat of the green wall, sealing, creating the plant pockets, and
when we came all together to plant as a group. As this project came to an end with us completing
two green walls and a better connection between us college students and them as middle
schoolers. I was able to learn how to make a green wall and experience working with the falcons.

Cambria

This project overall combined something I love doing with an age group that I have never
worked with previously. I have experience working with kids, however, before this class, I had
never worked with middle schoolers. I had preconceived opinions about them before I even met
them. I was nervous that I wouldn't have the same ability to communicate the same way I do

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with the younger students that I have worked with. However, I realized after a couple of weeks
that they are not very different from other age groups that I have worked with. They want to be
taken seriously and to have their ideas and opinions taken into consideration and not brushed off
because they are still young. I think that what I ended up enjoying the most was teaching them
about the interconnectedness of the world that they were part of. This helped us better dive
deeper into environmental literacy and focus on embodied energy.

Emilio

The students at Los Arboles have shown much awareness of environmentalism and
sustainability. Since our first meeting with them, they have demonstrated a fundamental
understanding of climate change and the human impacts that future generations will face. This
alone was a great assurance that the students were being equipped with the knowledge needed
for any future behaviors to be made in more sustainable ways. Of course, their participation and
enthusiasm were lacking from time to time, especially on the days that we spent with them in the
classroom focusing on environmental literacy. Once our class broke out into project groups and
we got to spend more time with our 7 students. The students generally engaged more and
expressed repeatedly that they were happy to be doing Green Wall tasks over sitting in the
classroom. I had a great time facilitating the students with the hands-on work and emphasizing
the importance of repurposing materials and the elements of embodied energy. I had a great time
working with the Falcons, and I believe that our work made a lasting impression on them.

Emily

This capstone class was a great experience and allowed me to do real-world work and create
meaningful change at Los Arboles Middle School. I wasn't nervous about working with the 7th
graders, I was more excited to see how much they knew about climate change actions and the
ideas they had relating to it. I learned that the students knew more about environmental issues
than they gave themselves credit for, and they had great ideas for solutions. I also learned more
about different learning styles and how important it is to find styles that work with each student,
just because they seem uninterested doesn’t mean they don’t care, it just means that particular
learning style isn’t resonating with them. Understanding that made all the difference and allowed

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us as a group to reach our students on another level. I also really enjoyed learning new skills
during this project that will aid me in my future career by giving me more confidence in
incorporating what I have learned in my school courses into actual community work while being
comfortable taking on leadership roles in large group settings and accomplishing the goals we set
out to achieve. I feel like this project was a success because we made a positive change in the
lives of the 7th graders we worked with and gave them more understanding and curiosity about
how to care for their environment.

Jack

This project has been challenging but also rewarding to be a part of. Being able to give the
students of Los Arboles a chance to learn through their hands and see a different kind of learning
was great. I liked how much the project had us outside and talking about reusability in a way that
was relevant to them. The only thing I would have changed was to have the students even more
involved in some aspects of construction. Other than that developing a plan moving forward to
keep taking care of the green wall would have been cool to see. Overall though I’m proud we
were able to make it work with the bigger group and the scale of the project. I think we made an
impact on the students for the better.

Josh

I was nervous but optimistic before starting to work with the students at Los Arboles Middle
School. However, as the semester progressed I became more comfortable and confident in
myself. I felt that I was able to communicate and pass on the information that I learned during
our ENSTU 472 class and previous classes. This influenced me to be a great mentor for them to
look up to. Our project seemed like a daunting task at first because of the amount of materials
and time we needed to complete it. After we started working our idea became more realistic, we
were able to come up with a plan and a schedule as well as outsource and reuse materials which
lowered the cost and helped portray the message of sustainability to the students. Our group
seemed to enjoy the hands-on aspect of the project while working outside which let them escape
from the classroom environment and brought their creative sides to life.

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Kathryn

When our class first started our project at Los Arboles, I was nervous to see how the Falcons
would react to the work that we would be doing with them. As I started to learn about the
different students' personalities as well as their interests and strengths, it was more exciting to see
how they grew and what they were the most excited to work on throughout the project. This
project gave me a chance to work closely with the students and it made me excited to see them
starting to take more of an interest and sense of responsibility for different areas around their
school and the places they live. I felt prideful of the students at the end of the project and it was
enjoyable to see them taking initiative to participate as well as wanting to do something that will
help their area. I particularly enjoyed working with the students to prep and make the pallets as
well as helping them to have fun and take a break from typical schoolwork.

Pita

At the beginning of the semester, I was curious about how this partnership with Los Arboles
would go throughout the semester and students’ perspectives on climate change, and their
connection to nature and the environment. This partnership with ENSTU 472 and Los Arboles
allowed me to learn the process of working with students. The green wall project was a fun and
insightful way to foster sustainability for Falcon students. Scavenging for repurposed materials,
this experience allowed me to use my teamwork skills at an educational level. I enjoyed seeing
students' different personalities, how creative they became throughout this project, and what they
enjoyed learning throughout the semester.

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 Works Cited

Singleton, J. (2015). Head, Heart and Hands Model For Transformative Learning: Place as

Context for Changing Sustainability Values. Journal of Sustainability Education, 9.

Trott, C. D. (2019). Reshaping our world: Collaborating with children for community-based

climate change action. Action Research (London, England), 17(1), 42–62.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1476750319829209

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