"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect..."

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful.”  - Alice Walker

Each term, Impact Network holds a special day for Impact learners. In term 3 this year, the theme was ‘Go Green!’ an environmentally focused day that moved the classroom outside. On Go Green day, students learn about the benefits of plants and the important role they play. To enhance understanding, learners explore soil profiles, identify flowering and non-flowering plants, make natural art like leave-printing, and plant trees. Each grade had a different lesson with hands-on activities that tied to the various subject areas – creative and technology studies, science, social studies and expressive art.

Ahead of the special day, teachers familiarized themselves with lesson plans and activities, and prepared appropriate resources for the activities. Teachers and students collected sticks, dried leaves, flowers, cardboard, and several different soils ahead of the day.  A few materials like crayons, colored pencils, paints, paper and buckets were already at the schools, while other materials like glue, plastic bottles, and tree seedlings grown at the head office where distributed to the schools.

To give you a sense of the day, here’s how it went for the grade 6 students: First, the grade six lesson began with sharing a story about Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt project in Kenya. Learners were reminded about forest conversation that they learned about earlier in the term and then they discussed why trees and “green belts” are important for humans. Then, students were taken on an education tour of their community to look for any green belts and to observe similarities and differences in areas with many trees and areas with few trees. Where it was possible, community members who are knowledgeable about trees and farming shared knowledge with the students. They explored how trees help farmers produce food, impact rain and droughts, and impact air quality. Next, the class planted tree seedlings around the school and last, they agreed the plan for caring for the trees going forward to ensure their survival.

In total, 370 trees were planted at Impact schools and we sincerely hope that the day made a lasting impression on all our pupils!

-Karly