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Earthship Assembly / Presentation

Over a period of four years Green Up Your Act worked with the Low Carbon Trust organising school visits and providing environmental workshops in the award winning Brighton Earthship.

Earthship Brighton is an off-grid building that heats, cools , powers itself from the sun and harvests its water from the sky.

Through interactive presentations, we take pupils on a virtual tour of the building’s impressive range of sustainable technology; including solar panels, a wind turbine, rainwater harvesting and the eye catching recycled materials used in the construction of the building.

The Power of Trees Assembly / Presentation

Trees play a huge role in storing carbon from the atmosphere, which makes them vital in the fight against climate change.

We need to increase tree cover in the UK to meet targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In this presentation, pupils will learn about the environmental benefits of planting trees. As well as understanding that as we return trees to the landscape, we improve our habitats for wildlife; with mammals, insects, birds, and butterflies becoming abundant as nature takes hold.

Food Miles Assembly / Presentation

Food and its relationship with the environment is often overlooked. 

50% of the food we buy is imported to the UK and 1/3 of it never gets eaten. As part of this presentations participants learn how far food travels by tracing the journeys of different varieties of fruit and vegetables.  As a school we discuss together how food is grown, the benefits of fresh food and the responsibility we all have, to reduce the huge amount of wasted food and excess packaging which is produced every day.

Plastic in our ocean Assembly / Presentation

In this assembly on marine litter, we learn at and discuss the use of single use plastic and their alternatives.

Plastic is a part of our daily lives, whether it be a bottle, a straw, or plastic bag, it makes up a large part of the materials we regularly use. When carelessly discarded plastic reaches our seas, it poses a threat to the animals that live there and depend on the oceans for food. To a dolphin, a floating plastic bag looks like a jellyfish and small pieces of floating plastic look like fish to seabirds. Drifting nets entangle birds, fish and mammals, making it difficult to move or eat. As our consumption of plastic mounts, so too does the danger to marine life.

Rainforest Assembly / Presentation

The destruction of the rainforest is one of the largest environmental issues facing mankind. In this assembly we take a look at some of the causes of deforestation.

The presentation starts by listening to the sounds of the rainforest. We quickly discover that rainforests are one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. They contain two-thirds of all the world’s plant and wildlife species. For example a single hectare of tropical rainforest may have as many as 200 species of trees. Large areas of rainforest have been cleared to make way for cattle farming and soya bean production. The removal of commercially valuable hardwoods such as teak and mahogany have accounted for most of the lost species.

  • “Green up your act helped out at the Dalrymple Primary School  during our Eco Week. Philip delivered an exciting “Green Shoots” workshop to the lower primary ages, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the children. He pitched the lesson well to suit the different needs and abilities, and the children especially enjoyed making their own paper pot with a seedling to take home. The upper school enjoyed looking at different objects made from recycled materials and then were guided through a craft activity, where they had a chance to make their own recycled notebook. Philip’s expertise has contributed towards making our Eco Week a huge success! Many thanks to Green Up Your Act.”
    Lauren Mc Nair Dalrymple Primary school – Scotland
  • The whole school really enjoyed your assembly about the importance of recycling which was made even more interesting when you showed them the items that had been made from recycled material. The pratical activity of recycling newspaper to make a plant pot and planting seedlings was a good hands on activity in which all of our pupils were able to experience success. Many thanks Phil!
    Dawn MartinCedar Centre Brighton
  • This course has opened my eyes to a new way of teaching! The experience has shown me how to take my skills as a Gardner and Scout Leader and use them in fulfilling my ambition to work as an environmental teacher. I’m looking forward to further input throughout the seasons.
    Matt SmithScout Leader
  • Pupils benefitted from being able to handle a range of items made from recycled materials and discuss what they were made from and how they had been made. The workshops were fun and accessible to everyone as they were appropriately paced and the demonstration was easy to follow. Pupils came away with objects they had made to take home, knowledge they can apply in future projects and a greater understanding of re-using waste materials to make useful items.
  • Thank you so much for today. The kids reported back very positively to their classes and were very proud of their wallets. I think everyone was suitably impressed by the Earthship ideal and we’re looking forward to telling the whole school about it in our energy assembly and asking the right questions about our new sustainable school building. We have a lot to think about in school now and I know what they learned today will give them a confident start to making an energy plan and putting it into action.
    Jo Slater Eco Co-ordinatorSomerhill Junior School
  • It has been really fantastic to have a professional work with the children. They have enjoyed the club so much and the parents talk about how keen and enthusiastic their children are when they get home. It is really exciting to have the eco-schools awards to work towards as well, this teaches the children the importance of issue such as: energy biodiversity and seasonal food. I recommend it whole-heartedly!
    Chris Bradshaw HeadteacherIford and Kingston School
Green up your Act
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