First graders visit Birmingham-Southern, study environmental responsibility 

Bluff Park Elementary first graders recently took a field trip to the Southern Environmental Center (SEC) at Birmingham-Southern College. Students learned about air pollution and water quality, and how they can protect and improve their local environments by reducing, reusing and recycling. 

They toured the EcoScape, a four-acre outdoor classroom equipped with giant “beneficial bug” sculptures, fragrance gardens and a two-story treehouse. Students learned about medicinal plants, edible landscapes and sustainable landscape practices.

After the EcoScape tour, students visited SEC’s interactive museum, where they made EcoArt jewelry out of discarded telephone wires, and faced hands-on simulation challenges, including being “flushed” down a giant sewage pipe and attempting to lift a week’s worth of garbage.