First graders visit Birmingham-Southern, study environmental responsibility
During their field trip to the Southern Environmental Center, Bluff Park first graders Brooks Grant, Coleman Gray, Jordan Dunn, Julia Clark, Zoleigh Gunter and Alex Lee learned why it is important to “reduce, reuse and recycle.” Photo courtesy of Michelle Grant.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.
