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Nearly 1,000 middle-schoolers from the Peter Rouget School (M.S. 88) in Brooklyn skipped their normal classes in mid-February to join their teachers for a week of projects that integrate various subjects under the study of ecology and the environment.
These "integrated projects weeks" (IPWs) are the work of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) at Columbia.
"Conservation biology provides a natural framework for this kind of integration," explained CERC executive director Don Melnick. "It's a field that addresses scientific aspects of ecology as well as cultural, socio-economic and health implications of the natural environment."
Groups of 30 students each tackled projects such as "Fashion, Change and the Environment" (factors that influence what humans and animals wear), "Revolutionary Ideas" (engines of change in art, history and nature), "Create Your Own 'Hood' " (the physical, social and economic elements of an ideal neighborhood) and "Buy Me, Buy Me, Gimme, Gimme!" (the relationship between consumption, industry and art).
These IPWs represent only one part of CERC's work at M.S. 88, which will culminate in implementing an integrated, ecology-based curriculum throughout the school. The sixth-grade curriculum will roll out during spring semester this year, with grades seven and eight following suit over the next two years.
The curriculum requires teachers to work collaboratively to reinforce concepts and to stress the real-world relevance of what their students are learning in the classroom, Melnick said, adding that CERC has been working for over a year to prepare the administration and teachers for the changes. It completed a pilot training program with seven M.S. 88 teachers in 2005, culminating in a "mini-IPW" of 60 students in June, which had some M.S. 88 students examining Brooklyn as an example of "island ecology" -- courtesy of the Gowanus Canal.
The M.S. 88 partnership was made possible by a major grant from the Robin Hood Foundation. "The foundation is an ideal partner in this interdisciplinary endeavor," said Melnick, "ironically because their primary mission has nothing to do with education."
Their mission, he explained, is poverty prevention, and as statistics show that those with a high school diploma are much less likely to succumb to poverty than those without, the foundation favors programs that reduce dropout rates by engaging students who are at risk of leaving school.
"The CERC/M.S. 88 program is such an effort," Melnick said. "Our joint initiative is poised to have a major impact on the lives of nearly 1,000 middle-school students."
CERC is a consortium of Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, Wildlife Conservation Society and Wildlife Trust. It is the principal ecology and biodiversity unit of Columbia's Earth Institute, with the mission of building environmental leadership and solving complex conservation problems.
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