Fourth graders at Meridian Ranch Elementary commemorated Earth Day, April 22, with activities centered on the importance of recycling, reusing and reducing dependence on vital resources.MRES is an International Baccalaureate candidacy school, on track to receive full IB accreditation next year. Fourth grade teacher Ian Nicol said teaching an IB unit requires students to think on a global scale. “You’re not just worried about your own community, state, country,” he said.As part of their Earth Day activities, students made jewelry and other useable items from recycled materials, learned about oil-spill cleanup and made wormeries – glass jars filled with soil, worms and sand. Nicol said the students will watch the wormeries over the next few weeks and observe how the worms cultivate the soil.The students also collected 6,800 aluminum cans, raising $60 toward the purchase of a pine tree they planted on school grounds. Nicol said Heidrich’s Colorado Tree farm gave the school a generous discount on the tree.Mikayla Mras said studying the environment and conservation has encouraged her to change some of her habits. “I’m going to save energy by turning the TV off when I’m not using it,” she said. “Sometimes after I play video games, I leave it on overnight.”Samantha Wahl said her favorite part of Earth Day was getting to pick up worms. “They were slimy,” she said.In addition to their Earth Day activities, Meridian Ranch students hosted a garage sale April 25. Emphasizing the need to reuse resources, Nicol said the sale was dubbed the “Pass-it-on Sale.” Proceeds will help fund a fourth grade field trip to the Denver Zoo. He said the students needed to raise more than $2,000 to charter busses for the trip and reduce the burden on parents.
