"Service- Learning in you Place": Creating Sustainable Community Connections for Environmental Sciences The Relationship between Environmental Science and Service Learning

• Increases engagement of students

• Provides real-world applicability

• Demonstrates citizen- science

• Promotes civic participation Importance of Making Connections to Students Place • Immerses students in local heritage, culture, landscapes, opportunities and experiences

• Forges strong ties between local social and environmental organizations and their constituencies in the schools and community

• Makes tangible contributions to resolving local and environmental issues and conserving local environmental quality Developing connections in your community

• Search local NGOs, state parks, existing relationships between universities and organizations

• Meet with volunteer coordinator to find out their needs

• Create a variety of projects to promote student interests

• Maintain positive relationships between the community organization and the school

• Encourage product-driven projects with tangible results

• Create clear guidelines, timelines and expectations

• Do not create more work for your community partners Project Descriptions Paris Mountain State AJ Whitenburg School Park Trail Project Garden Project Meet with Ranger Taylor and Review existing curriculum discuss possible projects and study its effectiveness. including animal and plant Volunteer in school garden to species book, educational assist in maitanence of games etc. garden STEAM Middle School Roper Mountain Native SC plant walk Science Center Art Design a native plant walk for Project new middle school including Create mural to enhance review of various types of existing educational center plants and creation of outdoor lab Examples of Student Work

Plant and Animal Field Guides for Paris Mountain

• Wild Carrott (Daucus carota) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is a variable biennial plant, flowering from June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then bright white and rounded when in full flower. As they turn to seed, they contract and become concave like a bird's nest. The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds. Daucus carota is distinguished by a mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in its center. Wild carrot was introduced and naturalised in North America, where it is often known as "Queen Anne's lace". It is so called because the flower resembles lace; the red flower in the center represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace. The function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is to attract insects. Created recommendations for school garden program Aligned Standards to school garden project

Kindergarten

Lessons

Number Lessons Number Description Description

1, 3 Recognize natural features 1,3 K-1.4 of his or her environment K-1.4 Recognize that families of the past have made choices to Recognize10,13 natural featuresK-2.1 of his or herfulfill environment their wants and needs and the families do so in the present 1 Created Low-Impact Design Fact Sheets for Upstate Forever

• Created the following LID for Upstate Forever's Educational Program:

• Pervious pavement

• Greywater recycling

• Urban Raingardens

Student Reflections on Project • I’ve enjoyed seeing how this Inquiry project has come together for each of the groups within our class. I think it was hard for me at first to see the importance of each step of the project, but now I see that each step was equally significant. I’ve enjoyed getting involved with the Greenville community and helping Upstate Forever produce documents that will actually be of use-- Ashley, on LID fact sheet

• Overall, the project allowed me the opportunity to delve into an area of science I have no previous experience in. Doing this project, served as a great introduction to plant species in the Upstate. Additionally, prior to taking on this project, I had not previously visited Paris Mountain State Park, so that in itself was a positive learning experience. Overall, I look forward to now being able to have a personal resource for identifying some plant species and being able to pass that small bit of knowledge on to my daughter. I hope to take my daughter to visit Paris Mountain in the near future and show her a contribution her Mommy made to the visitor’s center-- Janet on field guide creation

• I worked with Upstate Forever to develop an LID Fact Sheet for Pervious Pavement. This fact sheet will be used to give to architects, contractors, and engineers to provide them with some basic information about this stormwater handling technique. I personally learned a lot about this LID technique through all of the research that I conducted through the service learning project of this project. I not only learned about this technique, but I also learned the purpose behind other LID techniques-- Robin on LID fact sheet Community members' reactions to the projects • "Wow, the field guides look great! I stayed out sick last week, but over the last 2 days have been carefully going over the field guides you made. They will be a great asset to park visitors who want to know what's out there. As helpful as the field guide aspects are, I would especially like for folks to read your reflections pages, helping them get a perspective on the significance of Paris Mountain State Park - they helped remind me of the value of this place as a natural area that offers "encounters between the worlds," "away from it all" "to know [the park inhabitants] names, and know about [them]", ''who make the forest their home." Can you tell that I was inspired?"