Health and Well-being
Our school — a happy place
Say what makes a school a green school, sort its waste and its fire-drill rules the right way, and explain how shade, a white roof and a mended tap change the place you spend your day in.
Aasha wants to make her school a green school. Her brother told her what one is: a school where the waste is managed, the water is saved, the electricity is used carefully, and the campus is kept green by planting more trees and looking after them. Her class decides to walk round and see how theirs is doing.
Five teams, five things to notice
The Water Watchers hunt for leaking taps and wasted water. The Electricity Savers look for lights and fans left on with nobody in the room. The Waste Warriors count the dustbins and find the litter. The Green Guardians look at the trees, the plants and the compost pit. The Traffic Trackers watch the road outside the gate.
Wet, dry, and neither
Waste is separated into wet and dry so it can be dealt with properly. In the segregation game the wet-waste box is labelled green and the dry-waste box is labelled blue. A third box is for the recyclers: things like old newspapers are set aside for them and go into neither bin.
Keeping a room cool without a switch
A white roof reflects the Sun's heat and stays cool; a black surface absorbs heat instead. Trees that give shade and windows the breeze can come through do the rest. Paint two tiles, one white and one black, leave them in the sun and touch them — the difference is under your hand.
Worked example
A tap in the school corridor drips, one drop at a time, and nobody has fixed it. How much does that matter?
Put a glass under it and time how long it takes to fill.
A drop is too small to argue about. A glass is not, and the clock turns the drop into something you can count.
Try it together
Work out why the top-floor classroom under the black terrace is the hottest room in the school.
Two tiles were left in the sun during the morning break, one painted white and one painted black. At the end of break the class touched both.
1.The black tile is hot to touch. What has it been doing with the Sun's heat?
Have a go
Have a go on your own. A clay matka keeps drinking water cool right through the day without needing the one thing a fridge cannot do without. What is that one thing?
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.