| Stopping a harpoon from a classroom! |
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| Tuesday, 19 April 2011 15:28 |
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The project would be focused onConservation and Environmentalissues and the problem chosen was whale conservation. The group soon found outthat the country has been a member of theInternational Whaling Commission since 2009 and alsoa problem with the affiliation status emerged, dues were pendingto be paid by the Dominican Republic government and so the power of voteas member state was lost.
How much was due and where to pay became the project's main problem to solve so the science teacher, Mrs. Sarah Kelty along with the group decided to contact an international conservation group the class knew protected whales. Greenpeace and the Rainbow Warrior soon came up and Mrs. Kelty sent an e-mail asking for help to the first Greenpeacecontactaddress found. After bouncing within Greenpeace in the Netherlands main office a bit, a copy finally reached Milko Schvartzman's inbox. A renowned Oceans Campaigner in Argentina and Latin America, Milko was immediately interested as not too often do school groups of seventh graders ask for help to contribute solutions and finances in support of environmental issues, these youngsters and their teacher were indeed very serious and involved. His decision was to fly from Buenos Aires to Santo Domingo and have a full day devoted to meeting with this group and the school officials, further strengthening the commitment to environmental and natural issues of the school community. The group collected a considerable amount of funds and handed the check to a representative of the Dominican Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources and they gave the children their commitment to honor the rest of the dues before the next IWC meeting, so that the Dominican Republic can vote against the slaughter of these magnificent mammals. Leo Salazar April 2011 A representative of the Dominican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources while receiving a check for US$2000.00 to support membership dues of the country as part of the International Whaling Commission, Mr. Milko Schvartzman of Greenpeace observes the act. From the school's web site: 7th Grade Civics Lesson -Please take the time to read the article in the Middle School section about the 7th grade PBL regarding their efforts to effect change in governmental policy about protecting the whales. You will find out that they were so successful that the $2,000 that they raised and donated to the Ministry of Environment as part of the $10,000 quota that they believe the Dominican Republic should have paid to the International Whaling Commission so that they could vote against the slaughtering of whales, inspired Greenpeace to come to the School to promote their efforts, and a representative of the Ministry of the Environment when receiving our student's check decided to make a public announcement that he indeed would commit to paying the additional $8,000. Our 7th grade students were elated to learn that their efforts had both positive political and environmental consequences. What an important lesson to learn. You can watch a video about this important event by going to the following website: Please check out our CMS website: |
While developing a project for the science class of the Carol Morgan School of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, a group of seventh graders were being drilled for Problem Based Learning.
