Session 2 June 29

We started with Gratitude Circle (sharing something we are thankful for). Then we discussed today's topic: Cradle to Cradle Design for the products we use. We listed all the resources needed to make a breakfast of eggs. Some of the resources included: soil, sun, water for the chickens, people for collecting the eggs, trees for the cardboard box, gas to transport it to the store and then home. Then the electricity ot gas for cooking the eggs which we will talk about more tomorrow on Energy day.

Then it started raining so we went to the greenhouse to play the next game. They split into 3 groups for a Burger Relay. They had time to discuss with their team how many gallons of water they thought it might take to make each part of a burger and then raced to get the right amount of water matched up with that part of the burger. The correct answers were: 11 gal. per bun, 1.5 gal. for piece of lettuce, 3 gal. for tomato slice, 56 gal. for cheese, 616 gallons for meat. We talked about why some parts used more water than other parts.

Then we did gardening class with Ms. Melissa. She talked about making tea from plant leaves and they harvested Calendula and Blue Cornflower. Then they had a tea party with fresh peppermint while talking some more about medicinal herbs and teas. Then they planted microgreen seeds (sunflower, cress and broccoli) in individual trays.

After washing hands, and enjoying a snack break, we resumed today's topic with a game of "What is it made of?" capture the flag. Just like regular capture the flag but if you are tagged you have to come to me and answer a question....like "Name one resource needed to make blue jeans". I think the chickens wanted to play too since they kept getting close to the field :)

Then we played Bingo. Their bingo boards were empty and they needed to pick an item, think of all the resources that go into making that item and fill them in on their board. No matter what item they chose (from apples to shoes) they all ended up with very similar resources (seeds, soil, water, electricity, gasoline, machines made of metals mined from the earth, etc). Then we played two rounds of bingo and they crossed off a resource on their board as I called it out.

Next we ate lunch and discussed ideas for the play. They have a general plot which we need to add scenes and lines tomorrow. We then went to the creek. Some explorers went hunting for crayfish again. Others went to the gray clay area and made nature art or clay creations to take home tomorrow. There was also a game of "The Mermaid Family" and general splashing to cool off.

After the creek, they had the choice to play Picari ( an abstract strategy game from the Zuni and Publeo Indians) or plan out a tshirt design that told the "Life Cycle of a product". They got to choose whatever item/product they wanted and think about its "life" from beginning to end: what raw materials/resources are needed, how is it made, transported, and after you are done with it....where does it go? Did your item make a complete cycle or did it end up in the landfill? Unfortunately, even after possibly reusing it, it will most likely eventually end up in the landfill. I hope this got them thinking about how many resources are needed to create products and that companies should be thinking about what happens to a product after it is used.

Then they got their t-shirts and drew the product cycle on one side and anything they wanted on the other side.

Lastly, we did some did archery, obstacle course and kept working on their tshirts.