Environmentally+Challenged

How can we as high school students, contribute to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle?
 * Essential Question:**

Simple yet affective ways that can help our environment and save our resources?
 * Challenge:**

__How environmentally friendly are we?__ Clearly we are not friendly enough with our environment. We wouldn't have to find ways to **still** improve our economy. __What ways can we begin to influence people to change?__ Ways we can begin to influence people to change would be to get them to realize that they have to live with the way they treat there planet and the only way to fix what they have done is for people to start to recycle and also do things like not buy coats or purses or animals that are endangered because that's only making it worse for them. __Are we aware of how easily we can ruin the environment?__ Most people aren't that aware of how easily we can ruin the environment because little things like junk mail if we stopped getting them we would be able to save more trees. We throw out so much and not think if we actually thought about what were about to throw out before we do we would be able to have a greener planet. __What makes people not want to be eco-friendly?__ They don't want to change their lifestyle. They feel as if it an inconvenience in their life to change it and that there isn't really a point to doing it. It also can take time and effort out of a person's life, so pretty much they are not doing it because they are lazy. __What percent of Americans actually recycle?__ 77% of Americans recycle and 23% do not.
 * Guided questions:**

Survey Visit recycle centers Research the different ways to recycle (find alternates) Hand out pamphlets that will educate people on the importance of preserving our natural resources and what they can do to go green interview expert.
 * Guided Activities:**

What other ways do you think we can save our environment? About how many people come in to recycle each month on average? Do recycle paper or cans more often? What is your specific job working in a recycling center? What is your view on our environment? What do you think is the reason people don't recycle or try to be more eco-friendly? What do you think as a community we can do to change that? Do you think that not recycle and littering have an affect on literring? How do you feel about global warming and how do you feel we can prevent it?
 * Questions we asked professionals:**


 * Notes:**

9/15/11- Today in class the project was introduced to us. We got in our groups and decided we would research how to improve our environment. We named our group "environmentally challenged" because we feel as if the world is challenged to go green and improve. 9/20/11- Yesterday, we went around to different classes and asked our survey questions. We are going to be sending out a online survey to see if more students had an opinion on our environment a better place. 9/21/11- Today we decided to make our questions to ask a professional. We are going to go to the Hillsdale recycling center and ask them a few questions about how "going green" helps or doesn't help our environment.


 * Questions we asked professionals:**

What other ways do you think we can save our environment? About how many people come in to recycle each month on average? Do recycle paper or cans more often? What is your specific job working in a recycling center? What is your view on our environment? What do you think is the reason people don't recycle or try to be more eco-friendly? What do you think as a community we can do to change that?

 **Solution:** We found out that most people are not eco-friendly mostly because or laziness. If it was easier for people most of them would change their lifestyle. They feel like it is a waste of time to go out of there way when other people aren't even trying either to help out. People shouldn't think like that, they should think more positive by thinking just the little things they are doing are helping out. If more people think like that it could slowly make a difference. Not saying it will happen over night but slowly during time it will start to make a chance. Around 77% of people do not care to change their lifestyle and would rather keep it they way it is, they do not realize how badly it effects our planet. Also some animals are starting to become extinct and when more and more people buy the products with the animal's fur it gives them a greater chance of being extinct and the only people we can blame are ourselves. If people actually took the time to think about the things they have like junk mail and clearly we don't need it they should call someone to get people to stop it because saving trees would help planet cleaner and we would get less trash all around streets and parks.
 * OUR SURVEY:**