Students learned about the life cycle of chicken from egg to hatching. They learned about the care needed once the chick hatches.

Students shared their understanding of ducks. Then, they learned the characteristics of a duck as a living thing.

Students learned about the life cycle of a butterfly through books, videos, and observation. They then created butterfly crafts, and labeled them.

Students learned about how they can take care of the earth. They chose one action that they thought was important.

Students learned about the parts of a plant. They then went on a scavenger hunt to find pieces of these parts of plants around the school. They then created categories for their parts and grouped them in the appropriate categories.

Students learned about the importance of planting native plants and removing invasive plants. Through research, students chose native plants to plant at our local park on our annual visit.

A local farmer and tutor at the school (Rachel Brewer) taught students what a bulb is, how to plant and care for it. Each student then planted a bulb.

Students were able to learn about the Earth as Mrs. Boyko shared important facts using an inflatable Earth. Topics covered included geography, time zones, man' impact on Earth, and perspective from space.

Students learned about the life cycle of a plant by sprouting seeds in petri dishes. These sprouts were then grown hydroponically so that students could observe each part of the lifecycle withing their own contained environment. Students kept notes on observations and asked questions about each stage.

Students learned how fossils form. They then participated in a lab to show how different types of weathering and erosion can reveal fossils from centuries ago. Students then determined how the investigation of fossils can help us learn about life then and how it impacts us now.

Students learned about the life cycles of plants by observing pumpkins that were planted by last year's students. They then carved pumpkins and investigated their seeds before planting new seeds for the class next year.

Students traveled to Fair Hill Nature Center in order to learn about native insects. Students participated in a formal lesson, went on a search to find insects, then created models of insect using their specific body characteristics.

Student collected water samples from a local stream. There goal was to identify the health of the water based on plant and animal life found within the samples, as well as turbidity. They then used microscopes to look for microscopic plants and animals.

Celebrated as a staff our Green School status. Reviewed what it means to be a Green School. Shared requirements for re-certification and as a staff discussed our plan moving forward as a Green School.

Families are invited to celebrate being a Green School and participate in environmental mini-lessons.

Recycling professional development led by Tanya Adams in charge of the recycling program in Cecil County with Cecil County Department of Public Works. As recycling is a "top 5" for our school, we wanted to be sure we understand the current recycling process in our county.

Teacher attended the 2022 MAEOE conference virtually. Sessions the were attended included Lunch Out of Landfills, The Body Remembers: Nature Informed Approach to Trauma Recovery, Bird Detective, Climate Change and Keynote speaker presentation by Chris Hill. Teacher also attended the conference on Feb. 5, 2022.

Teacher attended the 2022 MAEOE conference virtually on Feb. 4 and 5, 2022. Sessions that the teacher attended were Bringing the Bay to Schools, Monarch Butterfly Gardens, MWEE opportunities, Turtles, People, Food and Sustainability.

Teacher attended the 2023 MAEOE conference in person in Ocean City, MD.

Teacher attended the 2023 MAEOE conference on Feb. 3-5, 2023 in person in Ocean City, MD.

Teacher attended the 2023 MAEOE conference in person in Ocean City, MD

Teacher attended the 2023 MAEOE conference in person in Ocean City, MD.

Grade 4 students learned about energy conservation and participated in an energy audit of the school. As a follow up, they visited classrooms to add and replace light switch covers to encourage energy conservation. Students also made posters to hang in the hallway and cafeteria. At home, students did an energy audit with their family.

Mrs. Fraser's Kindergarten class uses day-lighting during class instruction to conserve energy.

Mr. Moore's grade 5 students conserve energy during DI class instruction in our outdoor classroom.

Students recycle each day in their classroom and bring this recycling to a centrally located recycling hallway bin. As students pass the hallway recycling bin, they add items. This process was determined by students as a result of training information received during a visit to the school by Tanya Adams, Director of Recycling for Cecil County.

As students learned about environmental sustainability through research and an instruction, they decided it was important to install a compost bin/area. They worked with the support of adults to build our compost area near our orchard.

Students in all grades remove invasive plants from the school grounds during the school year and during summer school.

As students learn about environmental sustainability, they want to produce food on our grounds that we can eat at lunch. A 15 fruit tree orchard (apple, pear, peach, plum) was planted in the spring. As part of the maintenance and care, students watered the orchard and spread the wood chips throughout the orchard.

Students realized that this dry season our orchard seedlings were having trouble growing. The students in our environmental team researched ways to store water for when we need it. They then built their own rain barrels to be placed out by the orchard so that they can regulate the amount of water that they receive.

Since 2018, our school has participated in the National Park Trust, Kids to Park event. This event promotes learning, healthy activities and stewardship at a local park. We have collaborated with Kelly Schaible, Chief, Park Operations to visit Elk Mills Community Park and spend a day learning, participating in healthy activities and being stewards of the park to protect our environment and support our community who visit the park.

Bartlett Tree Experts have made many donations to support Cecil Manor Elementary School's environmental efforts. They supplied wood stumps and logs for our outdoor learning space and wood chips for our orchard.

Staff members from Super Dojo, a community martial arts work with students on healthy activities and managing emotional stability.

Tanya Adams visited our school to share recycling practices with our students and answer questions they have about recycling practices. This knowledge supports our recycling efforts at our school and keeps all of us applying the most current best practices.

For the past 5 years, students at Cecil Manor Elementary School have written and submitted an application for a grant to visit a local park, Elk Mills Community Park, located approximately a mile from the school. This grant allows students to visit the park to celebrate our parks through learning, healthy activities and stewardship.