The third-grade students have spent the spring confronting an uncomfortable truth: the ocean is drowning in plastic.
As part of the school’s Water Day, the students undertook an ambitious project that combined science, research, and sculpture to raise awareness about marine pollution. It began with plastic collected from their homes, families, neighbors, other students, and the school. They then created sculptures of marine animals (whale, fish, octopus, turtle) using chicken wire, which they covered with papier-mâché. Slowly, the shapes of a whale, an octopus, a fish, and a turtle emerged, each one eventually covered in color-sorted pieces of plastic waste.
Their completed sculptures are now on display at the Liberty State Park Nature Center, where the public is invited to view the work and reflect on the message behind it. Alongside each piece are research panels that the students created, filled with facts about the effects of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems.
The exhibit showcases our mission to nurture globally minded and environmentally conscious citizens. As part of its curriculum, the school incorporates the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This commitment was recently acknowledged with the highest level of the EFE3D label, an international recognition awarded to schools that excel in sustainable development education.
In a city full of voices, the students of grade 3 have created something quiet and clear. Their sculptures, built from what we too often throw away, ask a simple question: what kind of future are we shaping, and who will carry it forward?
