My service learning project dealt with two major issues : top predator removal and education of children. Basically, I wrote a children’s book dealing with top predator removal and created and carried out a lesson plan dealing with that issue and then had them illustrate my book. It is very important to educate children about environmental concerns for many reasons. First of all, they bring the messages home and make their parents deal with it, possibly changing the way parents think as well. It is especially valuable because the children will very often carry these ideas with them throughout their lives, making the next generation more environmentally aware. I think that this project is also valuable to would-be environmental educators because it is difficult to make heavy issues like this one be on a level that is interesting and understandable for children.

In order to carry this project out, I looked at other children’s books to see what format was the most effective. My favorite was “The Lorax”, by Dr. Suess. I think a large part of the appeal for me was the rhyming format. I also found a great rhyming website, which helped immensely. After the story was written, I received permission from the third grade teachers at Sibley Elementary School in Northfield, Minnesota to work with their classes.

Before I read the story to the classes I asked for words describing wolves. The responses I got were interesting : “big teeth,” “bite you in half,” “endangered,” “scary,” “afraid,” “cute and fuzzy,” “howl,” “favorite animal.” This showed that many of the children had a lot of the common stereotypes about wolves, but there were a few children who were more aware. As I read the story to them, I watched many of their expressions change. There were no surprises for them when the dog disappeared or when the people wanted to get rid of the wolves, but they were surprised to learn that the reason for the eagles disappearance and the overpopulation of the deer was the lack of wolves. After the story was over, I mapped out the food web on the board and asked for any questions. There were very few, as it was the first class in the morning, but the questions that were asked showed definite interest.

After the lesson, I gave them each a line from the story and asked them to draw a picture to go with it. I got the pictures back a few days later and they also reflected a lot of the views of the children. A few pictures had big guns in them (when the lines had nothing to do with guns), which either means that the child really likes guns, or that there are still a few stereotypes in their minds. There were also many pictures that showed happy wolves, which might indicate that a few of their ideas have changed. Each class that participated will receive a copy of the book to look at and the teacher will use it in future classes.

When writing for children or dealing with them in a classroom setting, it is very important to use language that they can understand and make things catchy and fun so they are entertained enough to pay attention, but not so much that it takes away from the message. I think that this project shows that stories can have a big impact on children and that environmental education works. Personally, I learned how difficult it is to write a children’s book, use scanners, and plan a lesson for third graders.