How to Involve Your Students in The Green Wave

Steps

1. Explain to the students what The Green Wave is about. You can use our article Become Involved in The Green Wave as background material, as well as looking at the The Green Wave website.
2. Talk to your fellow teachers, administrators and parent boards about The Green Wave. Getting others on board will help to be sure that you are coordinated and that the school
3. Organize a group for The Green Wave. This group should consist of key students, teachers and parents who will keep the momentum going. Once you have the group in place, join The Green Wave at Join Us. It is important to note that only one project is permitted per school, so being coordinated with everyone in the school is important.
4. Do some research for the event. Organizing your school's tree-planting activity requires student-generated research. Involve the students in as much of the planning as possible, so that they understand the process:
   • Encourage students to do some research online or in the local and school libraries. Students might also want to interview workers at a local tree nursery or other local tree experts. You may want to compile a list of possible resource people, make the initial contact and match students to resource people.
   • Have the students answer such questions as:
     • What is tree biodiversity?
     • What are some general considerations for tree planting?
     • What tree species will you plant? (For example, the 2008 theme for IBD is biodiversity and agriculture. Planting a historically important variety of fruit, nut or spice tree would be a good fit with the 2008 theme.)
     • Why this particular species?
     • What care does it require?
     • Where will you plant the tree?
     • When is the best time to plant the tree? If planting on 22 May is not appropriate in your area (because of the climate, final exams or something else), choose another date.
     • Who will take care of the tree? How often?
5. Plan the event. Again, involve the students in as much of the planning as possible during the research phase, so that they have a sense of ownership over the project. Select some of the group members to assist with the planning for the event. Remind students that it?s a good idea to create an action plan or schedule and assign each person a role. Don?t forget to set due dates!
   • Some planning questions students should answer are:
     • Who will the adult and student participants be?
     • What will be each of their roles in the preparation?
     • What will your celebration on 22 May ? the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) ? be like?
     • Who will be invited (e.g. media, local officials, parents, members of the public, etc.)?
     • Where will the celebrations be held?
     • When will the celebrations be held?
     • How will you publicize the event (before and after 22 May)?
     • What information will your group post online on your group?s page?
6. Register your tree. Post planning, it is time to register your tree. Don't worry if your activities evolve over time - you will always be able to update the information.
7. Put your plan into action! Plant your tree. On 22 May:
   • Count down to 10:00am (local time)
   • At 10:00am, water your tree (whether it is in the ground or in a container or in a plastic bag) to create a symbolic ?green wave? around the world
   • Take a photograph
8. Prepare and upload your submission to The Green Wave website. Once you have finished the event, it is important to upload your information as soon as possible - the sooner the submissions are submitted, the sooner they will appear on the website! Note that text submissions can have a maximum of 200 words (excluding picture captions).
   • If parental permission is given, include the student contributor?s name and age;
   • Have students write a short 100-200 word text. They could write about one part of the experience in a poem, an article, a story, an interview or other creative piece;
   • Have students draw a picture. Their imagination is the limit!;
   • Have students choose three pictures or photographs; and
   • Upload the group?s submission to The Green Wave website.
9. Check The Green Wave website at 20:10 (local time) on 22 May. The interactive map will ?go live? and you can see projects around the world.
10. Review the experience. With your group, talk about the good and not-so-good parts of The Green Wave experience. Send your feedback to The Green Wave team so they can make next year?s event even better.
11. Stay in touch. Keep checking The Green Wave website and dreaming about next year?s event.

Tips

• Don?t forget to care for your tree! Organize a team of students to continue care maintenance for the tree, including watering, fertilizing and making sure that nothing is damaging the tree. If the tree is outside in the yard or in a container in a prominent place, it might also be a good idea to place a plaque or sign in front of the tree to provide an explanation to people who are not aware of why the tree has been planted. This can continue to enthuse others to participate in future years. Perhaps a special space can be set aside for future trees to go alongside your first tree.

Things You'll Need

• Registration
• Tree
• Spade
• Area selected for tree - ground, plastic, container
• Group
• Camera
• Watering can
• Parental permission for inclusion of name and age for uploading (otherwise keep identifying information anonymous)

Sources and Citations

• CBD, The Green Wave. Original source of article from the Secretariat of the CBD, shared with permission and appreciation.

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