当我们说“每天都是地球日”时，它的真正含义是什么？对于TWIS而言，这意味着将环保意识嵌入课程体系，促使学生更为关注我们所身处的环境。
What does it really mean when we say, Earth Day Everyday? For TWIS, it is about promoting ways for students to be more conscious of the environment by integrating them into the curriculum.
最近，六年级的ELA（英语语言习得）课堂的学习主题是“回收（Recycling）”，其主要课程内容是通过英语语言学习让学生了解他们的选择与决策是如何影响地球环境和人类的。学生聚焦于商品的消费和自然资源的保护，将行动指南归结为“环保3R”——减少使用（Reduce）、物尽其用（Reuse）和循环利用（Recycle）。
The theme of our current unit in Grade 6 English Language Acquisition Phase 3/4 class is Recycling. This unit allows students to learn how their decision-making impacts other people and the environment. The main theme is the consumption of goods and conservation of natural resources which comes down to the 3Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle.
在探究性资料中有这样一句话：“语言在促进不同社区的‘循环利用’行为中发挥着至关重要的作用。”在六年级课堂的语境下，这个社区涵盖了TWIS社区、中国和国外的家庭与学校。因此，在这一过程中的关键概念是“沟通”——以正式电子邮件和组织采访的形式进行语言表达。
The statement of inquiry for students is, ‘Language plays an important role in promoting recycling in different communities’, in our case it mostly involved actions at home and schools in China and abroad. Thus said, our key concept is communication, and the related concept is structure (formal email and interview questions organization).
Language on Environmental Protection
学生有机会通过与采访对象的交流来练习沟通技能。首先，教师将个人采访升级为班级访谈，学生就“回收习惯”提出问题，记录答案并相互交换角色。在随后的家庭作业中，教师让学生采访他们的家庭成员，并运用富有条理的沟通方式和组织能力，向家人展示环保知识与语言知识。在采访项目的第三部分，学生需要给TWIS的工作人员撰写一封正式的电子邮件，发出采访邀请和协商时间。在单元学习的中期，受到本地疫情的影响，我们不得不转向在线教学。因此，学生随机应变，在线上完成采访并记录结果。收集了所有数据后，学生制作了维恩图，将个人习惯与采访对象的环保行为进行比较。
The students had an opportunity to practice their communication skills through interviews they conducted with their chosen individuals. We scaffolded this activity to class interviews first where students asked questions about their classmates’ recycling habits and interviewed each other, recording the answers and swapping roles. The homework that followed was for students to interview their family members to show what they were currently learning and demonstrate structured and confident communication and organization skills. The third part of their interview project was to write a formal email to one of the staff in our school asking for an interview and negotiating the time. In the middle of the unit inquiry, due to the coronavirus outbreak, we were forced to shift to online learning and, therefore, the students had to conduct the interviews online and record the results. Having collected all the above-mentioned data, the students created Venn diagrams to compare their habits with the ones of the interviewees.
此外，学生还进行了小组讨论以锻炼他们的社交能力。在讨论中，他们反思了整个过程——采访者应如何使用从采访对象那里获得的信息？什么方式可以更便于收集和记录数据，是采访还是问卷调查？
The students also practiced their social skills by engaging in discussions to come to the agreed conclusions on the following questions: How do the interviewers use the information they receive from their interviewees? What is more beneficial for collecting and recording data – an interview or a questionnaire?
Exploration and Practice on 3R
为了进一步发展学生对“环保3R”的理解，教师带领学生探索了TWIS的资源回收室，此区域存放着塑料瓶、牛奶盒、食品包装袋、存储罐等可循环利用的物品。基于环保的理念，TWIS尽可能地将这些物品用于艺术教学、手工项目，以及科学实验。如此一来，学校不仅节约了资源，还通过循环使用减少了对环境的影响，而不至于让这些物品被填埋或伤害海洋生物。
To further develop their understanding of the 3Rs, the students explored our Material Recovery Room. This area houses all the reusable materials that staff bring to the school. Plastic bottles, milk cartons, food packaging and jars are just some of the items we can find in this area of the school. As much as possible, TWIS uses them for arts and crafts projects and even science experiments. The school is not only saving resources but is also reducing its environmental impact by reusing these materials that would otherwise end up in landfills or harm ocean creatures.
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学生还研究了校内的环保信息宣传海报，在翻译海报的过程中练习了阅读和沟通能力，他们分析海报上的垃圾分类指南、物品回收指南等。此外，学生参观了位于学校顶楼的社区花园，观察堆肥箱，并在“服务即行动”的社区协调员带领下参与了堆肥箱的制作。
The students studied the recycling information posters around our school. They practiced their reading and communication skills while translating and analyzing the posters with practical tips on garbage sorting and instructions on how to prepare different goods for recycling. Additionally, the students visited our vegetable garden on the 5th floor to see the compost bin and listen to the hands-on experience presentation of one of their classmates who participated in the making of the compost bin under the supervision of our Service as Action coordinator.
The Meaning of Daily Actions
无论是多么微小的行动，都富有改善地球的意义。我们的学生已经开始思索如何尽可能地购买轻包装、可循环利用的物品，自备购物袋，并充分利用回收材料制作产品。在教师的引导下，学生探究了玻璃、纸张、金属罐和塑料的制作与回收过程，以便更深入地了解这些物品的来源和领悟为生产日常用品所进行的工作。
On top of that, the students learned about and understood that small actions they take can result in massive energy savings for the recycling industry. These include buying reusable items with less packaging, bringing one’s own shopping bags, giving stuff you do not need to others, and looking for products made from recycled material. The students inquired into the manufacturing and recycling process of glass, paper, metal cans and plastic to have a deeper understanding of where those come from and what is done to produce everyday items around us.
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通过一系列关于语言和环保相结合的探究，六年级学生已准备好应对因环境问题所带来的挑战，并为创造一个更好、更环保的未来而努力。
With all this knowledge here in Grade 6, the students are getting ready to tackle the challenges facing the environment and strive for a better, greener future.
珍爱地球，祝大家地球日快乐！
Happy Earth Day!
