Students learning in green buildings have higher levels of environmental knowledge and behavior
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The energy used to create electricity to power lights, heating and air conditioning, and appliances within buildings causes nearly 50 percent of all fossil fuel emissions in the United States. Educating children about the importance of having environmentally friendly, or “green,” buildings could be a key factor in whether they grow to up to own and operate buildings that are green. Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri has found that students who attend school in buildings specifically designed to be “green” exhibit higher levels of knowledge about energy efficiency and environmentally friendly building practices.
For her study, Laura Cole, an assistant professor of architectural studies in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, examined five middle schools from across the country. The schools were housed in buildings ranging from older, energy inefficient designs to new buildings architecturally designed as “teaching green” buildings.
“These ‘teaching green’ buildings are specifically designed as a kind of museum for environmentally friendly building designs,” Cole said. “The idea is that by being exposed to this innovative design every day at school. That’s along with a sustainable school culture fostered by educators. So then students will inherently learn and appreciate the importance of green buildings. This study found this idea to be true. Especially in that the students from the ‘teaching green’ schools. Because they had much higher levels of knowledge about environmentally friendly practices. Moreover than students who attended school in more inefficient buildings. These students also had much higher levels of environmentally friendly behaviors while at school. That’s such as recycling and turning off lights.”
“Teaching green” schools include a variety of design features to immerse students in an environmentally friendly atmosphere. These features can include open-air hallways, which greatly reduce heating and cooling costs; exposed beams and girders where students can see the materials required to erect such large structures; dedicated waste and recycling spaces that are easily accessible; and the use of recycled and repurposed construction materials. Cole says even if schools cannot afford to build expensive new “teaching green” buildings, other options are available to help teach their students by creating smaller interventions in the building or school yard.
“The study also showed that even a school with a relatively inefficient building design had students with a high level of green building literacy because the school had a very nice outdoor landscaped teaching space, including an outdoor classroom and a learning garden,” Cole said. “Anything educators can do to utilize existing space can help their students’ green building literacy. We all use buildings every day. Our children will soon be the people buying and constructing homes, offices and other buildings. Learning and translating that knowledge into future green building design will play a huge part in solving our environmental problems.”
This study was published in Children, Youth and Environments.
Tips to survive and thrive your freshman year
All students start their college with a clean and fresh slate. There is freedom, but it comes with a lot of important decisions as you are making a transition into your adult life. The decisions that you make along with the actions that you take will have a huge impact on your college life.
For new students, the first few weeks on campus are crucial. In this time, you’ll have to make a bunch of critical decisions that will have a lasting impact on the rest of your life. So, to help you with it all, we have come up with a few tips that will help you during the first few weeks of your freshman year. Irrespective of all you do, you should try to enjoy your college life experience as much as possible. There will be days you feel homesick and stressed, don’t let these issues hamper you in any way. Now, let’s take a look at these tips one by one.
Attend all orientations
Should you attend another campus tour? 100%, yes! It is always good to be aware of everything you need to know around the campus. Kiara, who works with a platform where you can pay for writing papers, says that the more you are at ease with the things around you, the better it is for you.
Interact with your to-be roommate and try to know other people in the hall
Isn’t it obvious that the people you live with are going through almost the similar experiences and emotions as you? Frankly speaking, these people are your true safety net. It doesn’t just apply to this year rather it is applicable for all the time you spend in the college. You can change your roommate after the 1st semester, or choose to stick with the same roommate all your college life, just give enough time to interact and know your fellow mates.
Be organized
When you are in school, your teachers will lead you through all the deadlines and homework. However, in college, it is not the same. Herein, you might get the assignments for the entire semester, and your professor will expect you to be prepared for it all. Lily, who offers online statistics homework help, says that all college students must have a big wall calendar, an organizer, or an app, to be up-to-date with their assignments.
Have an ideal place where you can study
Be it the library, or your dorm room, you should have a room for study. Make sure you pick a place that isn’t very distracting.
Attend your classes
Now, this might seem like the most obvious advice, but it is important too. You shouldn’t ever have yourself sleeping in and missing your early morning lectures. Avoid all temptations to bunk the lectures. When you attend the classes, you’ll have the requisite information from the professors about what you should expect in the tests or if there are any changes in the due date of assignment submission.
Be aware of your course requirements and submission dates
Jiah, who offers online assignment help Australia, says that every professor spends hours after hours to prepare a syllabus for your course. They have a calendar of things to impart to you throughout the semester. It all helps you know, what is expected of you, and when. So, never come up with an excuse, Oh, I didn’t know I had to submit it today.
Meet your professors
There are just upsides of taking the effort to get to know your professor. This cordialness will go a long way if you happen to run into some snags later in the semester. A lot of professors schedule certain fixed office hours. This is your chance to meet them and get to know them. So, always take good advantage of this time.
Try to know your academic adviser
Gigi, who offers the best data science certification online, says that there’s an academic adviser in every college who will help you through things like scheduling classes for the semester, sorting the course conflicts, deciding the minors and the majors, addition or deletion of the courses, and more. He is your key resource. So, whenever you have any conflicts or academic issues, you should turn up to this person. If you don’t click with your academic adviser, you can request another one.
So much is about the ‘educator’ and the ethos of the school. I’ve worked in places that are old and inefficient in their design but still make children aware.