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Earth Science is the main science topic for California sixth graders. Last year, I went on a fellowship with Earthwatch to Nova Scotia. Myself and several other teachers from around the nation helped a couple of research scientists with their work on studying the mammal populations of Nova Scotia. I came away with even more of an understanding of how we humans truly connect to the natural world around us. It is vitally important that we take care of this place. So, I wrote a musical. I wrote most of it while on the airplane and I wrote one of the songs while strolling on the beach all alone there in Nova Scotia.
The musical is called Dirt Angels Can Make A Difference. It's designed for older kids to perform for younger kids. Audiences of Kindergarten through third grade are ideal, though we performed it for older kids and they liked it too! The cool thing about the musical is that I encourage the audience to sing along to the songs. We project the words on a screen and most of my songs repeat a bit so if nothing else, the kids can sing the chorus. The projector also shows key pictures to go along with the story line. So, the audience not only has a live show in front of them, they also have pictures behind the stage.
Dirt Angels tells the story of two friends who accidentally meet a talking recycle bin. The bin then introduces the kids to the Dirt Angels, three cartoon-like characters who, with the help of the bin and a talking deer, teach the kids about natural resources, habitats, and the need for conservation. The show encourages kids to use re-usable bags, re-usable water bottles, the basics of the 4 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot.
It's a fun project that hopefully makes a positive difference out there on planet Earth!
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