Each month the Museum features a standout classroom participating in Get in the Scrap!. Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project about recycling and energy conservation inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II. Each featured class does stellar work to make a difference in their school, home, community and even the planet!
For June, we’re showcasing students from Bucher Elementary School in Lancaster, PA, who are using Get in the Scrap! in their math class. The students and their teacher, Mr. Homan, sat down to answer a few questions for us about their work with Get in the Scrap!
The Scraptastics from Bucher Elementary show off their wattle bottle piggy banks. Oink!
Team Name: The Scraptastics
Number of Get in the Scrap! points thus far: 100
How has Get in the Scrap! been a good fit for your curriculum? Please explain:
“It went along smoothly with our math class. We were able to do some math problems with getinthescrap and discuss recycling and conservation with the students to finish out the year. For example, we had a good discussion about how long the students take showers. We looked up how many liters are used per minute, and then figured out how much water they use in a normal shower. They were surprised!”
What has been your favorite activity? Why?
“The students really loved making the water bottle piggy banks!” Blogger’s note: This is a favorite activity of many participating classrooms. Be creative, reuse materials, and save your change!
This is just one of the many amazing groups participating in the Get in the Scrap! national service learning project. June marks the beginning of summer, so we want to congratulate all students and teachers for their hard work throughout the entire school year. Check out all of their efforts by following the #getinthescrap hashtag on Twitter. Get in the Scrap! will return next fall. Stay tuned for an official launch date!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Each month the Museum will feature a standout classroom participating in Get in the Scrap!. Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project about recycling and energy conservation, inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II. Each featured class does stellar work to make a difference in their school, home, community and even the planet!
For May, we’re featuring students from Sovereign Avenue School in Atlantic City, New Jersey, who are using Get in the Scrap! in every discipline. The students and their teacher, Ms. Williams, sat down to answer a few questions for us about their work with Get in the Scrap!
The Dolphins from Sovereign Avenue School in New Jersey show of their water bottle piggy banks.
Team Name: The Dolphins
Number of Get in the Scrap! points thus far: 89
How has Get in the Scrap! been a good fit for your curriculum? Please explain:
“I have incorporated ideas from this program into Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, and Math. The students have learned parts of speech from Scrap Libs, learned about alternative energy sources (and researching and writing a brochure), and even explored their artistic sides by creating piggy banks with recycled water bottles and art scraps.”
What has been your favorite activity? Why?
“When I asked my students about their favorite activity, they were evenly split between the recycled piggy banks and the Scrap Libs. They all talked about the fun they had working with others, and enjoying the opportunity to be creative.”
This is just one of the many amazing classrooms participating in the Get in the Scrap! national service learning project. You can learn more and sign up your classroom today at getinthescrap.org!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Each month the Museum will feature a standout classroom participating in Get in the Scrap!. Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project about recycling and energy conservation, inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II. Each featured class does stellar work to make a difference in their school, home, community and even the planet!
For March, we’re featuring students from the Monroe Elementary group in Enid, Oklahoma, who are using Get in the Scrap! to help learn more about kids like them and their role in WWII. The students and their teacher, Amanda Purdy, sat down to answer a few questions for us about their work with Get in the Scrap!
Monroe Elementary students proudly display their recycling box.
Team Name: The Energies
Number of Get in the Scrap! points thus far: 57
How has Get in the Scrap! been a good fit for your curriculum? Please explain:
“Our interest in WWII began with a book that we read by Kirby Larson called Dash. My students wanted to know more about kids their age during WWII, so Get in the Scrap! was a perfect way to answer their questions and give them hands-on learning activities to participate in throughout the program.”
What has been your favorite activity? Why?
“Our favorite project so far has been the scrap catchers! We were very surprised with the answers to some of the questions we researched. My students created a recycling box for our room after doing this project. They have been reminding each other (and me!) that paper goes in the recycling box not the trash.”
This is just one of the many amazing classrooms participating in the Get in the Scrap! national service learning project. You can learn more and sign up your classroom today at getinthescrap.org!
Post by Savannah Bamburg, Education Intern @ The National WWII Museum
Each month the Museum will feature a standout classroom participating in Get in the Scrap! Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project about recycling and energy conservation, inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II. Each featured class does stellar work to make a difference in their school, home, community and even the planet!
For February, we’re featuring students at American Corner Karaganda group who are using Get in the Scrap! to help learn English in Kazakhstan. The students and their teacher, Taryn U’Halie, sat down to answer a few questions for us about their work with Get in the Scrap!
The American Corner Karaganda group with their 25 point prize — a Get in the Scrap! refrigerator magnet. Students also proudly display their Quote Promise Pix.
Team Name: KZ Junior Army
Number of Get in the Scrap! points thus far: 27
How has Get in the Scrap! been a good fit for your curriculum? Please explain:
“The GITS service-learning project has been a strong edition to the free English courses that are provided at the Karaganda library that house the American Corner sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Astana. I’ve used the lessons to improve intermediate to advanced English language learners in the community, but it has also expanded their learning on U.S. American History during WWII. It has spread an awareness of recycling and energy conservation as it pertains to the U.S. and Kazakhstan. Mainly, it has connected the class participants with a love for learning science and how ecology is a global concern for humans worldwide.”
The students’ general consensus is Get in the Scrap! helps develops their English language skills. The students feel, “Get in the Scrap helps to know interesting topics and to improve communicating skills by discussing it” and “The program has helped me practice my speaking english by interacting with the teacher and other students.”
What has been your favorite activity? Why?
Quote Promise Pix, where students each make an individual promise to conserve energy or recycle. Some remarks from students:
“My favorite activity is making a promise because it helps up to set up goals.”
“Most of all I liked giving a promise. I felt like I was able to contribute to saving of energy.”
“Giving a promise is my favorite activity because with #getinthescrap (hashtag) we can share with people around the world and it gives us that we are not alone.”
“I have enjoyed “to pledge” activity because I’ve been able to enrich my vocabulary and shared my ideas with my classmates.”
This is just one of the many amazing classrooms participating in the Get in the Scrap! national service learning project. You can learn more and sign up your classroom today at getinthescrap.org!
Post by Savannah Bamburg, Education Intern @ The National WWII Museum
Each month the Museum will feature a standout classroom participating in Get in the Scrap! Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project about recycling and energy conservation, inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II. Each class featured has done stellar work to make a difference in their school, home, community and even the planet!
This month, we’re featuring students at Southern Magnolia Montessori School in Abita Springs, Louisiana. The students and their teacher sat down to answer a few questions for us about their work with Get in the Scrap!
Southern Magnolia Montessori students with their haul from the Get in the Scrap! penny wars activity. Students raised about $175 and donated to a variety of causes.
Team Name: The We Can Do Its!
Number of Get in the Scrap! points thus far: 25
How has Get in the Scrap! been a good fit for your curriculum? Please explain:
Get in the Scrap! perfectly echoes our school policies and lessons on caring for the environment. Plus, the students are extremely interested World War II— we have visited the Museum, attended the Air Power Expo, and scheduled two Red Ball Express visits in years past.
What has been your favorite activity? Why?
Penny Wars! They enjoyed the positive, healthy competition for a good cause. They donated to a local orphanage, to a classmate, and to their free enterprise project, Montessori Market. [Blogger’s note: At the school’s Montessori Market, students create and sell handmade goods and learn to budget.]
This is just one of the many amazing classrooms participating in the Get in the Scrap! national service learning project. You can learn more and sign up your classroom today at getinthescrap.org!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Each month the Museum will feature a standout classroom participating in Get in the Scrap! Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project about recycling and energy conservation, inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II. Each class featured has done stellar work to make a difference in their school, home, community and even the planet!
This month we’re featuring the Shiremanstown Home School Group from Duncannon, PA. The students sat down and answered a few questions for us about their work with Get in the Scrap!
The Shiremanstown Home School group preparing for their big event on December 10th!
Number of Get in the Scrap! Points thus far:
We have 69 points so far and will receive the 25 points on December 10th, the night of the event when they share all of the work they’ve done and they need 6 more points besides, which will be completed in two weeks. They have committed to doing every activity on the list. They are very excited about this.
How has Get in the Scrap! been a good fit for your curriculum? Please explain:
This class is a Citizenship class and the students remarked that the curriculum has:
Allowed us to work as a group.
We learned about the history and sacrifices of the people during WWII.
We understand that people need to pay attention to the environment and conserve resources.
We combined Penny Wars and Water Bottle Bank activities to collect money for Wreaths Across America so we could pay tribute to the men and women who have served our country. [Blogger’s note: The students have raised over $3,500 so far in memory of the Marines killed in the Pegasus crash in Hawaii.]
The Penny Wars helped us learn how to count change and manage our accounting, keeping tabs every week of our collections.
Get In the Scrap Day! Is helping us to learn how to organize an event, plan for the people who are coming, and work with the community on a mission that’s important to us.
What has been your favorite activity? Why?
Our favorite activity has been planning the big event using all of the little activities to help us learn about what we are going to be presenting. We can’t wait to do it! [Blogger’s note: On December 10th, the group will be hosting a traditional holiday meal, followed by a production of “A World War II Radio Christmas.” Proceeds from the event will go to Susquehanna Service Dogs and Wreaths Across America.]
Any suggestions on new activities or how to improve the project?
We would like you to create a BINGO game like the Jeopardy game. We could even help!
This is just one of the many amazing classrooms participating in the Get in the Scrap! national service learning project. You can learn more and sign up your classroom today at getinthescrap.org!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Students from Mooresville Middle School, the first classroom to finish the project last year. They are showcasing the prizes they won for all of their efforts.
With schools back in session, we say welcome to a second year of the Museum’s service learning project, Get in the Scrap! Inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during WWII, Get in the Scrap! encourages today’s students to become environmental stewards with fun classroom activities that earn them points and prizes. Participants in our first year had successful experiences in their classroom, and many students finished their activities in May with a greater interest in both recycling and WWII Home Front history. Kids on the Home Front led by example and have inspired young girls and boys today to realize that they, too, can have an impact on their schools and communities.
Curious on how it works?
Join us for our launch webinar on Thursday, September 22 at 12 pm central time: Your students will discover how kids helped win WWII by scrapping common household items to be converted into war materials. Learn firsthand from teachers and students how the project works in their classrooms. If you sign up for the launch webinar, your class will be able to start their Get in the Scrap! project with 5 bonus points. This’ll have your students one step closer to receiving their first prize!
Registrants will receive details on how to sign up for the project and curriculum materials. Space is limited—sign up today!
What’s new?
Is that the Brady Bunch? No, just students from Lincoln Middle School pledging to make a difference in their school and community!
If you’re a returning classroom, we have three new activities and brand new prizes that’ll have your students wanting to do more to rack up their points. Our new activities are a game of Jeopardy, the creation of a Memory Jar to track progress and daily happenings during your class’ time with the project, and a Water Bottle Bank that is a build-up to the Water Bottle 100 Challenge. It will have your students’ brains churning about how a plastic water bottle can serve more than 1 use. Each of these new Get in the Scrap! activities incorporates key themes including teamwork, writing, and creativity.
Make sure to share your students’ progress with the Museum via the hashtag #getinthescrap and your class could be featured as the Get in the Scrap! Classroom of the Month, which will be highlighted in the monthly e-newsletter and this blog!
Want more?
Keep track of all things Get in the Scrap! by following the hashtag #getinthescrap on Instagram and Twitter. Also, sign up for the Museum’s monthly e-newsletter “Calling All Teachers!” for the latest Get in the Scrap! news and project updates. We’re looking forward to year two and to see how your student scrappers will enthusiastically complete the project!
Post by Camille Weber, Education Intern and Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
The school year has officially reached a close, and with that came the end to the first year of The National WWII Museum’s Get in the Scrap! service learning program on May 31. This project, which took each school about 1 to 3 months to complete, focused on the importance of recycling and conserving energy today through explanation of why scrapping was so important on the Home Front during the World War II era. This program offered students from fourth to eighth grade a parallel to the lives of students their age during the war.
Get in the Scrap! called students to save items like water bottles and pennies as well as encouraged them to read primary sources about school salvage drives to collect rubber, steel, plastic, and paper on the American Home Front. These items were used to create weapons, supplies, and other necessities that the soldiers required to fight in both the European and Pacific Theaters. Some students who participated in Get in the Scrap! took a creative approach to the scrapping effort by decorating light switch plates and crafting with their left over water bottles.
Others found their competitive sides in a Penny War, which was one of the most popular activities for the schools. The Penny War is a one-week long competition to see which class could save the most pennies, and at the end of the week they could donate their savings to a charity of their choice or invest in purchasing new recycling bins for their school. At LT Ball Intermediate School in Tipp City, Ohio, the students who completed the Penny War donated their savings to the Honor Flight, which is a non-profit organization that helps veterans travel to Washington, D.C. to visit memorials and monuments dedicated to their service.
Overall, Get in the Scrap! had a positive impact on all of the participants. Many teachers reported back that their classes had become more environmentally aware. Some even took what they had learned and applied it outside of the classroom by asking their parents to buy recycle bins for their homes. Other teachers said that this project significantly drew their students’ interest to World War II history. Chesapeake Academy had a WWII veteran come in a speak with the students about life both the Home Front and battlefronts during the war.
Get in the Scrap! will pick up again with the new school year this coming September. You’ll find more photos and successes of our students who participated this past year using the hashtag #getinthescrap on Twitter or Instagram. Sign up for the Museum’s monthly e-newsletter “Calling all Teachers!” for the latest Get in the Scrap! news and project updates.
Post by Camille Weber, Education Intern and Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Today is Earth Day, and it’s all about going green! During World War II, going green wasn’t just about saving the environment, but helping out on the Home Front. Recycling, called scrapping back then, and conserving materials, could mean the difference between defeat or victory over the Axis!
Here at The National WWII Museum, we think that every lesson in recycling and going green can also be a lesson in history! That’s why we started the Get in the Scrap! project for middle school classrooms. Inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during WWII, Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project for students in grades 4-8 all about recycling and energy conservation. Your students have the power to affect positive change on the environment; much like students 70 years ago played a positive role on the Home Front in securing victory in WWII. It’s the perfect addition to your Earth Day celebrations!
We currently have 110 classrooms, 3,723 students from 34 states registered. Here are some of the awesome project updates teachers have sent us:
Journey Home School students creating their own cootie catchers to teach their friends about recycling.
Doesn't matter how young you are, you can pledge to make a difference!
Mooresville Middle School Students proudly display that they finished the project. They are the first official Get in the Scrap! School.
Gilchrist Elementary students know how to reuse a plastic water bottle-- make it a pretty flower vase!
A Chesapeake Academy student showing off his recycling brochure.
A student from John Ehret High School in New Orleans pledging to recycling soda cans
Want your students to join the fun? Sign up today at http://getinthescrap.org/toolkit/! The project officially closes for this school year on May 31st, so you have well over a month to complete activities and earn points and prizes. Here are some great Earth Day activities to get you started:
Design and Install Switch Plates (8 points): Saving energy is as easy as flipping a switch! So why do so many of us leave the lights on when we’re not in a room? Let’s fix that problem by making eye catching light switch plates to remind us to turn the lights off when we aren’t using them.
Scrap Catchers (8 points): Whether you call them cootie catchers or fortune tellers, this paper origami activity can teach your students about recycling and energy conservation through fun and games.
Daily Recycling Facts (12 points): Take your Get in the Scrap! journey from Earth Day to the end of the school year! There’s no better way to get in the habit of getting in the scrap than learning a little about recycling and energy conservation each day. Spend 50 days in your classroom revealing a new recycling fact. We’ll provide the first 25 facts, but then it’s up to your students to research and find their own. Perfect as a bell ringer activity.
Post by Katie Atkins, Education Intern and Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
How many ways can you reuse a plastic water bottle? That is the latest challenge students are tackling in the Get in the Scrap! service learning project. Americans alone go through 50 billion plastic bottles a year, and only 23% of those are recycled.
In the Water Bottle 100 Challenge, students are tasked with thinking of 100 different ways bottles can be repurposed, and are responsible for actually designing and fabricating 10 of these ideas. We’ve received some creative and rather ingenious solutions! Kudos, Hamlin Academy students from Illinois (whose water bottle creations are below)! Adopting these ideas may mean less recyclables in landfills across the US.
Cootie catchers have been a favorite game of students for generations. All you need is a folded piece of paper and you can tell your friend’s fortune. In addition to revealing someone’s potential future, it’s the perfect game to learn about recycling and energy conservation. Students at Mooresville Middle School in North Carolina are customizing their Scrap Catchers and testing the knowledge of their peers.
These are just two of the many fun activities part of the Get in the Scrap! Service Learning Project. The project is a modern-day interpretation of the scrapping efforts across the country during WWII. Today’s students have the power to affect positive change on the environment, much like students 70 years ago played a positive role on the Home Front in securing victory in World War II. Sign up your class, complete fun activities, share your progress with the Museum, and win great prizes for your students! There’s still plenty of time left to participate! The project officially ends for this school year on May 31st.
