At the Yew Chung International School of Beijing, we believe an integral piece to global citizenship is environmental stewardship. This week, in honor of Earth Day and April 22 and the school’s annual Science Week, Primary School students learned about a variety of Endangered Species on an intercontinental and international scale.

In addition to impactful lessons explaining the importance of protecting endangered species and the environment, students in Primary School had the opportunity to create 3D models of various endangered animals from six different continents. On Friday, a massive world map was unfurled on one of the school’s playgrounds and all of the endangered animals created by student groups were displayed across the world. Students also got to celebrate the end of the week by dressing up as their favorite animals! It was the capstone to a both a fun-filled and highly educational week of science.

Thanks to the efforts of all our little fundraisers, students raised 4000 RMB to adopt over 20 endangered animals. Well done!

Chris Marsh, Year 4 Co-teacher and science committee leader, explained the week’s important mission and how hands-on science projects like these greatly enhance student development.

What is the mission of this annual school event?

The purpose for us, in the science committee, is to really try and make science fun and engaging. Quite often, Science in school is seen more as a chore than an adventure; many people believe that science is boring, full of math, and difficult. We strive to show that Science doesn’t fall into those stereotypes, and that science really can be hands on, engaging, and exciting.

What did students learn?

The students learned about the cause and effect of man’s influence on our environment. We would like the students to also become aware of the problems that many animals are facing, why they are facing these issues, and what we can do to protect them in the future. We would love to see this next generation of students take away from this week empathy and understanding towards the problem, inspiring them to do a better job of protecting all living things than our predecessors did.

This Endangered Species theme ties in with all year groups in Primary School. Each year level, to varying degrees, learns about living things, nature, plants, animals, etc. However, this event also offers a tremendous opportunity to tie in not only science but also learning how to do research, how to write informative texts and non-fiction, and much more.

What specific “soft skills” did this event instill in students?

This week strengthened a variety of important “soft skills.” Students began the week by thinking critically about the cause and effect of people on nature, using those problem-solving and creativity skills in creating their own 3D models of their chosen animals. They also worked on their communication and collaborative skills within groups while researching and building their animal models. Their problem solving skills helped them to find solutions to problems that arose while building their models, learning to adapt when they didn’t have what they needed.

Read more about our recent Secondary School Science Week by clicking here.