July 29
In the morning we arrived at Crown Street Public School around 10:30ish. We met the principal John Croker when we first arrived. We then learned about how the elementary (primary) school integrated sustainability into their curriculum from a teacher named Jeremy. Somethings that the school has done to teach about sustainability is they have a garden that the students planted and manage and they then take the food that the garden produces and cooks food for their class to eat. Another program they have is HSIE- Human society in their environment. The program teaches them about their local government, the global environment, and about current issues. They have a specialty unit every term of the school year and this term the unit is on electricity, they are doing this activity that is called Watch Our Watts. The activity teaches the kids about how much electricity the use and how to save energy.
Front of Crown Street Public School
We then went on a tour of the school with Peter. We got to see the playgrounds and were their garden is. On one of the buildings they have a solar panel on the roof that powers the water pump for the school. They school also has rain tanks to collect rain water. Peter told us that because the school was built so long ago and has historic value they are not allowed to alter it too much.
School Garden
After the tour we split up into to groups and went into two different classrooms and went into two classrooms. While in the classrooms we watched a short film on Bangladesh and sustainability with the students. When the video was over we filled out a sheet on sustainability with the students. While filling the sheet out we showed the kids some American Money and the kids were fascinated. Over all the students enjoyed our visit with them.
Kids doing Sport on Playground
Later on in the day at 3:30 we went over to Parsons Brickerhoff, an American owned company. Parsons Brickerhoff is a global company that employes 18,000 workers all over the world. One project that the Sydney branch is working on, that we got a presentation on is the transportation of CO2. CO2 can be transported by three ways by railway, pipelines, and by truck. All of these options have their advantages and their disadvantages. Trucking is the cheapest mode of transportation but it gives off the most CO2. Pipelines gives off the least amount of CO2 but it is very expensive to build the pipelines. The company is trying to figure out what the best for Australia to transport their CO2 to other places in the most sustainable way.
Entrance To Parsons Brickerhoff
Paige Sienkiewicz
Australia 2011-Sustainable Food, Environment and Social Systems 
I was so excited to spend my first day in Sydney. The children at the school were so sweet and I loved hearing their views on environmental issues. Sydney is such a beautiful city. I love how diverse the land is and how busy it is as well. Today I noticed that I spent alot of time comparing Sydney to Broken Hill ( a rural town in New South Wales ) .I think it’s really cool how two places can be so different when they are located in the same country.
Before the tour, our first speaker at Crown Street Public School told the group that the school had not done much toward environmental sustainability, especially compared to other schools. Therefore I was not expecting rainwater tanks, solar panels, student gardens and energy saving initiatives! If what we saw today wasn’t fostering an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, then Americans have no chance in catching up to our friends down-under. I don’t know of any public K-12 schools in my area that have any of these features. Learning about how to properly respect and treat the environment is one thing, but going through the motions is another; children learn by example. Kudos to Crown Street Public School!
I love and miss you twin!!! Looks like you’re having a blast and I can’t wait to hear all about it ❤
I agree with Andy Masud! It sounds like this school has taken great measures in the area of environmental sustainability and is teaching its children well by modeling desired values.
I also agree with you Andy, I found it very interesting to see that the CSPS had incorporated so many aspects of the curriculum that were being focused towards sustainability even though that was not one of the main topics of study for the students at this school. I was very interested to hear that they are attempting to implement a series of education tactics such as HSIE (Human Sustainability and its environment), Environmental Sustainability Awareness, and the Kitchen / Garden program. I was also shocked to hear that the school was granted an original A$5000 for the funding for the kitchen garden program and that upon further development the CSPS was able to apply and be granted a A$50,000 grant from the Australian government to further these practices and enhance the instruction of sustainability to the students attending this school!