Ms. Natalie MackeEnvironmental Studies Class 2011-2012

Pascack Hills High School, Montvale, New Jersey, USA

Trillium LearningGlobal Language and Culture Project

Built in 1965

A Tour of Pascack Hills High School

Students of the Global Environmental Studies class decided to perform an environmental assessment of our school. Each student chose a different aspect to research.

By Emily V.

INRO – by Emily V Paper Use – Emily ITurf Field - Kyle G Recycling - AlexWildlife – Justin N Recycling in Kitchen - AliciaComputer Use – Chrissy M Lighting - BillyCarpooling – Christine Stormwater – Jared Solid Waste – Anthony Water Use – Dylan

Heating - Darren

Building Information Two floors.

Three wings.

Main lobby.

Cafeteria.

Two gyms.

Theatre.

Turf Field.

Baseball Fields.

Tennis Courts.By Emily V.

Student Body 808 Students: 417

male, 391 female

9th- 199, 10th- 196, 11th- 211, 12th-202

Ethnic Groups Asian – 77 Black – 10 Hispanic – 40 Multi-racial – 4 White - 677

62 teachers.

13 “swing” teachers between Hills and Valley.

3 administrators.

13 Guidance Counselors

Librarian & Library Clerk

1 nurse & 1 trainer

7 instructional aides

10 secretaries / 12 custodians

Faculty/Administratio

n

Future Students 204 8th graders, most will attend Pascack Hills

A small number will go to private schools

Biannual Blood Drive

December and April

Started in the 1970’s

50-60 donors

Blood goes to the Blood Center and distributed to hospitals

Must be 16 years old and have parent permission. 17 and 18 year olds do not need parent permission.

Community Service Activities

Teens Against Cancer

About 120 members

One of the largest clubs of our school

Relay for Life annual event Event to raise money and

awareness about cancer Our team raised over

$30,000

Community Service Activities

Our Turf Field

Turf is instead of dirt and grass the field is made with recycled shredded tires silica sand and synthetic fibers for grass.

Is it environmentally friendly?Yes, By using this field our school saves about 56,000 gallons of water a year. We don’t need to use fertilizer or pesticides less gas is used because no mowing or seeding is needed

Our manufacturer.

Darren Gil VP of marketing at FieldTurf informed me that the installation process takes about 18 day. Our Field

Kyle

InterviewMr Shields Biology Teacher

 Information from Interview: We found out that there is an abundance of wildlife through out the back woods of Pascack Hills . Also that the tree’s in the courtyard that effect the bird population need to be dealt with either by eliminating them entirely or by switching them for a different type that won’t cause them to fly into windows.

Wildlife SurveyNov 31, 2011

Investigate if the school had an impact on the wildlife in the surrounding area.

Justin

Survey

Mourning Dove

Downy Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

House Finch

American Robin

House Sparrow

Blue Jay

American Crow

Gray Squirrel

Chipmunk

Unidentified

Red tailed hawk

Squirrel nest

Geese Date

6 4 2 6 5 3 5 2 7 1 8 1 9 3211/30/11

Birds Killed By the cherry tree in the courtyard.

3 Blue-jays 16-18 Robins 2 Flickers 1 Red-headed Woodpeckers 1 Starling

Computer an Projector Energy Use Survey

The amount of electricity used when someone charges their laptop for a full period is 221.3 watts. This means that in period one, the school used 4,800 watts of power and in period eight they used 6,000 watts of power.

This can be fixed by students charging their laptops at home.

Chrissy

Computer Survey

Chrissy

Projector Survey

Chrissy

Projector Survey When a projector is on it uses 212 watts of energy.

This means that during period one, teachers used 11,872 watts of energy and during period eight, teachers used 6,784 watts of energy.

When a projector is on sleep it uses 110 watts of energy. This means that during period one teachers used 1,320 watts of energy and during period eight, teachers used 880 swatts of energy.

This energy problem can be fixed by teachers turning off their projector completely or modifying the amount of time they use it.

Chrissy

Less Cars = Cleaner Environment

Christine

Carpools

The questions I had before doing studies was how many students carpool to and from school everyday.

By carpooling, you are helping the environment in various ways. Less gas will be used, less harmful fuel emissions will go into our atmosphere, and less traffic in the morning. This also creates less stress and a more safe environment.

PHHS CarpoolingPHHS has implicated a senior carpool system that has reduced the amount of cars driving to and from school every day.

Students in PHHS 808

Seniors who carpool with other Seniors

48

Underclassmen carpools 244

Seniors and underclassmen carpools

Approx. 20

Seniors who carpool were guaranteed a spot in the parking lot, while student who chose not to carpool had no guarantee for a spot.

Anthony

Myself and 5 other classmates during our last period class went outside with all the garbage

from lunch and sorted through them. We wanted to see if students in our school were recycling. We

made 5 different piles: Plastic, Paper, Cans, Styrofoam, and Garbage.

Investigation of Solid Waste

Plastic

Cans

Paper

Garbage

Percentage by mass

Objective: Investigate the amount of copy paper used by faculty and administration at PHHS

Why Recycle Paper Conserves resources.

Prevents emissions of greenhouse gases/water pollutants.

Saves energy.

Supplies valuable raw materials to industries.

Reduces need for landfills and burning waste materials.

Completes cycle of reduce, reuse, recycle.

Counted Paper Data Data Room Boxes Reams

11/28/11 Teachers Lounge 25 5

12/2/11 21 13

11/28/11 Main Office 1 6

12/2/11 1 5

11/28/11 Child Study Team 5 4

12/2/11 3 4

11/28/11 Guidance 3 5

12/2/11 3 5

1 box contains = 8 reams of paper

Data Room Boxes Reams

12/7/11 Teachers Lounge 17 3

12/9/11 20 7

12/7/11 Main Office 1 4

1 3

12/7/11 Child Study Team 3 6

12/9/11 2 5

12/7/11 Guidance 3 4

12/9/11 3 2

DataAnalysis

Room Reams Used 11/28 – 12/9

Pieces Paper Used11/28 – 12/9

Teachers Lounge 66 33,000

Main Office 2 1000

Child Study Team

14 7,000

Guidance 3 1500

Between November 28th and December 2nd, the amount of paper and reams did not change that much. The only day that there was an increase in the number of reams was in the Teachers Lounge and the Guidance office.

The school used 85 reams of paper in two weeks. Since each ream contains 500 sheets. Therefore, the school used 42,500 pieces of paper in a two week period. Therefore, approximately 5 pieces of paper are used per student per day.

Before After

Later

Our class recycled our newspaper

Statistics 2, 041 pounds. solid waste (trash thrown away by 444 people in a single day). 

6,981 pounds emissions (carbon sequestered by 81 tree saplings grown for 10 years).

23 min BTU’s energy (enough to power average American household for 93 days).

33, 622 gallons water (enough to take 1,955 eight-minute showers).

23,025 pounds of wood (74 trees that supply oxygen for 37 people annually).

Objective: What are our recycling efforts in Pascack Hills High School?

What are our recycling efforts in

our school?

Each Classroom Has A Recycling Can for Paper

Each Hallway, except for the Science wing, has a Recycling Can for bottles:

(Plastic, Glass, Styrofoam)

Recycling Efforts… At the end of each day the cans are emptied by the

janitors.

The cans, paper, and anything else that can be recycled are put into a large bin.

The bin is then picked up by the waste management company the school has hired

Recycling in Our School CafeteriaInterview of one of the cafeteria ladies, Chris.

The amount food made in our cafeteria depends on what the food is going to be for that day. Left overs can be reheated the next day. They are allowed to reheat the food ONE time only.

After the food cannot be reheated the ladies working in the cafeteria just throw it out or give it to the custodians.

In our cafeteria we use a lot of oil but we recycle it. We put all the oil in one bin and a guy comes to collect the oil and takes it to be recycled.

Our Cafeteria recycles a lot of items and they do this by collecting all recyclables in a bin in the kitchen and then a lady takes it outside to the bigger recycling bin.

Facts Gathered:

Alicia

Lighting Objective: To compare the different types of lights

and see energy usage with the lights

T-12 Fluorescent Light Bulb

•Diameter of 1 1/2 inches

•Usually bi-pin

•Doesn’t require a starter

•Available in a variety of lengths such as 15 inch, 18 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch and 48 inch

By: Billy

T-8 Fluorescent Light Bulb

•In process of replacing T-12

•1 inch diameter

•More energy efficient and gives off more light than T-12

•Available in variety of lengths such as 12 inch, 15 inch and 18 inch

Lighting in SchoolData Collected

GuidanceOffices

Library

Lighting 30 49

Amperes 2.5 21.5

Fluorescent light bulbs

T-8

T-12

Jared

Our Storm Drain Locations Our storm drain

locations are in great spots

We have around 5 storm drains throughout the school grounds

When it rains the water flows right to one of the drains

The only problem with our storm drains is that erosion is effecting where the water flows

Our Environment We are located on a hill

We encounter 4 seasons

We have a couple big storms every year Ex: rain/snow storms

Erosion The erosion is causing the rain water to not lead

to the storm drains

This will create problems for our school because the storm drains are not collecting water.

We have to take care of our environment or else we will have to spend a good amount of money to repair everything.

Why the school’s landscapingdoesn’t properly drain

stormwater During Football games many people don’t walk on paths.

Therefore, this creates eroded areas for stormwater to drain improperly.

Storm drains become clogged with leaves and other debris.

We do not treat out school resources with respect

Jared

Purpose For Data Our class planned on

discovering how much water is used in the school

Variables used in experiments included Dripping sinks Number of sinks and

toilets Empty water bottles in

the trash

In conclusion, our class wanted to discover if there was a way to conserve water usage.

Dylan

Bathroom

Toilets Urinals Sinks Seconds Volume (mL)

Dripping

Boy’sBathroom (Lobby)

2 3 3 5 each 190230180

None

Men’s Faculty

1 2 2 5 each 500375

None

Boy’s Bathroom (Math Wing)

2 5 4 5 each 200250200100

None

Girls (Band Room)

3 0 3 5.362.252.35

240300375

Yes only one

Girls (English Wing)

3 0 2 5.032.15

550375

None

Girls Bathroom (Lobby)

5 0 4 6.56.66.56.4

275250245200

None

Dylan

New Bathrooms

Average Flow Rate: 224.28 mL

Old Bathrooms

Average Flow Rate: 315 mL

Dylan

HVAC- Heating- Ventilation-Air Conditioning

Darren

Heating Devices

Hot water boilers - The heating ion the school comes from Hot water boilers that are heated by gas, the water is ran through a coil heating the air around it as it passes by being pushed throughout the school.

By: Darren

Becoming an energy efficient school.

Replacing old Windows with new ones to prevent leaks through the windows.

Insulation of Rooms, to keep the heat in.

Replacing Air Filters, with new cleaner ones.

New Vs. Old RoomsRoom Window

Window Frame

Wall Door

Conf. Room(N

ew)59 oC 60oC 72oC 71oC

Science(Old) 50oC 45oC 72oC 68oC

* TEMPERATURE Measured using

Infared Thermometer

• AVERAGE Barometric Pressure= 30.14579841

• AVERAGE Wind Speed= 3.975757576

• We tested to see how well the new windows verse the old windows were with leakage of heat and energy.