Panasonic Student Eco Citizenship Project
Saving the planet, one student at a time
How do we create a new generation of environmentally conscious citizens? We believe the answer is help students take real-world actions that will create a more sustainable future.
A hands-on eco experience for New Jersey students
The Panasonic Student Eco Citizenship Project opens a window for 4th-8th grade middle school students to explore Eco issues, discover how others are helping create a sustainable environment, and make the positive impact they want to have. As these middle school students become active participants in preserving the world, they’ll develop skills in literacy, research, critical thinking and problem-solving.
Since launching in 2008 in Japan, this program has spread worldwide, reaching the U.S. in 2015. Last year, over 5,400 New Jersey students took part, with the highest participation coming from Jersey City, Newark and Paterson. The program is held in collaboration with the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning.
How it works
The Student Eco Citizenship Project offers classrooms a five-lesson, project-based learning experience that’s aligned with Common Core Standards. By the end, students will create an illustrated Eco Picture Diary to highlight five specific eco actions they completed. Once they’ve submitted their final projects to the Panasonic Eco Picture Diary Contest, they’ll be judged on their understanding of issues, the actions they took, supporting evidence and illustrations, and their writing.
Students must participate as teams of 3 or 4. Contest entry is open from January 2, 2018 to April 27, 2018. We anticipate judging will be completed around June 1 with awards given out in late June.
A chance to win statewide recognition and prizes
Winners will be invited to Panasonic headquarters in Newark, NJ, as special VIP guests for the day, where they’ll attend an awards lunch and get a tour of our Innovation Center. Each of the students on the winning teams (and their teacher) will receive a Panasonic product prize.
Making an impact on both teachers and students
Since starting the Student Eco Citizenship Project, we’ve heard a lot of great things from teachers:
Students, too, are getting a new perspective on the earth and their relationship to it:
Sample topics that students have explored
Virtually any environmental subject can work as an Eco Diary. Last year students created projects on over 70 different topics, including:
Air pollution Irrigation
Animal testing Fossil fuels
Bees Light pollution
Climate change Plastic bags
Compost energy Polar bears
Deforestation Overfishing
E-waste Styrofoam
Invasive species Water recycling
How to get projects off the ground
Engaging students is easy if you follow some simple steps:
- Review the Panasonic Student Eco Citizenship website.
- Become familiar with each project step, and allow time for students to complete all lessons and submit a complete Eco Picture Diary. Submission information can be found on the project website.
- Visit Panasonic’s website to learn more about how we’re engaged as global environmental citizens. This will give you and your students some great ideas.
- Be sure students save ALL work they complete during each lesson. They will need to refer back to information captured during previous steps as they complete their projects.
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