With the support of Sony Pictures’ A Greener World, we challenged students to put together a pitch video to showcase their solution to environmental problems in their communities and beyond. It was incredible to see all the students who managed to work throughout the difficulties presented by stay-at-home orders in response to the coronavirus.

The result? Grades of Green has been overwhelmed by the number of Green Pitch video entries that we received and are even more blown away by all the students who worked so hard! All of the videos showed such great passion and commitment to taking care of our environment. 

It was VERY difficult to narrow it down, but we are pleased to announce the winners!

Winning Teams

The winning student or team will earn an Eco-Grant of $1,000 and two (2) runner-up students or teams will earn $500! All three winners will be able to tour the Sony Pictures Studio Lot and/or watch a live taping of a Sony Pictures production.

Grand Prize Winner: Whitney High School

Whitney High School

Runner Up: Umar from Irvine High School

Irvine High School

Runner Up: Manhattan Beach Middle School

Manhattan Beach Middle School

Finalists Videos

Check out our finalists’ videos below – they were all amazing!

CAMS Hear Club

CAMS Hear Club

Explore Marine Life Team

Explore Marine Life Team

Helen Keller Green Team

Helen Keller Green Team

Irvine SEVA Group

Irvine SEVA Group

Linwood E. Howe Elementary

Linwood E. Howe Elementary

Finding Facts Amidst Fiction

With the amount of information available in the world today, how do we know what claims made about the environment are trustworthy? While some scientific articles, ads, and headlines make claims that seem too good to be true, others make outlandish claims to draw readers in. Fake news published in articles, blogs, and ads have been distributed by organizations and individuals who have interests that benefit from dissuading people from believing in real scientific studies. In recent years, fake news has reached more people than ever before due to social media sharing and information bubbles.

To fight scientific misinformation in the classroom, Andy Zucker and Penny Noyce have developed a “Resisting Scientific Misinformation” curriculum for science teachers who educate 6th – 12th grade students. It’s a free online curriculum program aims to help young students distinguish scientific ‘misinformation’ from reality.

Learn more about it here: https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/02/lessons-on-telling-scientific-fact-from-fiction/

Here are the top 4 ways to fight scientific misinformation in the classroom and beyond:

– Ensure that your news is credible by reading through some citation sources and checking in to see if the piece is an opinion piece or from a blog written by a non-professional. Opinion pieces allow people to state their opinion rather than absolute facts.

– Be aware of claims based on personal stories, people using their status to assert that their opinion is correct, and the phrase “the science is uncertain.”

– Check out these news related tips to see how fake news works and how to be aware of sources that use “truth-stretching” methods. This will help you determine more accurate news sources for what you want to learn!

– Download the Resisting Scientific Misinformation Teacher Guide here at https://tumblehomebooks.org/services/resisting-scientific-misinformation/