The attached is a handout to teach our school's green building, and students were asked to write about their favorite and least favorite aspect of our school's green building.

Green Buildings.pdf

Students' responses

Windows:

Ÿ   My favorite aspect of green building is the large windows. They can introduce sunlight and help with ventilation.

Ÿ   Large windows not only make the classrooms cooler and brighter, but also make our classrooms look more energetic. When my friends come to our school, they always feel jealous of us.

Plants and Insects:

Ÿ   We have many trees, flowers and different landscaping. However, they attract a lot of bugs and wireworms, especially on a hot summer day or after raining.

Ÿ   My favorite part is the green plants all over the campus. Each kind of plant is special. I also like the flower which has scent. Walking in the school which is full of youthful vigor, I feel so happy and lucky.

Ÿ   I like that there are lots of trees and flowers in our school. You can see different flowers around the year.

Drains:

Ÿ   My least favorite aspect is the drains along the corridor and the stairs. They can’t solve the problem of rainwater. Instead, trash and dirt pile up there. It makes cleaning really hard.

Ÿ   The drains on the hallways are not useful enough. We often see the drains not working properly on rainy days.

Ecological Pool:

Ÿ   My favorite place is the pool which is surrounded by many creatures. But I suggest that we put a sign and write “no trash” on it.

Ÿ   I think our ecological pool is my least favorite part in our school. It is too dirty. The water lacks circulation. I think we should add the gap and take away the rocks that block the flowing.

Ÿ   In our school, my favorite part is the ecological pool. It was so beautiful when I first came here. I had never seen any other school with a pool like this, but now, my least favorite part is it, too. The water becomes so dirty. We should let the water flow and clean the garbage, or the green pool will become a dirty pool.

Restroom:

Ÿ   I like the restroom. It is ventilative so it won’t have a bad smell. However, the latticed wall let in too much cold air in winter, and we may find a way to cut cold air like installing windows so that we can control the circulation.

Ÿ   My favorite aspect of green building in our school is the restroom. Because one of its walls is made of hollow bricks, it allows wind to go through it, keeping the restroom cool and windy in summer. However, the shortcoming of the restroom is that the cold wind would freeze your buttocks in winter.

Ÿ   The ventilation of restroom is important. I had deep experience on it. My junior high school is not a green building and sometimes there is a bad smell in the restroom. Also, good ventilation will make the wet floor dry fast.

Terrace:

Ÿ   I think the terrace beside our classroom is great because it has a clear canopy. Sunlight can pass through it and brighten the corner. But it is also inconvenient since the passageway gets wet every time it rains.

Gym:

Ÿ   My least favorite part of green building in our school is the gym. It’s warm in winter but it’s really hot and humid in summer. Maybe open all the windows will be better, but they are too high to open and close.

Library:

Ÿ   Library is my favorite part of our school, but it’s really dark and hot inside. With the blueprint, the architect said that sunshine would come inside and that it would be bright in the library. Actually, it seems to be impossible. Almost the whole library is under the shading of senior high department, and it makes sunshine hard to get inside. The position of the library makes it disadvantageous.

Sink:

Ÿ   Every classroom has its own sink and we can clean our mop there. The school designs the sink to recycle the water to wash our mop, but we don’t have a stopper to keep our water. Maybe the school should give us a stopper. In this way, we will make sure to recycle waste water.