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The GCMS Ecology Club meets on mondays from 2:50 until 3:45 in Room 110. The focus of the club is environmental education. The year-long program offers engaging hands-on activities, opportunities for relevant discussions, and a number of field trips. Recent yearly themes have been The Wonders of Wetlands, New Jersey's Critical Habitats, and Global Warming.

The GMCS Ecology Club maintains a butterfly garden on the campus of the middle school. Nice weather in the fall and spring finds club members weeding, planting, and cleaning up the garden, which has been recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as a Schoolyard Habitat. The number of Monarch butterflies resting and feeding on our butterfly bushes during their migrations to and from Mexico is always impressive!

In the fall and again in June, Ecology Club members will work in the GCMS Butterfly Garden.

We also have three interesting programs planned for this year. Participate in one, two, or all three.

Our fall environmental education program is "The Importance of Estuaries." During this eight to ten week program, members of the Ecology Club will study the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary System. Two trips will be offered. The first is a beach ecology program at Sandy Hook on September 26th. The second is a NY Water Taxi harbor tour and marine education program sponsored by the DEP and NY/NJ Port Authority on October 7th.
In the winter (January – March), we’ll continue our study of Global Warming with another hands-on, research, letter-writing program, A trip to visit with government officials and talk about the climate change crisis may be offered.
In the spring (April – May), we’ll be studying the role of Nature in Art during an 5 week program of travel and art. We’ll create collages, water colors, and prints using natural objects.

Research Websites and Tutorials: Use the URL below to learn more about Fossil Fuels.

http://www.ecokidsonline.com/pub/eco_info/topics/energy/ecostats/index.cfm

Write to your state and federal representatives about environmental issues. Find state reps at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp

Find federal reps at http://directory.usayfoundation.org/NJ.html

Text Box: "In the end, we will conserve only
what we love. We will love only
what we understand. We will
understand only what we are taught."
Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet