To add to the school's art exhibit, "Save the Earth," the students of the fourth grade have made a tree out of recycled materials. It is to show what trees would look like if we didn't look after the world, according to the students.

"The students designed all of the different pieces. I provided guidance regarding how doable their ideas were, but they came up with everything on their own," Leah Bortolin, their teacher, credited them.

She explained how this kind of project could connect with many different subjects that the students follow." We talked a lot about renewable and non-renewable resources in science. We also connected the tree to math by tallying the different materials we used and making different kinds of graphs," she remarked.

The school provided a lot of encouragement for such a large project and was generous in allowing the class to devote a lot of time to working on the tree, said Bortolin.

"The school didn't need to donate any money. All of the materials were donated or found on the street. I think I bought some wire for the skeleton, but otherwise it was all donations," she added.

The class contains 20 students. They are probably the most curious, energetic group of students I know, noted the teacher. "They love to learn by doing, which made the tree even more inviting." The students come from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, France, the United States, England and Holland.