As part of the winter term’s extracurricular activities, SNG students were made aware about environment

During the 1st and 2nd periods, students took a lesson on environmental issues.
Beginner-level students watched a video titled “Understanding Environmental Problems in 5 Minutes – Let’s Protect the Future of Our Planet Together” as a learning tool. Intermediate and advanced-level students watched an educational video from NHK High School Course and answered quiz questions based on it.

Let us introduce the activities of the beginner foundational class during periods 1 and 2.
After watching the “Understanding Environmental Problems in 5 Minutes – Let’s Protect the Future of Our Planet Together” video, students learned new vocabulary. The teacher explained clearly words such as “Earth, living creatures, future”, “global warming, air pollution, marine pollution”, and students practiced pronouncing them with accurate and clear articulation.

They also studied verb conjugations. The teacher used gestures while throwing and picking up paper trash to help illustrate the verbs: sutemasu (throw away), sutemasen (don’t throw away), sutemashita (threw away), sutemasen deshita (didn’t throw away), sutemashou (let’s throw away) and hiroimasu (pick up), hiroimasen (don’t pick up), hiroimashita (picked up), hiroimasen deshita (didn’t pick up), hiroimashou (let’s pick up). This helped make the lesson more accessible.

Students also rapidly learned vocabulary directly related to environmental issues such as the Arctic, the Antarctic, rising sea levels, extreme heat, heavy rainfall, submersion, factories, and more. Additionally, they learned how to sort garbage and about garbage collection days in different regions.

In the afternoon, we observed the Intermediate Foundation Afternoon Class during their 1st and 2nd periods.

 First, they watched a video introducing Mr. Nariaki Yazawa, a representative of a social welfare organization. The video introduced the monthly cleanup activities by the Waseda University Rotary Club. Around Takadanobaba Station’s rotary area, large amounts of trash accumulate due to public drinking and smoking. The video showed university students volunteering to clean the area. The group is currently considering installing SmaGo trash bins. These solar-powered, self-sufficient bins automatically compress garbage when full, preventing overflow. The initiative aims to create an environment that discourages littering.

Following this, students watched another video from the NHK High School Course and answered a quiz. They learned about permafrost, greenhouse gases, deforestation, and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
Finally, students shared their opinions on what individuals can do to protect the Earth’s environment.

During the 4th period, all classes participated in a garbage collection activity around the school to help clean the local area.

After this “Environment Day”, 70% of students said they were glad to have had the opportunity to learn about environmental issues.