COLUMBIA, Miss. (WDAM) – Students at Columbia Elementary School are wrapping up a whole semester of project-based learning about subjects like conservation and the environment.

Students have been working on creative projects to boost group learning and critical thinking skills.

“All grade levels, grades three through five, have small units that culminate in a larger unit to where it’s cohesive throughout our school,” said Danielle Whittington, a literacy and project-based learning teacher at Columbia Elementary School.

“So, third grade is doing natural disasters, fourth grade did animals in their environments and habitats and fifth grade focused on oceans.”

Students have made things like a turtle from plastic bottles, a tornado from cotton balls and floor mats from plastic grocery bags.

“We had to come together and make one big thing,” said Bailee Robinson, a fifth-grade student at the school.

The projects were on display as part of an end-of-year project-learning celebration Thursday.

“All together, we’re just learning how to make the world a better place and protect our environment,” said fifth-grade student Jaxen Ball.

The last day of class for Columbia Elementary School is May 28.

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