Every year, Joan Wright-Albertini leads her first-grade students in transforming their classroom into a virtual rainforest, a desert, or an ocean -- whatever ecosystem interests her students the most. In recent years, she has also added to the months-long study of habitats an unusual, daring twist. Students come to class one day to find their ecosystem covered in a messy "oil spill." Deciding they want to do something about the situation, students join hands and clean up the mess on their own. View these poignant photos of the experience that deepens both the students' understanding of nature and belief in their ability to care for it.
