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Environmental Education at TCS: Young Scientists at Work and Play
The following story is submitted by Mr. Will Hudson, our TCS K-8 Science and Outdoor/Environmental Education Teacher. Mr. Hudson provides class lessons and project support in the physical and biological sciences, trips to the woods, and STEAM activities.
A recurring theme in the lives and careers of great scientists and thinkers, past and present, is a deep and lasting connection with nature. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Suzanne Simmard, E.O. Wilson, George Washington Carver—their writings brim with wonder, connection, and love for the natural world. Their experiences in nature, as children, created the living soil of inspiration for their questions, observations, and discoveries as adults.
In that spirit, environmental education at TCS develops and interweaves the threads of:
Awareness of, and connection to, nature.
Understanding of natural systems and communities
Opportunities for children to explore, ask questions, and discover meaningful pathways for learning.
A dramatic change in the weather, a found object, a passage in a book or field guide — across grade levels, these strands of curiosity and inquiry are woven into a tapestry of respect, value, and love for the natural world that, with nurturing and care, will last a lifetime.
Seeing, Sorting, Sequencing
In Kindergarten / First Grade we began the year by talking about trees. We asked questions about trees, discussed how they grow and change, and looked for evidence of their different stages of life. We observed seeds nibbled by squirrels, and ruts left by bark beetles in a rotten log.
We estimated and counted the number of trees in our outdoor space (including saplings), went on leaf and seed hunts in the park, sorted leaves by shape and size, and made leaf and bark rubbings. Students sequenced pictures to tell the story of the life cycle of a tree and described how different animals use trees for a home and a place to find food. We even used leaves to make the walls of a shelter we built with sticks and branches brought back from a Middle Level stewardship day at Bemis Woods.
Recently, our daily read aloud, “Naturally Curious Day By Day” led to questions about rodents - “What is a rodent? Is a raccoon a rodent? What about a deer?” To answer these questions, students sorted pictures of common animals in our area and their skulls (with a focus on the teeth) into “rodent” and “not rodent” groups.
Experiencing Nature Through a Different Lens
This year, in 2nd/3rd grade we pretended to be alien scientists from a distant world bereft of the rich diversity of life we enjoy here on our Earth. Our alien ecologists were tasked with exploring and recording the Earth’s biodiversity to take back and report to their home planet. With pencils and clipboards in hand, students recorded data: counting, drawing, or writing about the variety of living things they encountered around Scoville Park.
As students prepared to return to their home planet with stories of the biodiversity on Earth, they created an extensive list of the different habitats and environments plants and animals inhabit. With support from our art teacher, Naomi Martinez, students planned, sketched, and painted a mural of our “Beautiful Home” and used field guides to research and inform their illustrations of the animals and plants that populated their mural (which was on display during our solstice breakfast and continues to live in our art studio.)
In between our field investigations, we played different “animal form” games like “Heron Steals the Fish,” where students assumed the form and habits of different predators attempting to steal a fish from an unlucky otter. Not only do these games tap into child passions of acting and pretending, running, leaping, sneaking, and the challenge of stealing the ‘fish’, they also create pathways to connection with the lives and habits of the animals they imitate.
Going Deeper, Hunting for Clues
4th/5th graders both recently completed animal “Wanted” posters, which were featured in conjunction with the 2nd/3rd-grade mural during our winter solstice celebration and can be found on display throughout our school library.
4th graders began with a field guide scavenger hunt to find different animals based on characteristic and adaptation clues, such as how they move and what they “wear.” As students encountered different animals fitting these categories, they narrowed their focus down to just one they wanted to share and encourage people to be on the lookout for.
5th graders’ posters were inspired by the duckweed covering Thatcher Pond during our kayaking trip at the beginning of the school year. Students used magnifiers and dichotomous keys to identify aquatic macro-invertebrates living out their lives in samples brought back from the pond. Students then chose an organism to research, illustrate, and share with others.
Everyone completed at least two drafts of their poster illustrations. After each draft, students improved their poster utilizing feedback and suggestions such as: “Look more closely at the coloration on the copperhead’s scales, notice the shape of the ears on the mountain goat, the digging claws on the naked mole rat…” In each iteration, students enhanced both their drawings, and their connection to their selected animal, by incorporating increasingly discreet details.
What's Our Goal?
Our most renowned scientists (many of whom also poets) were lovers of nature. The scientific method may have guided their work, but it was love that inspired them to pay attention, ask questions, and do the hard work of careful observation. TCS takes an approach to environmental education that seeks to instill a love and enthusiasm for the natural world students can carry with them into future pursuits and throughout the rest of their lives. ###
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