Nature Education in our Classrooms
Toddlers
In the Toddler classrooms, students have been working in the outdoor environment gardens – planting and weeding. They have begun learning the names of types of animals and plants. They also enjoy practical life activities in the classroom, such as watering and caring for plants, as well as feeding fish. One of our Toddler classrooms is even home to bullfrog tadpoles in the final stages of their metamorphosis (which can take up to 2 years to make the transformation!).
Children’s House
In our Children’s House classrooms, students have been working in the outdoor environment gardens – planting and weeding. Campus walks are a big part of our nature curriculum for Children’s House. Our Dual Language classes have enjoyed nature walks where they have begun learning the names of animals and plants in Spanish.
The children have also planted native host plants such as milkweed, lemon balm, and fennel which are the only plants where the monarch, white peacock, and swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs. Caterpillars are essential nutrition for nestlings. Bird parents have been recorded feeding over 700 larvae to their chicks in a single day! To support the birds who make their homes on our campus, a classroom parent generously made birdhouse kits for our children to assemble. In order to have diverse ecosystems we need to provide native host plants and safe nesting sites.
Elementary
Our Elementary classrooms have been busy with outdoor projects this month. Our Mulberry Lower Elementary classroom inoculated a log with mushroom spores and the students have been caring for them with frequent watering. In the classroom, they have been learning about the body parts and functions of mushrooms to support this project. The Redbud Lower Elementary class also worked hard to remove invasive plant species from our grounds. Both classes recently moved their outdoor environment to the Susquehanna Village, and they are preparing their raised garden beds for summer planting. Upper Elementary students have been working to identify species of plants and animals on campus.
Adolescents
Adolescent students are currently beginning a study of climate change, which will culminate in a mock climate summit that is open to the community as an Igniting Voice event on May 25th.
Additionally, one of our Adolescent students was inspired to create a rain garden on campus. He coordinated with his peers to purchase and plant many new native species on the north side of campus. These trees, shrubs, and flowering plants will provide water retention and filtration, as well as essential habitat to native species. We are looking forward to seeing the rain garden grow and flourish in years to come. Thank you to our Adolescents for taking on this big work!
