Elementary Environmental Education
Each year the elementary focuses on a central theme during its field biology time. The theme for the 2016-17 school year is "Wisconsin Communities and Ecosystems". Elementary students will be focusing on the driving question of "How do ecosystems work?".
Grade Level Focus: 4K/K: How do we explore our surroundings? 1st: How can humans safely interact with natural systems? 2nd/3rd: How is energy transferred in nature? 4th: How do you make a positive impact on your ecosystem? 5th: How can we provide solutions to unhealthy ecosystems? Our classroom science curriculum as well as our field biology curriculum is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Specific standards for each grade level can be found here. |
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Field Trips
Throughout the year the elementary students participate in off-site field trips to help extend what they are learning about with our field biologist and in their regular science classes.
Mounds View Grasslands
Our second and third grade classes visited Mounds View Grasslands in the fall of this year to visit and to learn about prairies and prairie restoration from members of Prairie Enthusiasts. Students learned about how and why seeds are collected from plants. Students were then given the opportunity to work in pairs to collect seeds from Indiangrass plants across the prairie that would be used to help restore other prairies. In the afternoon students visited Blue Mound State Park, where the third grade classes hiked and practiced using their observational skills to make scientific drawings of plants along the hike. Students then worked to identify plants they drew. On another trail, the second grade class practiced their birding skills with our field biologist.
Our fourth grade is planning to visit Wyalusing State Park in the spring.
Mounds View Grasslands
Our second and third grade classes visited Mounds View Grasslands in the fall of this year to visit and to learn about prairies and prairie restoration from members of Prairie Enthusiasts. Students learned about how and why seeds are collected from plants. Students were then given the opportunity to work in pairs to collect seeds from Indiangrass plants across the prairie that would be used to help restore other prairies. In the afternoon students visited Blue Mound State Park, where the third grade classes hiked and practiced using their observational skills to make scientific drawings of plants along the hike. Students then worked to identify plants they drew. On another trail, the second grade class practiced their birding skills with our field biologist.
Our fourth grade is planning to visit Wyalusing State Park in the spring.
Speakers
As a part of our field program, we have had the opportunity to invite a variety of speakers come in to talk to the students. This provides students the chance to explore new topics and many times provides them with hands-on learning experiences. This year we have had:
- Haddie McLean, meteorologist
Past speakers have included:
- UW- Madison Insect Ambassadors
- Jennifer Redell- Bat Expert from the DNR
- A representative from the Sierra Club
- Haddie McLean, meteorologist
Past speakers have included:
- UW- Madison Insect Ambassadors
- Jennifer Redell- Bat Expert from the DNR
- A representative from the Sierra Club