Back row (L-R): Georgia Meyer, Anna Sluka, Daisy Kanode,
Cammie Harrison, Natalie Staskal, Joana Melchert, Nick Hayek, and Dylan Bonds
Front row (L-R): Piper Grummons, Lillian Koehler, Lynn
Jurgensen, Gracelyn Becker, Archer Kanode, Crosby Oldehoeft, Liam Capek, and
Axel Erdkamp
Science
at the Park
By
Marla Weber (2nd grade instructor) and Lorie Sliefert (7-12 Science
Instructor)
The Exeter-Milligan second grade has been studying about
plants, animals and the interactions of living things. Outdoor Education Day, a
special day designed to culminate this unit, provided these students with a
multitude of activities, experiments, and presentations about nature. Exeter’s
Gilbert Park served as the learning station on Friday, September 27. EM high
school Biology II students presented the teacher-designed centers. The high
school students had developed ideas from topics and packets shared with them a
week prior to the event. Having high school students lead the centers for the
elementary students has many benefits. By using this format, elementary
students receive more time for individualized learning as they rotated between
the centers. Direct interaction between students promoted active learning. High
school students also reinforced their own learning by instructing others.
Centers for Outdoor Ed. Day included Rain, Insects, Tracks, Trees, Birds, Wind,
Water Cycle, Senses and other nature related topics. Each center had been
designed to incorporate hands-on learning activities. Several nature-related
games were played throughout the day, including Bat and Moth, Hug-a-Tree, and a
scavenger hunt. Take-home projects, including ocean in a bottle and rain
sticks, were created at centers which remind students of what they learned. To
help hold students accountable for their learning, second graders journaled
after each center; listing new words introduced, new facts and a quick sketch
of what they experienced in that session. High school students were evaluated
on the presentations they shared.
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