August 2007 - Volume 68, Issue 8
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Connecting Kids with Nature continued...
“The outcome is better than in a regular classroom,” reports third-grade teacher Joyce Knapp. “With some children you just lose their attention in the regular classroom, but the outdoor classroom picks them up. They are sensory-awakened, and they have better carry-over of the concept being taught.”
Teachers use Truman’s Backyard as a place for students to study landforms, measure distances, observe plant roots, stems and leaves, practice mapping skills by finding cardinal directions on the compass rose and create and interpret maps.
Experiences in the Backyard also serve as inspiration for writing and reading. One budding author said, “We got to go on a hunt, and then we got to write about it!”
The outdoor classroom also helps with discipline. “Students maintain their high interest in the activity and are motivated to do well so they can go again to the outdoor classroom,” explains Tonya Lewis, second-grade teacher. Other teachers note that students’ behavior is improved even hours after returning indoors.
Beyond the Classroom
An after-school enrichment program, the Outdoor Kid Environmental Club, helps students learn about wildlife sustainability while maintaining the forest, wetland and prairie ecosystems found there. The club promotes the development of a sense of stewardship and responsibility in the children.
Olivia, a member for three years, said, “It was quite amazing to learn how the animals react to their habitat and the things we do to help them feel right at home.”
Many students and their families also participate in Annual Fall Family Work Days. During last fall’s event, 75 parents and students worked on the trails, improved the forest, posted interpretive signs, collected data on wildlife and performed other activities that helped keep the Backyard in good condition for use by the classes.
One parent, marveling at the special outdoor classroom, said, “I wish I could be a student again!”
Students Think It’s Cool
James said, “It was cool when we rolled over a dead log and saw bugs like rolly pollies and spiders.” Maggie found it interesting that when the prairie was burnt, mouse trails became visible.
About This Article
Author
CAROL MAHAN is the conservation education consultant for Truman Elementary in Rolla and other schools in the northern Ozarks region. A former teacher from Illinois, Carol appreciates the wealth and diversity of natural resources in Missouri. She spends her free time running, hiking and reading.
CHRIS SCHMIDGALL is an educator and outdoor classroom coordinator at Truman Elementary in Rolla. Her passion for hands-on learning in the outdoors led her to establish an outdoor classroom center and an active after-school environmental club. She and her husband, Gary, enjoy kayaking the beautiful rivers of Missouri.
Photographer
Photographer DAVID STONNER, shown working on aerial photographs of the Mingo Basin in southeast Missouri, joined the Department of Conservation in May 2007. He lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Angela, and one year-old daughter, Maggie. David enjoys weekends sailing on Stockton Lake and angling for fish anywhere he can cast a dry fly.
