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Using
The Outdoors to Teach Experiential Science is an
exciting teacher education program facilitated by the NC Museum
of Natural Science that extends instruction beyond the classroom
walls! Learning is hands on, interactive and experimental. Brooks
is one of 10 elementary schools across the state that applied for
and received a UTOTES grant. We have the opportunity to plan, implement
and develop site-specific science units for grades K - 5.
"Team
Monarch" collaborates to identify this tree |
Eighteen
teachers and PTA parents participated in the first of 8 workshops
and the energy was high. Kim Smart, our museum educator, transformed
the Media Center into a get down and dirty workshop! The faculty
and parents discussed workshop goals and then, with hiking boots
and field guides, walked the campus identifying trees, native
insects and possible sites for schoolyard projects. Teachers
discovered how to create mist which revealed spider webs and
participated in a mud dauber exploration. Have you ever dissected
a mud dauber cell and created a hypothesis about what was going
on in that cell? Adult learners did and it was not only fun
but extremely interesting. |
By the end of
our 6-hour session, teachers and parents had identified a plan for
our school grounds which included butterfly gardens, bird feeders,
perennial gardens, a pond, a sundial, bird blind, bat houses and
much more. We also recognized how energizing active learning is
and recommitted to our work at Brooks Museums Magnet!
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