Outdoor Classroom Activities
Bird Studies
Bird Walk (Grade K-2)
Birds come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They have many different types of beaks and different types of feet.
1. Discuss with students some of these adaptations. Each bird fills a certain niche or special place in their habitat. Check out Project Beak for some of these amazing adaptations. People come in many shapes and sizes as well. Students can practice observing constructive differences among their classmates (hair color, eye color, dimples, etc.)
2. Students can create their own pair of binoculars with two toilet paper rolls taped together. Punch two holes in the sides and string yarn for the strap.
3. Bring your students to the outdoor classroom to observe birds. They can take turns looking through real binoculars. Have them share their observations.
Birds come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They have many different types of beaks and different types of feet.
1. Discuss with students some of these adaptations. Each bird fills a certain niche or special place in their habitat. Check out Project Beak for some of these amazing adaptations. People come in many shapes and sizes as well. Students can practice observing constructive differences among their classmates (hair color, eye color, dimples, etc.)
2. Students can create their own pair of binoculars with two toilet paper rolls taped together. Punch two holes in the sides and string yarn for the strap.
3. Bring your students to the outdoor classroom to observe birds. They can take turns looking through real binoculars. Have them share their observations.
- How are the birds different?
- How are they the same?
- List the types of birds you saw in the outdoor classroom.
- How many birds of each species did you see? Graph your results.
- Draw a picture of your favorite bird at the outdoor classroom.
- Have the students look up one of the species they saw in a bird identification book (field guide) so that they can learn more about that species.
WCCD Available Resources:
- WCCD Bird Books (click here!)
- Smithsonian Kids' Field Guides: Birds of North America West
- Binoculars (6 pairs)
Water Studies
Macro-invertebrate Mesh Bag Collector (Grade Level 3-12)
Adapted from www.alabamawildlife.org
Students use a mesh bag to create a suitable habitat for macro-invertebrates to colonize, and then analyze the types and quantity of macro-invertebrates to determine the water quality of the aquatic ecosystem.
1. A mesh bag such as a recycled onion bag is filled with leaves, straw, or other vegetative debris that will decompose. The bag can then be placed in the pond at our Outdoor Classroom. Make sure that the bag is on the bottom of the pond by weighing it down with a few rocks. Leave the bag for several weeks to allow the contents to decompose.
2. Students can return to the Outdoor Classroom and carefully remove the bag. They can sort the organisms that they harvest into white ice cube trays and use macro-invertebrate keys to identify them. This data can be used to assess the water quality of the pond.
WCCD Available Resources:
Adapted from www.alabamawildlife.org
Students use a mesh bag to create a suitable habitat for macro-invertebrates to colonize, and then analyze the types and quantity of macro-invertebrates to determine the water quality of the aquatic ecosystem.
1. A mesh bag such as a recycled onion bag is filled with leaves, straw, or other vegetative debris that will decompose. The bag can then be placed in the pond at our Outdoor Classroom. Make sure that the bag is on the bottom of the pond by weighing it down with a few rocks. Leave the bag for several weeks to allow the contents to decompose.
2. Students can return to the Outdoor Classroom and carefully remove the bag. They can sort the organisms that they harvest into white ice cube trays and use macro-invertebrate keys to identify them. This data can be used to assess the water quality of the pond.
WCCD Available Resources:
- Key to Life in the Pond: Large laminated key to aquatic macro-invertebrates. Perfect for use in the field. Multiple copies available for student use. (click here!)
- A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America (click here!)
- Hip Waders (click here!)
- Rubber Boots
- Ice Cube Trays: for sorting critters
Plant Studies
Leaf Creatures (Grade Level K-4)
Autumn leaves are a brilliant reminder that fall has arrived. Students can visit the outdoor classroom in the fall to create leaf creatures and learn about leaves. Leaves are the food making factory for plants. Shorter days tell trees that it's time to get ready for winter. They stop producing chlorophyll and the leaves begin to change colors.
1. Prepare students for this activity by teaching them about how plants make food. They should each be given a bag to collect leaves from around the Outdoor Classroom. Leaf collections can be examined and sorted by shape (pinnate, lobed, compound, palmate, or not lobed), or sorted creatively by the students.
2. Students should be allowed time to use their imaginations to create leaf creatures from their collections. They can glue their creation to a piece of paper. Heavy books or other weights should be stacked on top of the leaf creatures so that they don't curl as they dry.
3. Students can name their leaf creature and write creatively about it's habits (What does it eat? Where does it live? etc.)
WCCD Available Resources:
Autumn leaves are a brilliant reminder that fall has arrived. Students can visit the outdoor classroom in the fall to create leaf creatures and learn about leaves. Leaves are the food making factory for plants. Shorter days tell trees that it's time to get ready for winter. They stop producing chlorophyll and the leaves begin to change colors.
1. Prepare students for this activity by teaching them about how plants make food. They should each be given a bag to collect leaves from around the Outdoor Classroom. Leaf collections can be examined and sorted by shape (pinnate, lobed, compound, palmate, or not lobed), or sorted creatively by the students.
2. Students should be allowed time to use their imaginations to create leaf creatures from their collections. They can glue their creation to a piece of paper. Heavy books or other weights should be stacked on top of the leaf creatures so that they don't curl as they dry.
3. Students can name their leaf creature and write creatively about it's habits (What does it eat? Where does it live? etc.)
WCCD Available Resources:
- WCCD Children's Books about Trees (click here!)
Nature Appreciation
Alphabet Walk (Grade Level K-2)
https://www.educationoutside.org/lesson-pathway/basics/alphabet-hike
Feel, smell, watch or listen to something from each letter of the alphabet. Write down or draw your discoveries. This is a simple activity that reinforces alphabet skills while encouraging students to use their senses to observe the world around them.
https://www.educationoutside.org/lesson-pathway/basics/alphabet-hike
Feel, smell, watch or listen to something from each letter of the alphabet. Write down or draw your discoveries. This is a simple activity that reinforces alphabet skills while encouraging students to use their senses to observe the world around them.