Activities

Understanding the seasons as a fundamental cycle that governs life is part of ecological literacy. In Canada the changes in the seasons make it easy for students to realize that nature greatly affects our lives. The seasons offer many different learning opportunities that require little more than a resolution to get outside. These opportunities for education in the environment can be called “learning trails.” Below is a list of learning trails to choose from; many lend themselves to repeat visits in different seasons.

You might decide to open up the decision-making process to your students, and invite them to vote on a learning trail to heighten their interest in going outside for some learning. Some will be suitable for your school ground; others require going further afield in the city or to a natural area.

Types of Learning Trails

Science:

• Microscopic trails—investigating/creating a mini-tour of a square metre of the local park

• Tree trails—connecting significant trees in the schoolyard/local community

• Senses trails—exploring the community with nose, ears, eyes and hands

• Structure trails—comparing human-made structures to those found in nature

• Habitat trails—identifying and describing different habitats in the local community

• Human impact trails—gathering evidence of positive/negative impacts on ecosystems

The Arts

• Inspiration trails - evoking aspects of nature through dance, drama, music, and visual arts

• Design trails - searching for textures, colours, lines, forms, shapes, spaces, and values

• Sound trails - creating sound maps to lead others on a tour of natural and cultural sounds

• Perspective trails - recording impressions of local places through multimedia technologies

• Natural materials trails - finding local biodegradable materials for art-making

• Public art trails - locating and learning about local artists and their arts

Math

• Concept trails - searching for real world examples of a mathematical concept (e.g., patterns, symmetry, shapes, attributes, measurements, number)

• Problem solving trails - solving or creating relevant problems from places or artefacts in the community e.g., how long does it take to get down each of the different slides you find on the playground? How might slope and mass influence the time it takes to get down each slide?

• Data trail - gathering data to recognize, describe and generalize patterns e.g., travel mode, temperature variation, or planet distribution patterns

Language Arts

• Word trails—coming up with words that are inspired by the surrounding environment at several spots along the trail, students then find ways to link the words together; the walk can inspire the words or the words can help create the walk

• Story trails—the teacher facilitates the students in creating stories that lead to a trail through different parts of the community

• Poetry trails—students are assigned different spots along the school ground trail and they write poetry inspired by what they hear, see, smell, feel at that spot; the poetry trail is experienced when the class walks the trail and the poems for each spot are read

• Media literacy trails—examining messages on billboards/advertising/graffiti in the community

Social Studies/History/Geography

• Local celebrity trails - finding and re-telling a local celebrity’s stories of the community

• Treasure trails - looking for historical or geographical treasures in the neighbourhood

• FNMI - researching and sharing the history of FNMI peoples in the community

PE/Health

• Fitness trails - exploring physical fitness activities suitable to or inspired by different locations on the school ground

• Healthy living trails - examining aspects of community that positively or negatively influence human physical or mental health (e.g., green spaces, water, or air pollution)

Resources

Books

• A Walking Curriculum by Gillian Judson

• Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings by Mary Siisip Geniusz

Apps

• Seek by iNaturalist

Interpretative hikes are a great way to get students outside! There is both minimal prep and materials needed.

Possible Themes

Theme: Literacy - “ANT” Trail

Materials: One length of string or yarn per student (about 50 cm each should do)

Instructions: Tell students that they have been hired as park naturalists and must build a new nature trail. However, the park and trail are for ants! Give each student a string and indicate that they should choose a habitat and lay the string out so that it includes several “scenic features” for ants. When they have completed their trail, have them take one of their classmates along it. Follow up with a language arts/journal writing activity in the classroom.

Theme: Inquiry - Question Trail

Materials: Nil

Instructions: During a hike, tell students that they will be playing a short question game as follows: the teacher asks a question about something on the hike. Then, one at a time, students answer the question with another question. At first this will be tough, but with practice, students will be able to formulate a string of questions. In an age-appropriate way, explain how this game models the work of scientists all over the world.

Theme: Visual Arts - Colours

Materials: Nil

Instructions: Form a circle with students and ask them to face outwards. Going around the circle, students list as many colours as they can spot from where they are standing. Also try picking a colour and have students find as many objects of the colour as possible.

Theme: Sense of Place - Misplaced objects

Materials: A collection of objects (try 10!) that don't belong in the area where you will be walking (they could be natural objects from a different habitat but try it first with 10 human- made objects, e.g., a pencil, key, bottle cap, old mitten); a piece of paper and pencil for each individual or group.

Instructions: Prior to the students' arrival and without being observed, place the 10 objects along a trail of your design so that they vary from easily spotted to well camouflaged (not buried, however!). Balance the objects on both sides of the trail, and vary the height at which you hide objects (consider safety first though!). When ready, tell your students that there are 10 objects on a trail that don't belong there, and that their task is to find them and write them down on their paper. Indicate that they should not reveal objects they spot to others. Give a time limit for their walk. When completed, discuss the idea of belonging to a place. In an age-appropriate way, connect this activity to the fact that we live in a world where the economy is largely organized globally, not locally. Human artifacts are made and found all over the world. What does it really mean to be misplaced?

Theme: Numeracy connection - Count Me In

Materials: Paper and pencils (per student or group)

Instructions: Individually, or in partners or groups, students find something in nature that regularly occurs in similar numbers (or patterns). For example grass blades occur singly (in 1s); tree branches fork (in 2s); clover leaves (in 3s); white pine needles (in 5s) etc. Remind students that they do not need to collect the items—just record them. Ask students what earlier learning they can connect their findings to.