Kindergarten

• Examining Seasonal Changes on a Shape Walk – Students understand how changes in the sun’s energy affect the behavior of living things in the environment. Students match different 2-D and 3-D shapes to objects observed on a walk around the school grounds. 

• Sorting, Counting, and Comparing Seeds – Seeds are used to practice sorting by size, shape and color, counting, and to apply the concepts of “biggest” and “smallest,” “most” and “least,” and “same” and “similar.” Students practice using fine motor skills. (Also available as a virtual option or take-home kit.)

• Critter Hunt (late spring) – Students observe temperature changes and discover invertebrates found on the nature trail understand animal behavior as winter changes to spring.

• The Sensational Sun (mid- to late spring) – Students make predictions about the temperature in the sun vs. in the shade, and then use shapes to create patterns on special sun-sensitive paper. We finish up by planting sunflower seeds. (Also available as a take-home kit.)

First Grade

• Trapping Energy – Students plant warm season seeds in the cool temperatures of early spring to observe how the principles of cold frames aid plant growth. (Also available as a "Grow Your Own Garden" take-home kit, with students supplying their own empty milk jugs or other clear plastic containers.) 

• Building Terrariums and Collecting Terrarium Animals (late spring) – Students learn how animals depend on living and non-living things to survive in their environment by building a terrarium to keep in their classroom. (Also available as a take-home kit.)

• Vertical Gardening (mid- to late spring) – Students sow, tend, and observe the growth of different plants in special hanging pots along a chain link fence outside. (Also available as a "Grow Your Own Garden" take-home kit.)

Second Grade

• Extreme Weather – Students help perform several experiments to learn about extreme weather like tornadoes, thunderstorms, blizzards, and hurricanes. (Also available as a virtual option)

• Weather – Building Anemometers – Students learn about different weather-measuring instruments and build anemometers to demonstrate how to calculate wind velocity. (Also available as a virtual option or take-home kit.)

• Plotting Worm Length – Students study live worms using hand lenses, draw a scientific diagram of what they observe, and plot the length of several worms on a line plot.   

• Living and Non-Living Interactions – Students study the school compost pile to understand that living things affect non-living things and that non-living things affect living things. 

Third Grade

• Soil Jars – Students study different types of soils and how they are made up of a mixture of inorganic and organic materials, and then we sketch scientific diagrams of different samples based on our observations. (Also available as a virtual option.)

• Planting a Salad (mid-March) – Students welcome spring by planting cool season seeds in organic, raised garden beds to learn that seed germination is dependent on conditions in the seed’s habitat. (Also available as a "Grow Your Own Garden" take-home kit.)

• Harvesting a Salad (late spring) – Students learn how to identify foods that are ready to harvest and the best harvest method. Students work together to harvest and clean the produce and finish up by sampling foods they planted two months earlier. 

Fourth Grade

• Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition – Students learn to identify areas where these earth processes have occurred around the school grounds. 

• Natural Resources Then and Now – Students explore how human use of natural resources in our area has evolved over time. They discover the impact of our use on Earth’s resources by making observations around the trail and surrounding school yard. 

• Tree Identification Using a Dichotomous Key – Students use a dichotomous key to identify trees and to understand the basics of how plants are classified. “Common Trees of Ohio” guide is provided to each student to keep. (Also available as a take-home kit.)

• Fossils – Students explore fossils from the Cincinnati area and compare them to those from all around the world and make their own mold-and-cast “fossil” to take home. (Also available as a take-home kit.)