First Grade

Curriculum Overview

The Wild Wanderers first grade team edited and facilitated three classroom lessons and one field trip to Mt. Pisgah Arboretum. These lessons aimed to teach students about the species of oak savannahs, including how this diverse ecosystem changes throughout the seasons each year. Focal species included the Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana), western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus), gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii), black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).  By teaching first graders how to use their senses to be more aware in nature, students learned how to make scientific observations about the world around them. They then learned to connect these observations to changing seasons and lifecycles centering focal species, forming a deepened sense of place and prompting further curiosity.

Classroom Lessons

Field Trip