Outdoor Education
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Bird Watching
Students can go outside or view birds from a window. While students are watching, they can make note of unique characteristics each bird has.
Take a Walk/Hike
Have students practice their observation skills by going outside to practice their observation skills. Have students compose a written description or present digitally on what they saw.
Plant adaptations
Have students choose three leaves and have students compare and contrast them. Have students research why different plants have different leaves
Shadow Direction and Measuring
Have students measure their shadow when standing in the same place at different times of the day. Students should have a parent or or sibling help with measuring the shadow. Additionally, students should make general observations about the direction of their shadow. Students should then use their data to explain why the length and direction of the shadow is different at different times of the day.
Outdoor Activities
Secondary
Weather Journals
Using NOAA or another website that provides weather data have students create a daily and weekly timeline where they plot weather data (Temperature, barometric pressure, windspeed, wind direction, etc.) over a period of time. After completing this weather journal, have students find trends or relationships in the data.
Creating Food Chains and Food Webs Have students take a walk or sit quietly in a single place outside. Have students note the different organisms they see and using those organisms, create a food chain or food web. Once they have created the food chain or food web, have students analyze their depiction of the flow of energy through the environment and have them identify any possible organisms that they did not observe, but might still be present.
Unequal Heating
On a sunny day, have students go outside and take the temperature of different surfaces or near different surfaces. Have students record the surface or object, the color it was, the direction it was facing, time of day, and the temperature. Using these observations, students should come to the conclusion that darker surfaces that receive full sun light are typically warmer than surfaces that are lighter in color and do not receive full sunlight.
Terwilliger Foundation videos: click on “View Films” and choose the habitat you’d like your students to explore.