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Luther Conant School Where the Whole Child is the Whole Idea |
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Schedule
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Conant's Naturalist Program
Extending classroom learning into schoolyard explorations and experiences has offered valuable learning opportunities to Conant students through our Naturalist Program. Originally, teachers and parents worked with naturalist Bev Morrison to develop an environmental education program that is connected specifically to Acton's science curriculum and encourages exploration and discovery in the Conant schoolyard and the adjacent Acton Arboretum. Parents, trained as Environmental Aides, have continued the program. They take small groups of Conant students (4 to 6 children) outside and help them discover how nature works and how to communicate and share their observations and ideas. Most importantly, the children discover the joy of learning through their own observations. As Bev Morrison wisely stated, "An excited learner becomes a lifelong learner."
Conant's younger students seasonally visit the schoolyard to experience the rhythms and cycles of the natural world. The older students are more focused on specific subject areas. Below are the primary focal points for each grade level:
| The walks focus on sensory observations and seasonal changes. The students learn how to focus, observe and communicate their observations. | |
| Students focus on the difference between living and nonliving things and on animals that share the schoolyard. They develop respect and appreciation for the animals that live there. | |
| Students focus on plant parts and their functions and how plants cope with seasonal changes. They learn to identify several common local trees by their leaves and buds. | |
| The students take walks that focus on insects and other mini-creatures and their habitats. They learn to record their observations and to understand the importance of insects and mini-creatures in their lives. | |
| Students learn to identify trees by their buds and how to use a dichotomous key. They observe the changes in the trees from winter to spring. See photos of fourth graders observing leaves in spring. | |
| The classes do a forest ecosystem study in the Acton Arboretum. The students construct forest food chains from their field observations. | |
| Students select a small area in the Conant schoolyard and study their ecosystem throughout the year. They use metric and centigrade measurements and construct a grid map of their area. The Naturalist Program, funded by the Conant PTO, has been very successful and demonstrates a valuable, working partnership between Conant teachers and parent volunteers. Teachers have observed positive changes in students who have been a part of the program over the years. They state that students display a confident approach in learning new scientific concepts and that their observations and communication skills have improved significantly. |
Updated: October 2006
Office Phone 978 . 266 . 2550 |
80 Taylor Road . Acton . MA 01720 |