This year has been an exciting year for kindergarten children as they discovered the environment around them.  We’ve had the good fortune of the Sheldon Nature Center in our own backyard. Kindergarteners have had “hands on” experiences in the nature center at least eight times this year.  For our study of living things, the children adopted a tree from the nature center.  We followed our tree throughout the four seasons, observed changes, and recorded our observations in a Nature Scrapbook with pictures and words.  

      Pond life lent itself to many objectives across our curriculum.  Water temperature was integrated into math as we tested the temperature in the fall, winter and spring.  Properties of pond water changed from a liquid to solid as the temperature dropped and rose as temperatures increased.  Children made these discoveries in our unit on matter.  We tied in Everyday Math goals and objectives when we went on our color and shape walks in the nature center.      

     Animal life in the nature center led us to discover that animals hibernate in the winter.  We followed animal tracks in the snow through the nature center.  On our EE BIG day in the fall, we discovered how baby animals are alike/unlike adult animals of the same species. 

      After each visit, students recorded discoveries and observations in their Environmental Education Journal.  Children made connections of their outdoor experiences to what we were working on for science, math, reading, and social studies.  We also used materials purchased for environmental education that complimented the living and nonliving things in our nature center.