Fire Island Class Explores the Great Outdoors

Woodhull Elementary School’s environmental education program 
continues to provide students with authentic field science education activities and opportunities to conduct investigations of their natural world.

Throughout the year, the students at the Fire Island school complete inquiry-based projects and draw from their surroundings to learn about complex science topics in a tangible way. All grades focus on the skills of observation, measurement and communication through a discovery learning process.

Primary team members have begun to understand what it means to be a 
mammal by investigating the characteristics that all mammals have in common.

On a short field trip to the beach, the students identified mammals commonly found on Fire Island, were introduced to Nibbles the rat, and had an up-close, hands-on experience with a live mammal. 

Students in the early elementary team used nature journals to record 
observations about the natural world, including weather conditions, seasonality and animals. They searched for crickets under wooden logs and constructed a terrarium. 

They also investigated the effects that humans have on the environment through a variety of simple experiments including simulations of acid rain and the natural selection of the peppered moth. 

Throughout the year, students in the elementary team will be working 
on a class project called “Trout in the Classroom.”

Taking into consideration the environment required for trout to grow and survive, the students set up a fish tank and began their “trout journals,” which they will use throughout the year.

Students also learned about horticulture when they examined, identified and planted spider plants. They recorded traits of two plants, one seeded from an adult plant and the other propagated from an adult plant.