Spring Season: Discovering Place
Transitioning into the spring season, we prioritize finding meaningful opportunities to engage students in building a relationship to place, including the regional community, the local watershed, local and native flora and fauna, and Oxbow’s Kids’ Farm.
By finding nature in their own schoolyard, looking at the earthworms that have emerged after a rainfall, finding squirrel footprints in the mud, and even examining cracks in the sidewalk, students learn that nature is all around them. The opportunity to have experiential connection to a place, with all senses engaged, inspires a sense of ecological identity and true sense of caring and devotion to nature, paving the way for stewardship and action (Ann Pelo, 2009).
The spring season also focuses on water as a critical component of a habitat, fostering an appreciation for water as a life-giving resource during a truly soggy season in western Washington state.
Download a PDF of the Spring Season Overview
March
On-farm Lesson: Animals in the Water
Lesson theme : A river or lake is a special habitat for animals of all sizes which all need clean water to survive. (This lesson created through a partnership with Nature Vision)
Linking Lesson: Post-March Activity Animals in the Water
May
On-farm Field Trip: Spring Farm Adventure
Lesson theme: Spring brings warm weather for planting seeds and growing food on the farm.
Linking Lesson: Pre-May Activity Apple Lifecycle
May
On-farm Lesson: Spring Orchard Stations
Lesson theme: When a springtime apple tree has all it needs, it makes fall fruit for you and me!
Videos
Let’s learn about animals in the water, March 2018: https://youtu.be/5BGDaVE1ans
Welcome to your Spring field trip and Orchard lessons, May 2018: https://youtu.be/vIz8uSo_YGc