Grade-Level: All Activity Title: National Poster Contst Subject: Outdoor Experiences Teacher(s): Thompson When: December/January Number of Students: TBD Description: Students from all grades are invited to submit poster proposals for the Smoky the Bear national contest. This activity has not occured and details will be further updated.
Bring the Birds Back!
Grade-Level: 7th and 8th Activity Title: Bring the Birds Back! Subject: Aviary Studies Teacher(s): Thompson When: May 2018 Number of Students: 15 Description: Students built small bird houses to place around the grounds at our temporary location. Students took a survey over a 2 hour period every day for two weeks and noticed a very low number of birds visiting the school trees. After placing the bird boxes and small feeders, new data was collected that showed a 40 percent increase in birds coming to our school trees.
Arlington Butterfly Garden
Grade-Level: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Activity Title: Diversity in the Bushes Subject: Butterfly Garden Teacher(s): Castro, Thompson, Yorkshire When: April 2016-2017, April 2017-2018, April 2018-2019 Transplant Number of Students: 40 Description: Students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade created a butterfly garden on the outside of the modular building. The garden spaced was cleared and lined with cinder blocks to outline the perimeter of the garden. Students planted native species in this area that were popular to species of butterflies. Some of the plants that were included were herbs, grasses, thistles and azaleas. The students took care of the garden during the summer by visiting the school to pull weeds and check on soil moisture on particularly hot days. The garden was used to teach students in other grades about pollination, diversity and the importance of introducing native species into habitats. This was a wonderful experience that opened up the gardening door for our future projects involving agriculture.