Teaching withSchoolyardHabitats SitesThis section discusses the many ways in whichSchoolyard Habitats sites can expand educationalopportunities for students. Examples ofinterdisciplinary curriculum connections areprovided, along with useful tools to help educatorsintegrate habitat sites in their teaching.
Reaching High Academic Standards on theSchoolyardAnalyze Your CurriculumSchoolyard Habitats and Service Learning
REACHING HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS ON THE SCHOOLYARD
The planning, design, implementation,and on-going monitoring and maintenanceof a Schoolyard Habitats project provideendless opportunities to meet and exceedhigh academic standards across thecurriculum. Teaching with the SchoolyardHabitats site as an integrating contextacross the subject areas can both supportand deepen the quality of instruction andstudent engagement.
From pre-school through high school,Schoolyard Habitats projects enhance the teaching and learning of science, math,social studies, and English in many ways. Using a habitat-based learning sitemakes learning more real, fun, hands-on, interdisciplinary, and relevant. “Youngpeople learn most readily about things that are tangible and directly accessible totheir senses — visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic. With experience, theygrow in their ability to understand abstract concepts.... Concrete experiences aremost effective in learning when they occur in the context of some relevantconceptual structure.” (Benchmarks for Science Literacy)
In today’s learning environments, where schools are striving to meet and exceedhigh standards of learning, teachers must be creative in presenting content. Theschoolyard can provide a valuable avenue for reinforcing concepts for students. Thefollowing pages illustrate how creating and utilizing a Schoolyard Habitats site canhelp teachers use the outdoors to meet various standards. In fact, teachers can feelconfident that time invested in a Schoolyard Habitats project is a wise investmentfor students’ immediate educational needs and future development as good citizens.
REACHING HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS ON THE SCHOOLYARD
Core Subjects and theSchoolyard HabitatsProgram
Schoolyard Habitats projects serve asliving laboratories where studentsengage in hands-on science inquiriesand design investigations into thenatural world. They provide studentswith the opportunity to apply mathconcepts to the real world; whetherestimating numbers of plants in anon-site plant community or trackingand graphing ongoing wildlifeobservations, the outdoors is full ofmathematical wonders. SchoolyardHabitats sites provide a quiet space forcreative writing about nature or aresearch laboratory where students candevelop strong English skills throughresearch, writing and communicationskills. The Schoolyard Habitatsprogram can be applied successfully tohelp teach about connections between
people, social constructs and theenvironment. These concepts ofgeography and social studies come tolife as students gain real-life experienceof their local community in a globalcontext.
Outdoor Learning = Increased Student Achievement
In 1999, a consortium of education agencies from 12 states, called the State Education and Environment Roundtable,published a groundbreaking study. Entitled Closing the Achievement Gap: Using the Environment as an Integrating Contextfor Learning, this study quantified and legitimized that which teachers had been observing and noting anecdotally foryears—the academic value of using the environment as a framework for instruction.
The roundtable studied schools nationwide that are using theenvironment as the context for interdisciplinary, student-centered, hands-on learning and teaching across all subject areas.
The study reports that students in such programs:
perform better on standardized tests
earn higher grade point averages (in language arts, math,science, and social studies)
improve their attendance record
improve their behavior in school
demonstrate an increased ability to think creatively
demonstrate increased problem-solving abilities
Lieberman, Gerald A. and Linda L. Hoody, eds. Closing theAchievement Gap: Using the Environment as an Integrating Context for Learning. State Education and Environment Roundtable SanDiego, 1999. (Download report: www.seer.org)
Benchmarks K-2:Interdependence of Life“Students should investigate thehabitats of many different kinds oflocal plants and animals includingweeds, aquatic plants, insects, wormsand amphibians, and some of theways in which animals depend onplants and on each other.”
Classify plants and animals indifferent parts of the schoolyardto discover similarities anddifferences.Determine the number ofhabitats on the school property,making note of the plants andanimals found in each.Discuss the pollination processand how specific plants aredependent upon specificpollinators; survey the schoolyardand look for pollinators at work.
NSES Life ScienceStandard K-4 :“During elementary grades, childrenbuild an understanding of biologicalconcepts through direct experiencewith living things, their lifestyles andtheir habitats. Characteristics oforganisms; Life cycles of organisms;Organisms and their environment.”
Study the life cycle of butterfliesfirst-hand by creating a nativeplant garden that provides plantsfor all stages of the cycle.Conduct ongoing fieldobservations of schoolyardwildlife; create field guides forthe wildlife that visit theschoolyard.
Study lifecycle of certain plantfrom seed to mature adult.Record observations,measurements, etc. over time.
Benchmarks 3-5:Scientific Inquiry“Scientific investigations may takemany different forms, includingobserving what things are like or whatis happening somewhere, collectingspecimens for analysis, and doingexperiments.”
Study insect populations in thehabitat area over time. Whatplants serve as “hosts”? Whatfactors affect population size?Collect soil cores at different sitesaround the schoolyard todetermine the best site to plant anative prairie or other nativeecosystem type. Compare soilsamples and consider factorswhich could account fordifferences between samples.Design experiments to testhypotheses.
Benchmarks 3-5:Interdependence of Life“Students should explore how variousorganisms satisfy their needs in theenvironments in which they aretypically found. They canexamine the survival needs ofdifferent organisms andconsider how the conditionsin particular habitats canlimit what kinds of livingthings can survive. Theirstudies of interactions amongorganisms with anenvironment shouldstart with relationshipsthey can directly observe.”
Compare wildlife observations inthe habitat area to observationsmade at different sites around theschoolyard. Which site had themost biodiversity and why?Research a natural ecosystem (i.e.prairie) that compares to that inthe habitat area. What are themain differences between theecosystem in nature and theecosystem on the schoolyard?
Middle SchoolApplications
NSES Life Science 5-8;Students can investigate “populationsand ecosystems” and “diversity andadaptation in organisms.”
Study your schoolyard ecosystem.How does this ecosystem function?Who are the predators and whois the prey?
Observe birds visitingfeeders and fruit/seedbearing shrubs in theschoolyard. Howhave the beaks of thespecies adapted totheir different feedingstrategies?
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Science Standards andSchoolyard Habitats Projects
National standards documents referenced: Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Project 2061,American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993, New York, NY; NationalScience Education Standards, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. 1996
REACHING HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS ON THE SCHOOLYARD
Benchmarks 6-8:Interdependence of Life“In all environments...organisms withsimilar needs may compete with oneanother for resources, including food,space, water, air and shelter.... Twotypes of organisms may interact withone another in several ways: They maybe in a producer/consumer,predator/prey, or parasite/hostrelationship...”
Study the Schoolyard Habitatssite and identify examples ofpredator/prey relationships.Find an example of parasitism inyour habitat area.Identify native “host” plants forbutterfly species in your area andadd them to your habitat area.
High SchoolApplications
Students will gain an enhanced senseof the scientific process; becomecomfortable with scientific inquiry;and see the benefit of applyingscience, math and technology in theirdaily lives. The Schoolyard HabitatsProgram exposes all students to theexploration of local ecosystems andhabitat types. Though content areasdepending on the scope and scale ofthe project will vary, every SchoolyardHabitats project will include:observing; measuring; comparing;forming, testing, confirming,invalidating, and refining hypotheses;analyzing the impact of variables;concluding; recording, collecting andinterpreting data; identifying causesand effects of change; and evaluatingand communicating findings toothers.
NSES Science as InquiryStandard 9 –12:Students should develop “abilitiesnecessary to do [and understand]scientific inquiry.”
Identify a problem or design anopportunity. Communicate theproblem, process, and solution ina variety of ways, such as orally, inwriting, and in other forms suchas demonstration projects.
“Students also need to learn how toanalyze evidence anddata….Determining the range of thedata, the mean and mode values ofthe data, plotting the data, developingmathematical functions from the data,and looking for anomalous data are allexamples of analyses students canperform.”
Conduct regular site inventoriesto determine population countswithin the Schoolyard Habitatssite. Chart the data, and use it topredict growth and changes in thevarious populations. Explain anyanomalies.
NSES Life ScienceStandard 9 -12:Students should understand that“Organisms both cooperate andcompete in ecosystems. Theinterrelationships andinterdependencies of these organismsmay generate ecosystems that arestable for hundreds or thousands ofyears.”
Identify the interrelationships andinterdependencies of thevegetation/wildlife found in theSchoolyard Habitats site.Investigate invasive species thatpotentially threaten your habitat.Why are these plants and animalsable to thrive unchecked?
Benchmarks 9 –12:Interdependence of Life“By the end of 12th grade, studentsshould know that human beings arepart of the earth’s ecosystems. Humanactivities can, deliberately or
“The physical environment in andaround the school can be used as aliving laboratory for the study ofnatural phenomena.Whether theschool is located in a densely populatedurban area, a sprawling suburb, asmall town or a rural area, theenvironment can and should be used asa resource for science study.”
REACHING HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS ON THE SCHOOLYARD
inadvertently, alter the equilibrium inecosystems.”
Identify human influences thataffect your Schoolyard Habitatssite. Predict how these factorswill affect the stability of theschoolyard ecosystem. Examplesinclude:
pollutiontraffic patterns/foot trafficthrough the habitatlitterclimate changes (increasedtemperature, water levels, etc.)
NSES Science in Personal andSocial PerspectivesStandard 9 –12:Students understand how “Naturalecosystems provide an array of basicprocesses that affect humans.”
Use your Schoolyard Habitats siteto investigate how vegetation andwildlife maintain atmosphericquality, recycle nutrients, andaffect water and nitrogen cycles.Illustrate concepts such ascarrying capacity, food webs, andcompetition by looking at thepredator/prey relationships on theschoolyard.
“...Early science experiences can bedesigned to bring out one aspect of thebelief in the unity of nature. Studentsshould sometimes repeat observationsand investigation in the classroom, andthen, when possible, do so again in theschoolyard and at home.”
Math Standard 4:Mathematical Connections K-4Students should use math in theirdaily lives; “...measurement situationsshould continually be part of theprogram.”
Research migration routes andcalculate number of miles traveledfor butterflies and birds visitingthe habitat area.Create a base map of the schoolproperty; calculate the total areaof the habitat site.Determine the depth and volumeof water bodies.
Math Standard 4:Mathematical Connections K-4Students should use math in othercurriculum areas.
Graph results of ongoing habitatobservations, such as number ofbird species visiting feeders in aday, month and year.Start a plant from seed; observeand measure shoot and leafgrowth.
Math Standard 9:Geometry andSpatial Sense K-4“Geometry helps us represent anddescribe in an orderly manner theworld in which we live... Spatial sense isan intuitive feel for one’s surroundingsand objects in them.”
Look for patterns in nature suchas tree shapes, leaf shapes andcolors of flowers.
Math Standard 10:Measurement K-4Use measurements in problems andeveryday situations.
Count the number of trees andshrubs found on the schoolyard;“adopt” one tree and calculateheight, age, and girth.Calculate the cost of buyingplants for the habitat project.Measure growth of certain plantsover time. Create charts toillustrate differing rates of growthbetween species.
Middle SchoolApplications
Math Standard 4:Mathematical Connections 5-8“Many opportunities to show theconnection between mathematics andother disciplines are missed in school.For example, the study of maps is anexcellent time to also study scalingand its relation to the concepts ofsingularity, ratio and proportion.”
Develop a map of the schoolyard.What is the ratio of paved areas tounpaved areas?
Make numerical predictionsabout the future growth of plantsafter collecting data.
Math Standard 8:Patterns and Functions 5-8“Students should be encouraged toobserve and describe all sorts ofpatterns in the world around them;plowed fields, haystacks, leaves ontrees.”
Use field guides and a key toclassify leaves and flowers.Have students develop their ownfield guides and keys for thehabitat area.
High SchoolApplications
Problem-Solving Standard forGrades 9 –12:All students should be able to “applyappropriate techniques, tools, andformulas to determinemeasurements.” Specifically in highschool, “students should makedecisions about units and scales thatare appropriate for problem situationsinvolving measurement.”
Map the school grounds usinglength, width, and heightmeasurements. In drawing themap, use a scale that will bemanageable in size but largeenough to highlight the featuresof the site. Convertmeasurements from English tometric, and vice versa.Use hand tools such as metertapes, calculators, compasses andother measurement tools forcollecting quantitative data aboutthe Schoolyard Habitats site.
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Mathematics Standards and SchoolyardHabitats Projects
National standards document referenced: Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, National Council ofTeachers of Mathematics, Reston, VA, 1989.
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Connections Standard forGrades 9 –12:“Recognize and apply mathematics incontexts outside of mathematics.”
Incorporate mathematics into thescientific and artistic aspects ofSchoolyard Habitats design.Students consider total site area,area needed per plant, symmetry,spacing, and other mathematicalconcepts in laying out a designfor the site.
Algebra Standard for Grades9 –12:“Approximate and interpret rates ofchange from graphical and numericaldata.”
Track the growth or decline of acertain species found in yourSchoolyard Habitats project area.After compiling the data,calculate the rate of change.Hypothesize about the reasons forany changes.
Communication Standard forGrades 9 –12:“Communicate their mathematicalthinking coherently and clearly topeers, teachers, and others.”
Investigate community views onSchoolyard Habitats planningprocess and implementation andcommunicate mathematical andstatistical data using graphs,charts, and pictures.
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“The opportunities to use the site will greatly increase as we transform it into ahabitat area. We anticipate that the garden will be used regularly by all grades toobserve, record and create. The students will be involved in replanting the site, aswell as placing and caring for the bird feeders, nesting boxes, and birdbath.
This spring we have started a pilot “Science in the Garden” series, which seeks tointegrate learning from the garden and learning from the science lab and classroom.Using the D.C. Public Schools draft Science Performance Standards as a startingpoint, the first grade has studied birds (in addition to the study of butterflies as partof their regular curriculum); the third grade has studied the life cycles of plants, andthe fourth grade has studied soils.”
Watkins Elementary School, Washington, D.C. ,Schoolyard Habitats Site #1424
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ElementaryApplications
English Standard 7“I believe that every child begins withthe drive to explore the world he orshe is born into, that curiosity isindeed native. Speech becomes itsprinciple instrument.” — JamesBrittan (Standards for the EnglishLanguage Arts, pg. 38)
“Everyday life provides abundant rawmaterials from which students developtheir investigative languagecompetencies.”
Move reading time outdoors tothe habitat areaWrite poems or haikus aboutplants and animals found on theschoolyardCreate a Schoolyard Habitatsjournal that includes observationson one side of the page andquestions on the other
Middle SchoolApplications
English Standard 7“Students conduct research on issuesand interests by generating ideas andquestions and by posing problems.They gather, evaluate and synthesizedata from a variety of sources ... tocommunicate their discoveries in waysthat suit their purpose and audience.”
Turn the Schoolyard Habitats siteinto a site for research andunderstanding of larger societalissues such as population growth,pollution and use of resources,issues which can then becommunicated through posters,presentations and collaborativereports.
Compile results of schoolyardinvestigations in written reports;students present findings to otherstudents for peer review.Students design and write aSchoolyard Habitats newsletter toshare with other classes, studentsand the general public.Create an interpretive habitatguide for use by younger studentsand school visitors.
High SchoolApplications
English Standard 5“Students employ a wide range ofstrategies as they write and usedifferent writing process elements tocommunicate with different audiencesfor a variety of purposes.”
Create and write work plans forthe design, construction, andmaintenance of the SchoolyardHabitats site.Present Schoolyard Habitats workto students, administration, andparents through use of prose,multimedia, and other visual aids.These different media andaudiences require differentwriting styles (e.g.marketing/advertising, formal,journalistic, etc.).
English Standard 12“Students use spoken, written, andvisual language to accomplish theirown purposes (e.g. for learning,enjoyment, persuasion, and theexchange of information.”
Recruit other students toconstruct/maintain the habitatarea through schoolwideadvertising campaigns.Promote the successes of theSchoolyard Habitats projectthrough articles in the school orlocal newspapers.Use written surveys to pollschoolwide opinions on thehabitat project’s necessity anddesign.
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English Language Arts Standards andSchoolyard Habitats Projects
National standards document referenced: Standards for the English Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of Englishand International Reading Association, Urbana, IL, 1996.
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ElementaryApplications
Social Studies Strand III:People, Places andEnvironments“This area of study helps the learnermake informed and critical decisionsabout the relationship between humanbeings and their environment.... Inthe early grades, young learners drawupon immediate personal experiencesas the basis for exploring geographicconcepts and skills.”
Study the history of the schoolproperty to find out what it wasbefore the school was built;students interview neighbors andother community members.
Social Studies Strand III:People, Places andEnvironments—Middle Grades“Describe physical system changessuch as season, climate, weather andthe water cycle.”
Set up a weather station in thehabitat area; track rainfall,temperature, and other elementsover time; students identifypatterns and how they affect thehabitat. Create temperatureprofiles by measuring airtemperature at different areas ofthe schoolyard and at differenttimes of day.Study topography and waterflowon the schoolyard. Where doesthe water go? How does yourschoolyard affect the watershed?
Middle SchoolApplications
Social Studies Strand III:People, Places andEnvironments—Early Grades“Describe how people create placesthat reflect ideas, personality, culture,and wants and needs as they designhomes, playgrounds, classrooms andthe like.... Describe personalconnections to a place, especially placeas associated with immediatesurroundings.”
Students conduct a school-widesurvey to determine priorities forproperty use that could includeplay areas, playing fields, futurebuildings for expansion of theschool population, and theprotection of natural areas.
Social Studies Strand VIII:Science, Technology andSociety — Early Grades“Suggest ways to monitor science andtechnology ... to protect the physicalenvironment, individual rights andthe common good.”
Join an on-line wildlife monitoringprogram; have students share datacollected in the SchoolyardHabitats area with other schoolsand scientists. (See www.nwf.orgfor a list of programs).
Geography Standard I:The World in Spatial Terms —Grades 5-8“The geographically informed personknows and understands how to usemaps and other geographicrepresentations, tools and technologiesto acquire, process and reportinformation from a spatial perspective.”
Research different types of mapsincluding topographic maps,geologic maps, GIS maps, andbiological cover maps; havestudents create their own mapsdepicting what is found on theirschoolyard; create a 3-Dtopographical map of theschoolyard.Using GIS software, studentscollect, report and map data ontheir schoolyard, community andwatershed.
Social Studies/Geography Standards andSchoolyard Habitats Projects
National standards documents referenced: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: Expectations of Excellence, NationalCouncil for the Social Studies, Bulletin 89, Washington, DC, 1994; Geography for Life: National Geographic Standards,Geography Education Standards Project, National Geographic Research & Exploration, Washington, DC, 1994.
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High SchoolApplications
Geography Standard I:The World in Spatial Terms—Grades 9 -12“The geographically informed personknows and understands how to usemaps and other geographicrepresentations, tools and technologiesto acquire, process and reportinformation from a spatialperspective.”
Use maps such as topographicmaps, geologic maps, GIS maps,and biological cover maps toresearch local habitat types andSchoolyard Habitats issues.Create a base map of theSchoolyard Habitats site,overlaying new site plans overexisting topography.Use GIS software to have studentscollect, report, and map data ontheir schoolyard, community andwatershed.
Geography Standard 8:Physical Systems—Grades 9 –12“The geographically informed personknow and understands thecharacteristics and spatial distributionof ecosystems on the Earth’s surface.”
Research local native plants andwildlife, soil types, andwatersheds that affect yourSchoolyard Habitats site.Compare findings to those indifferent regions of the countryand explain any differences.
Geography Standard 14:Environment and Society—Grades 9 –12“The geographically informed personknows and understands how humanactions modify the physicalenvironment.”
Research the pre-settlement, pre-industrial, and recent uses of yourschool grounds/the potentialSchoolyard Habitats site.Determine human-inducedfactors that may make your siteunsuitable for supporting wildlifeand vegetation.
Using your Schoolyard Habitatssite as an example, develop a casestudy of the positive and negativehuman influences on schoolgrounds.
REACHING HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS ON THE SCHOOLYARD
“These habitats will strengthen the children’s understanding of life’s interdependencyand provide hands-on opportunities to learn life skills and reinforce curriculumexpectations...Our students learn many life skills as they develop and implement theplants necessary to create our Schoolyard Habitats. They learn and apply the skillsnecessary to budget, cooperate with others, respect the rights and views of others,share responsibility, time management, and effective expression of ideas. Thesehabitats provide a natural, real-life, hands-on learning experience to enhance manyof our K-5 science learning outcomes. Students will be able to learn aboutliving/non-living things and how different weather conditions affect the plants.They will be able to observe habitats, adaptation of plants and animals, foodchains/webs, and life cycles of plants and animals. Higher grades study the impacthumans have on ecosystems and how a community of living things changes overtime. All grade levels learn about the quality of air, water, and land and toincorporate and apply their knowledge as they recycle. Our students will use theirwritten language skills to write sentences, paragraphs, stories, compositions, andposition papers about what they have seen and learned in their SchoolyardHabitats site....Math skills and problem solving are applied as students graph andchart the growth of many plants, temperature changes, and the number of plantsanimal species either planted in or attracted to our schoolyards. Students alsoincorporate social studies as they study the different habitats and ecosystems nativeto our community and the importance of native habitats to the community.”
Johnson Elementary, Schoolyard Habitats site #1423, Milford, MI
Technology Standard 5:Technology Research Tools“Students use technology to locate,evaluate, and collect information froma variety of sources.”
Use hand tools such as metertapes, calculators, thermometers,compasses, and othermeasurement tools for collectingquantitative data about theSchoolyard Habitats site.
Technology Standard 4:Technology CommunicationTools“Students use a variety of media andformats to communicate informationand ideas effectively to multipleaudiences.”
Organize and communicateSchoolyard Habitatsmeasurements and experimentaldata by computer-generatingcharts, base maps, and graphs.Use desktop publishing softwareto create a Schoolyard Habitatsnewsletter or column.
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National standards document referenced: National Educational Technology Standards for Students, International Society forTechnology in Education, 2000.
“Science in the Oakdale Bohemia Schoolyard begins with sixth grade study of weather and ecology, including biotic and abioticfactors of the environment. Seventh grade botany focuses on plant forms and functions. Eighth grade classes use the schoolyard toexamine physical and chemical processes and construct a weather station to study precipitation, temperature change and windspeeds. Study of topography, soil and ground water analyses lead to the lab activities of ninth grade regents Earth Science andBiology. Computer technology provides tools for Internet and library research, measurement and classification of data, as well aspublishing the various products of classroom activity.
Math classes practice computational, algebraic, geometric, and trigonometric skills with real world data. Adaptation in methodsof teaching word problems to students working as field researchers enables full inclusion of students of varied experiences,developmental levels, and learning styles.
Social Studies begins in sixth grade with the story of the ancient inhabitants of Long Island and continues through seventh grade,learning about maps and finding clues to the human impact on our locale in Long Island history. Students begin mapping theschoolyard in eighth grade, using data collected from sixth and seventh grade explorations and adding the new features exploredin science classes. Ninth graders link the map of the schoolyard to boundary features impacting the school and catalog currentevents that relate to its microenvironment.
English classes capitalize on the rich opportunities for note-taking, developing ideas, and writing that connects to student work inother disciplines. Experiences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing are many and varied, according to the learningstandards implemented in each classroom across the grade levels. A guidebook to the history and environment of the schoolyard isproduced in parts by all classes submitting material to be edited and published by ninth grade cooperative learning groups.Students evaluate local environmental issues to create and implement an environmental action plan.”
Oakdale Bohemia School, Oakdale, NY, Schoolyard Habitats site #1440
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Schoolyard Habitats sites provideteachers of all subject areas withunique, hands-on opportunities formeeting and exceeding standards oflearning requirements. Thisdocument merely scratches the surfaceas to the many ways in which ahabitat-based learning area can beutilized to meet educationalrequirements, while offering studentsunique learning opportunities thatcannot be duplicated in thetraditional, indoor classroom setting.Many students need more than books,
worksheets and carefully contrivedexperiments; they need hands-onexperience in a vibrant setting thatillustrates to them the “real world”context of their education. ASchoolyard Habitats project canprovide the setting, the subjectmaterial and the process skills to makelearning come alive for students.
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Conculsion
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ANALYZE YOUR CURRICULUM
Take time to review the document which drives the curriculum at your school,whether that be your own plans for the year, state frameworks, nationalstandards, or otherwise. As a grade-level, subject-area, or as a Schoolyard HabitatsTeam, review this document as a group, with an eye towards opportunities forteaching with the schoolyard as a tool. Notice which concepts, skills, andcontent can be covered by teaching on the schoolgrounds. First, use a brightmarker to highlight all of the standards or skills that could be taught using yourSchoolyard Habitats site.
Looking back at the highlighted sections, you may either find content and/orskills which would work particularly well in a schoolyard activity. Every educatorhas their own process for lesson planning; some may choose to organize the skills
and content with a schoolyard connection in chartform. Whether using a chart, a planning wheel, oranother tool, work to organize your findings and linkthem to your plans for schoolyard instruction.
Below is a slice of one teacher’s brainstorming chartwhich she completed as she went through her statestandards and frameworks. While reading through herhighlighted sections, she noted which skills and contentshe could cover on her schoolyard; along the way shejotted down ideas as to the types of lessons and activitiesshe could use to organize her instruction.
FRAME SCHOOLYARDWORK STD ACTIVITY
CONTENT NUMBER SKILL NUMBER BRAINSTORM
Become familiar 2.3 Classification; 4.9 Have studentswith northeastern using a key identify grasses inwetland plants schoolyard
wetland
Same as above 2.3 Communicate 1.5 Students createinformation in mini-field guide toclear, concise our school’smanner wetland grasses
Some schools may choose to create their own charts based upon the specificterminology and structure of standards in their district or school.
As an example, the following is an excerpt of a chart created by Liberty Union-Thurston School to identify Ohio standards which could be met effectively intheir Schoolyard Habitats site.
Using the preceding sample as a guide, use this worksheet to analyze the content and skills you plan to teach, and the waysthese can be brought to life through the Schoolyard Habitats site.
FRAME SCHOOLYARDWORK STD ACTIVITY
CONTENT NUMBER SKILL NUMBER BRAINSTORM
Analyze Your Curriculum
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SCHOOLYARD HABITATS AND SERVICE LEARNING
Educators approach Schoolyard Habitats projects in many ways. For some, thehabitat project may become the theme for the year, and thus every step of theproject is embraced as a learning experience. Others may teach an in-depth uniton watersheds or endangered species, and then engage in a Schoolyard Habitatsproject as the action component of the unit. Many teachers enjoy this modelbecause students immediately apply knowledge learned in the classroom to alocal or global environmental issue; they experience and become aware of theirpotential to take action and affect positive change on that issue. Since manypublic and private schools today have service learning requirements, otherclassroom teachers use the Schoolyard Habitats project as the vehicle with whichto teach service learning, career, and life skills concepts.
Many afterschool programs, nature centers, and other non-formal educationalsettings find Schoolyard Habitats projects to be the perfect focus for their
activities—the perfect way to teach hands-on skillsthrough a fun and meaningful service project,adaptable to students of all ages. There are manyafterschool programs, environmental clubs, andnature centers that have engaged in on-goinghabitat enhancement projects and have joined ournetwork of certified Schoolyard Habitats sites.
In other cases, individual youth involved in aservice-oriented club will do a special project toassist the work of another group of people engagedin a habitat project. For instance, many GirlScouts, Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts have workedtowards badges by pitching in to help a localSchoolyard Habitats project, helping witheverything from trail maintenance to theconstruction of benches and nesting boxes.
Schoolyard Habitats andService Learning
“Involving young people in service learning activities is increasinglyseen by educators and community leaders as a powerful strategy forimproving educational performance, supporting school improvement,and contributing to community renewal—simultaneously. In servicelearning, students are involved in experiential learning, longrecognized by educational leaders as one of the most powerful learningcontexts of all, in which students learn by doing. In service learning,students participate in an educational process that relates their serviceexperience directly to the curriculum’s subject matter, while at the sametime making a valued contribution to their neighborhoods andcommunities.” 1
1 Page i, Executive Summary. Boston, Bruce O. Service Learning: What itOffers to Students, Schools, and Communities. A Report from the Council ofChief State School Officers; The Close Up Foundation, Earth Force, and theNational Society for Experiential Education.
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SCHOOLYARD HABITATS AND SERVICE LEARNING
No matter how the SchoolyardHabitats project is approached, theprogram’s components ofenvironmental stewardship,contribution to the widercommunity, and teamwork as partof an educational project, all fit thetypical criteria for “servicelearning” projects.
In a recent report entitled “ServiceLearning: What it Offers to Students,Schools and Communities” the Councilof Chief State School Officers writes:
This report also shares the resultsfrom their quantitative NationalSurvey of over 1000 service learningstudents (involved in a Learn andServe program); highlights of theirfindings about Service Learningfollow.
Impact on Students
Students involved in service learning scored significantly higher on 4 of 10evaluation measures:
1.Engagement in school2.Grades3.Core-subject grade average (English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies)4.Educational aspirations (e.g. wanting to graduate from a four-year college).
Participants showed statistically significant impacts on measures of civic participation,such as personal and social responsibility, acceptance of cultural diversity, andleadership.
Impact on Communities
More than two-thirds (of officials from community organizations) said that Learnand Serve students had fostered a more positive attitude toward working with theschools; more than half said that new relationships with the public schools had beenproduced.
Impact on School Improvement
Service learning is an adaptable process andnot a curriculum; it does not compete withthe standard curriculum. Rather, it supportsand deepens curricular improvement andinvolvement for all students.
Service learning enhances school-communitypartnerships, one of the most productiveeducation renewal strategies. Service learninghelps give communities a positive stake inwhat happens in their schools.
Because service learning requires participants tothink across the boundaries of traditionaldisciplines, students become more adept atintegrating their learning and applying itconcretely—a core learning goal. 2
