Experiencing ecosystems firsthand brings learning to life
Last Friday some of our Adolescent Program students stepped outside the classroom for a Work and Study excursion connected to their current studies of ecosystems. Spending time in the natural environment allows students to observe the relationships between plants, landforms and conditions in a direct way, making what they’ve learned in class even more meaningful. Experiences like this also help students develop a deeper respect for the environments that surround us.
After returning to school, the learning continued as students researched and identified the plants they had observed during the day. One of our students, Veda, shared their reflection on the experience:
“𝘖𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘞𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.”
The students left inspired by the diversity of the natural world, with new questions and ideas to explore back at school.
