Contents tagged with science on the go

Nature in your backyard

Tags: nature, education, science on the go, chicago

1 Comment

Published On 12/6/2012

A couple of years ago, I taught a lesson about Midwest ecosystems in a fourth grade classroom on the far south side. Two weeks later, I returned to the same classroom, but before I could make it through the door, several students began excitedly shouting, “We saw a wetland! We saw a wetland! It’s right behind the school!” (And I’m not talking about moderate excitement; they were “I just won a million dollars” excited!) They couldn’t believe that the wetlands they had learned about in the classroom – cattails, ducks, and all – could be found right here in their neighborhood. Just behind their school, stuck in between the busy city streets, here’s what they had found:

Over the past several years, we’ve ramped up our efforts to connect students to the nature in their neighborhoods. Last month, as part of these efforts, I traveled around Chicago to photograph wetlands in different areas of the city. We know that many teachers aren’t able to take their students to visit wetlands, so we wanted a chance to bring those wetlands – the ones right in their neighborhoods - into the classrooms.

Can kids who live near McKinley Park learn to appreciate that their local wetland supports living things that aren’t found on most city blocks?

Can students in Lincoln Park get excited about turtles sunning themselves near their school?

Can school kids on the northwest side learn about bird migration by studying a Green Heron in Humboldt Park?

We think we have the answers to these questions: YES! ABSOLUTELY! OF COURSE! But let’s not forget that these connections to nature are always there, waiting for people to experience them, and not just in schools. Get out there and find out what’s going on with the nature in your neighborhood, and when you find something cool (which you certainly will!), we want to hear about it!

Kristi Backe
Curriculum Coordinator

View Comments

The Lives We Touch

Tags: education, science on the go, camp, summer camp, student workshops, teacher professional development

2 Comments

Published On 11/15/2012

The education department at the Nature Museum logged in just over 67,500 contact hours last year. Here is a breakdown of some of those hours:

Sharing our knowledge about science at 137 Science on the Go! classrooms.....

Conducting 627 student workshops for visiting school groups right here in the Nature Museum science labs.....

Visiting over 100 schools with in class workshops to 124 classrooms.....

Leading camps both on site and off that included over 375 children in the Chicago area.....

Supporting teachers while conducting 19 teacher professional development workshops that featured activities and strategies for hands on, inquiry based learning.....

And having fun the whole time we are doing it!

We are lucky to have this opportunity and are working very hard to make this year memorable for another 67,500+ students, teachers, parents, and others. Thanks for stopping by and letting us visit you at school!

Barbara Powell
Associate Director of Education Operations

View Comments