Experiential Education

Resources for Elementary Teachers

Field Trips

Here are two field trips the Brayton 3rd Grade took in the spring of 2009.  As an example of the process, click on the link below to see teacher Robyn Lawson’s request for funding of these field trips.  She gives a detailed explanation of what will be learned, and connects the learning to the state frameworks.

Field-trip-request

At the Botanical Garden, the students learned about the process of gardening outdoors and saw various food plants being grown; learned which part of the plant they are eating when they have carrots, potatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, etc. (stem? roots? leaf?); and planted their own basil plant to take home with them!

Science Experiments

Cornstarch expirement

Ingredients for our experiment:

  • 200 lbs cornstarch, add water with a hose slowly, stir until you have consistency of pancake batter
  • large mixing tub (from a hardware store)
  • ramps to access the tub

6th Grade Science Journalism Unit

This unit was created by Elementary Outreach intern Stephanie Wren.  It was created with the 2nd grade artist and scientist river unit in mind, but has been constructed so that it can be easily adapted to any science topic.  The time frames are left open to teacher discretion, and more details can be added to the lesson plans depending on the topic being pursued.  Contact Jennifer Swoap at jswoap@williams.edu with questions or for help getting started with this unit.

If this unit is being used with the 2nd grade river unit (which happens from March-May), the idea is to have 6th grade students interview the second graders in the spring (or in the fall, when they are now 3rd graders) about their experience with the river unit.  In their interview, they will obtain information about what specifically is learned in the artist/scientist program, what the 2nd grade students’ experience is like, and why this is interesting to others in the community.  The goal is to contact a local newspaper and get one of the class articles published, which also serves the purpose of informing the community of the science learning going on at the elementary school as well as some interesting river science and art!

Curriculum Ideas And Sources

Websites for science activity ideas:

Have any ideas or great lessons you’d like to see on this website, or turned into a ‘learning kit’ for the public – other teachers and kids – to access? Email Jennifer Swoap with suggestions.

Science Lessons And Units