Last Thursday, 135 5th grade students from Longsjo Middle School in Fitchburg visited Crocker Conservation Area for a day of fun and exploration. Our Terracorps service member, Jenn, worked with 5th grade science teacher, Kyle Diaz, to plan the annual 5th grade field trip to our conservation area. NCLT has been involved in the planning of this trip in past years and were excited to again have the opportunity to show a new group of students a hidden gem so close to their school.
Students spent the day interacting with nature by taking nature hikes and participating in themed activities such as ponding, nature journaling, and basket weaving (pictured below). They identified aquatic critters, flipped rocks looking for insects, and drew connections to the life sciences that they studied this school year. Perhaps the greatest benefit from the day was to see the kids shed their apprehension and embrace the unfamiliar as they connected with nature.
This field trip was part of NCLT’s ongoing partnership to bring science enrichment to students at Longsjo Middle School and was made possible in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts. Thanks to this generous grant, NCLT has been able to provide innovative, hands-on activities to supplement the science curriculum for the 2017-2018 school year. This grant also allowed us to hire program leaders for our field trip and create nature exploration packs to inspire critical thinking and inquiry into the natural world.
