PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND ADMIRING NATURE On Thursday June 18th, 2015,both fourth grade classes, their teachers and I took a field trip to Parque Liana in M贸stoles. There we learned about their environment, the great variety of animal species that reside in the city, and how to preserve and to protect the planet's natural beauty. After a brief bus ride to the park, we were greeted by two friendly park rangers, one for each class, who would be our guides for the day. The 4潞B students, Laura and I followed one of them into the classroom of a nearby building. Once inside, we each took a seat and listened attentively to a presentation about the native species of birds, as well as the invasive species of birds, that inhabit M贸stoles, their calls and their purpose in the environment as well as the dangers of releasing pets into areas outisde their natural habitat. Following the ranger's dynamic and interactive presentation, students made pins out of bottle caps, Styrofoam from meat packaging, a safety pins, and pictures to remember their trip to the park.
After completing this activity and a quick snack, students learned how to orient themselves on a map using the position of the sun and other natural phenomenon, such as moss growing on the north side of tress in the northern hemisphere. With the aid of this new information, they completed a scavenger hunt that consisted of six identification activities. For the first activity and second activity, they identified the different types of trees in the park and vegetables in a nearby garden. In the third activity and fifth activity, they sorted waste products and placed them into their correct trash receptacle and thought of ways to reduce pollution by comparing a heavily polluted urban area to a clean one. The fourth and sixth activities had students find and identify pictures of birds in the park while completing a word search and had them locate plants and feathers in the park by touch and smell alone. The very interactive nature of these six educational activities and the need to move continuously from station to station allowed students to learn about nature from these diverse handson experiences. When it was time to leave and as we were boarding the bus, everyone was wearing the pin that they made and had a smile on their face. I am certain that many students are eager to continue experiencing nature and would enjoy doing more activities outside.
By John Giblin