GEMS: Schoolyard Ecology

This guide is designed to nurture curiosity about the patterns and interactions in nature, beginning with the immediate environment?¢the schoolyard. Students learn biological sampling techniques; mapping and related mathematical skills are developed. In addition to temporarily collecting samples in “shake boxes,” special investigations focus on ants and spiders. Students discover that a bush may be home to a “community” of interacting plants and animals. Based on their observations and findings, students select a small area as their favorite location. Environmental writing about this location crowns the closing activity.

Grades 3?Æ6
5 Activities
120 pages
ISBN: 0-924886-35-8