May 2, 2019
Exploring the Amazon – in New Town
By Edna Sailor
First graders at Edwin Loe Elementary can talk about everything from Brazilian wandering spiders to tarsiers. That is because they have been immersed in studies about rain forests and their importance to human life.
When Jennifer Waterman decided to teach her first graders about the rain forest, she embarked on a four week unit that included plants, animals, insects and people that call the rainforests of the world home. Students learned about the different layers of the rainforest and those things that live in each one as well as where extinctions were taking place. The exercise concluded with a report from each student.
Waterman concluded that, “this type of study is a more unique way to approach the standards in learning so the students could learn how one thing in nature relies on another and when one thing disappears it affects others.”
Visitors need to duck the greenery to get in the door where plants and greenery forested the classroom with an ambiance lending itself to diving deep into the studies about all things rain forest. Taking time out from their reading and math studies, students expressed their delight and curiosity as Waterman provided each student with an opportunity to choose and research a plant or animal as their own private specialty area. The results and energy of the pursuits may find the best of us running to our databases to catch up.
When Jennifer Waterman decided to teach her first graders about the rain forest, she embarked on a four week unit that included plants, animals, insects and people that call the rainforests of the world home. Students learned about the different layers of the rainforest and those things that live in each one as well as where extinctions were taking place. The exercise concluded with a report from each student.
Waterman concluded that, “this type of study is a more unique way to approach the standards in learning so the students could learn how one thing in nature relies on another and when one thing disappears it affects others.”
Visitors need to duck the greenery to get in the door where plants and greenery forested the classroom with an ambiance lending itself to diving deep into the studies about all things rain forest. Taking time out from their reading and math studies, students expressed their delight and curiosity as Waterman provided each student with an opportunity to choose and research a plant or animal as their own private specialty area. The results and energy of the pursuits may find the best of us running to our databases to catch up.
