By Lisa Carolin
Fourth-graders at South Meadows Elementary School have been receiving hands-on science lessons this month during field trips to the Eddy Discovery Center at the Waterloo Recreation Area.
The opportunity is courtesy of the Waterloo Natural History Association, which paid for the school’s busing costs.
Students have had the opportunity to take bog walks as part of their science unit on the study of ecosystems and organisms in their habitats.
“We are studying the roles and interactions of producers, consumers and decomposers as well as human impact on ecosystems,” explained fourth-grade teacher Andrea Bavineau, whose class took the field trip on Oct. 11. “We are also closely investigating the physical and behavioral characteristics that allow organisms to survive in their habitat.”
Bavineau’s students enjoyed the experience of learning out in the field.
“When you look upon the organisms, you know what they are,” said fourth-grader Alaina James. “When one thing dies, another thing takes its place.”
“We saw a lot of producers like different types of trees, and consumers like aphids that were on the trees,” said classmate Taylor Wharton. “We got to see salamanders, snakes, and turtles.”
Fourth-grader Drew Blanton said that he liked being able to see how organisms live in the environment.
“I like seeing animals eat other animals, like the turtle eating the worm,” he said.
“I liked learning about invasive species,” said classmate Indy Hurst.
When Bavineau’s students returned to their classroom that afternoon, she reviewed the day’s activities with a slide show of photos she had taken during the bog walk.
“Pull out your writer’s notebooks and write down everything you remember from today’s visit to the Discovery Center,” she told them.
Her students enthusiastically went about describing their adventure.
