BHS Field Trips

On October 6 and 9, the I4E Teaching and Learning team welcomed our first major field trip endeavor to our outdoor spaces. Our initiative as graduate assistants has been to open up the wonderful outdoor classrooms at Saint Michael’s to our surrounding community and make the environment accessible to all ages and backgrounds of students. With this in mind, the GA team created curricular kits and a menu of activities for local schools to utilize and experience when visiting the college. Over the summer, we were fortunate enough to test run these ideas with local teachers taking part in the Middle Grades Institute courses at SMC. One Burlington High School science teacher enjoyed the activities and saw the potential to collaborate, leading to our largest student group visit to I4E.

We worked with the 9th grade science team to bring the entire grade to Saint Michael’s in order for them to get hands-on, space based learning experiences in our natural areas! Across the two days, around 240 9th graders, as well as about 10 teachers from the high school visited the campus! The students were split into groups, half of the kids starting on the Farm and the other half heading down into the Natural Area, and then the two groups swapped. While in the Natural Area, the students learned about floodplains and their importance to the environment and Lake Champlain. The group was split further, one team staying at the teaching pavilion, and the other team walking deeper down the trails to actually see the floodplain and make observations about the vegetation. This team was led by George and had special guest speakers along the trails, like our Eco-restoration students and professors Declan McCabe and Trevien Stanger. The other team of students stayed at the teaching pavilion to take part in a filtration simulation, led by graduate assistant Julie. The students used mason jars, rags, and muddy water, to simulate the way a healthy floodplain filters water on its way to the lake. They took notes and made observations to have further discussions with the walking group in their science classes back at school!

While on the Farm, the many hands supported the end of season preparation! These visits lined up with the SMC fall break so the usual undergraduate volunteer groups were not available, but the BHS 9th graders were ready for action! They helped cut down and clear the invasive Sumac trees, take down the green beans in the hoop houses, pull out the summer flowers, and more! The Farm was buzzing as students went back and forth to the compost piles, clearing and prepping for the winter! It was incredible to see so many young people interacting with nature and enjoying the beautiful environment that Saint Michael’s College offers. All of us in the Teaching and Learning branch are so thankful to the many wonderful people that helped make these two field trips run smoothly and successfully. Both the BHS team and SMC are looking forward to a lasting partnership in which the entire 9th grade will visit our natural areas for years to come!