Examining Relationships
In fourth grade, students are eager to head outside, make detailed observations in nature, and examine their field notes to determine cause and effect. Exciting, outdoor lessons are designed to encourage students to ask questions and explore solutions. Fourth graders will discover how internal and external structures help plant and animal communities survive and grow, and how Earth changes with human activity. Through hands-on investigations, students will develop their relationship to the environment and learn how to be good stewards of the Earth.
NGSS Supported: 4-ESS2-1, 4-ESS3-1, 4-ESS3-2, 4-LS1-1
In Ancestral Skills classes, students will learn about the Tongva (Gabrielino), Acjachemen (Juaneño), and Payómkawichum (Luiseño) people, the original inhabitants of Orange County and surrounding areas, their historical relationship with native plants and animals, and what we can learn from them today.
HSS Supported: 4.1.5, 4.2.1, 4.2.3, 4.2.5
Topics and activities to choose from:
Plants and Erosion Control
Students will head out to the school yard to search for evidence of erosion and deposition. How do water, wind, lack of vegetation, and human activity change the shape of the land? How can plants help hold soil in place and act as living sponges? Experiment with models and come up with a restoration plan.
The Dirt on Decomposers
What role do decomposers play in soil health? How is compost valuable to people, animals, and other living things? Students will take learning outside and search for decomposers in soil samples and compare living organisms using hand lenses and a microscope. Discover the magical process of composting and the critical role decomposers play in ecosystems!
*Earthroots can help set up a composting system that best meets the needs of your school.
Up Close with Grasses
Lawns are all around us – our schools, parks, and homes. How do these short grasses compare to tall, shade producing, native grasses? How do native grasses support native habitat? Students will compare native grasses and lawns, learn about grasses and erosion, and make a native grass craft.
Acorns (Ancestral Skills)
Acorns are an important part of our history and have been a food source for thousands of years all over the world. Why don’t most people eat them today? Students will learn how to process locally gathered acorns for food by cracking, shelling and grinding them with a mortar and pestle, and compare modern techniques to traditional methods of local indigenous tribes. At the end of this hands-on workshop, students will have the opportunity to taste bread made out of acorns.
Plant Fiber (Ancestral Skills)
Making cordage (rope) from plant fibers is an inextricable part of historical tool making and a foundational ancestral living skill. Cordage can be used for the string on hunting bows or on bow drills for making fire, the lashing to bind poles together for shelter, the netting used to catch fish or make bags, the string on a trap, fine jewelry string, rope for building bridges, binding rafts and much more. Students will learn how to process plant fiber, get to know California native, chaparral yucca, and take home their finished yucca rope.
Gourd Carving (Ancestral Skills)
Seasonal Availability
Before people made cups from materials like plastic, glass, or metal, they used natural items like gourds, shells, or animal skins to hold liquids. Students will carve their own small gourd to take home and use as a natural cup.
Plant Medicine (Ancestral Skills)
Plants have been used for medicine by our earliest human ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years, and many people still use them medicinally today. Students will learn about the healing properties of plants, get to know a few well known medicinal plants, and make a healing salve to take home.
