Environmental Education Curriculum to Accompany K-2 Field Trips
to Airlie Gardens and the Benefits of Environment-Based
Education at the Elementary Level

Melissa J. Milstead
University of North Carolina Wilmington

     Airlie Gardens dates back to its original purchase by Pembroke and Sarah Jones in 1886. It remained in their care until 1948 when it was purchased by W.A Corbett and his wife, Bertha Barefoot. The Corbett family sold the 67 acres which comprises today’s Airlie Gardens to New Hanover County in 1999. Since that time the county has worked to restore and preserve the area for public use. The gardens are home to hundreds of different plant and animal wildlife, as well as one of the last major undeveloped stretches of land along the Bradley Creek watershed. In addition to the tidal creek, the Gardens house two man-made freshwater lakes, the 450-year-old Airlie Oak, the Spring Garden, Showcase Garden, and Camellia Garden. Minnie Evans, former gatekeeper of Airlie Gardens and now renowned artist, is also recognized by the Bottle House in the Minnie Evans Sculpture Garden. In addition to efforts to restore the environmental efficacy of Airlie Gardens, New Hanover County also recognizes the educational opportunities offered by the gardens.
     The Environmental Education Program at Airlie Gardens offers environmental enrichment programs for adults in addition to summer camps and school programs. Field trips designed for third and eighth graders which meet North Carolina Standard Course of Study Objectives are accompanied with pre-visit, on-site, and post-visit activities. This curriculum, developed by the environmental education office of Airlie Gardens and led by Airlie volunteer docents and staff, was used by 885 third and 270 eighth grade students during the 2005-2006 school year. Third grade students explore topics such as plant biology, plant adaptations, seed dispersal, soil properties and decomposers. Eighth grade students have the opportunities to carry out water sampling, macroinvertebrate sampling, marsh collections, and plankton studies. They discuss topics such as water quality, wetland ecology, indicator species, estuarian systems, and resource conservation. The field trips, which are free to New Hanover County schools, provide opportunities to visit several outdoor classrooms including the Bradley Creek Overlook, Water-wise Garden, and Airlie Woods. The Bradley Creek Overlook allows students to observe birds in their natural habitat, observe the purpose of a riparian buffer, and discuss zonations of salt marsh. The Rain Garden demonstrates the importance of filtering storm water run-off using plants native to the Wilmington area. It is one of many opportunities to discuss examples of as well as the importance of storm water best management practices (BMP’s). In addition to rain gardens, the gardens also utilize constructive wetlands, shade trees, riparian buffers, rain barrels, and habitat gardens. The Water-wise Garden provides opportunities to view the carnivorous plant garden and various forms of wildlife, as well as discuss topics such as seed dispersal and tree parts. Airlie Woods offers the chance for students to learn about tree aging, worms, soil properties and decomposers.
     Although all grade levels are invited to visit Airlie Gardens, the lack of a developed curriculum forces the teacher and education staff to customize field trips on an individual basis. For this reason, I decided to work with the Environmental Education Program Coordinator at Airlie Gardens to develop a literature-based environmental education curriculum to accompany Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade field trips to Airlie Gardens. These grade levels are the most likely to attend Airlie Gardens on field trips, with over 500 students attending over the past year alone. These grade levels typically incorporate science and social studies into literature based lessons and most in need of a developed curriculum in order for teachers and volunteer docents to offer explicit instruction.
     Having grown up in Southern California, surrounded by hills, canyons, and beaches, I find it unbelievable the number of students who remain disconnected with the nature around them. Airlie Gardens offers an opportunity to get to know our local environment, explore the nature surrounding us, and appreciate the learning opportunities the outdoors has to offer. I find it disheartening that despite its convenient location and the many learning opportunities it offers, Airlie Gardens remains largely underutilized by many New Hanover County schools. Exposing students to this local environment and the many educational opportunities it has to offer will both help foster an appreciation of nature in these students as well as utilize meaningful learning opportunities in an outdoor environment.

Literature Review

     This project combines the idea that nature is beneficial to student learning with the notion that literature is a powerful tool to both encourage and explain students’ involvement with nature. The idea of environment-based education is not a new concept. It stresses experiential education and the immersion of students in their local environment. Environment-based education was revisited when Howard Gardner added nature smart to his list of multiple intelligences. Although this eighth intelligence was widely accepted, it probably remains one of the least addressed by teachers in the classroom. Despite its many benefits and natural ability to make students wonder and question, nature is rarely represented or utilized daily by schools. The idea that nature fosters creativity is a widely held view by environmental psychologists, educators, and even parents. One must only look at the lives and works of individuals such as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Jane Goodall, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt, or Eric Carle to witness the profound effect that nature had on their development. Experiencing nature allows children to use all of their senses and become more acutely aware of the environment around them. In addition, research shows that exposure to nature supports the psychological well-being of children, reduces many of the symptoms associated with attention-deficit disorder, and may improve scores on standardized tests (Louv, 1996). Direct-experience with nature has even proven to be an effective therapy for troubled youth.
     In 1890, philosopher and psychologist William James described two kinds of attention: involuntary (or fascination) and directed. Environmental psychologists Rachel and Stephen Kaplan have gone on to provide the public with an even better understanding of these two types of attention and their implications in the classroom. Fascination occurs naturally when a student notices something exciting or interesting, and requires no effort for the student. Directed attention, however, requires effort and may therefore lead to mental fatigue (James, 1982). Rachel and Stephen Kaplan refer to this as directed attention fatigue, which is marked by impulsiveness, agitation, irritation and inability to concentrate (as cited in Louv, 2006). According to the Kaplans’ research, nature can both provide relief to directed attention fatigue as well as restore attention. The implications of their research in the field of education are invaluable. The idea of combating directed attention fatigue with what the Kaplans refer to as a restorative environment has initiated a new trend of research by environmental psychologists (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989). Such research continuously points to the benefits of exposing children to nature and nature’s natural ability improve student learning.
     The idea of biophilia, the natural tendency to want to affiliate with nature, was first defined by E.O. Wilson (1984) and may also help explain many of the benefits offered by experience with nature. A child’s natural curiosity of the world around them is a perfect example of this innate tendency. Wilson (2006) claims every child is an explorer naturalist. Although this may be so, teachers still play a crucial role in cultivating this naturalist intelligence in children. If teachers do not encourage children to explore the environments and directly experience nature, they run the risk of allowing their students to become detached from nature. Wilson (2006) urges educators to open their doors to the outdoors: “let the child search… let him disturb nature…provide field guides, binoculars, and even microscopes…encourage and praise his initiative…and let him learn all things at his own pace” (p. 142). Teachers may have no control over what the child does and learns at home, but they can allow their students to experience nature as often and in as many different ways as possible while at school. If we are successful, these students may ultimately choose from among a variety of professions, but will be naturalists all their lives (Wilson, 2006).
     Stephen R. Kellert (2002) describes three different types of experiences with nature: direct, indirect, and symbolic, as well as their affect on cognitive and affective development. He defines a direct experience as actual physical contact in a natural setting, such as exploring one’s backyard or a local park (such as Airlie Gardens). Visiting a zoo, nature center, or implementing a school program would be considered more indirect experiences with nature, while symbolic experiences would include activities such as reading a book, watching TV, or viewing a film. The goal of a teacher should be to incorporate as many direct experiences with nature as possible into the class curriculum. Although environmental psychology is a relatively new field, the little research that has been conducted suggests that such experiences can have a significant impact on both cognitive and affective development. Kellert’s research indicates that “identifying, naming, classifying, and learning about the natural world can facilitate the developing capacity for sorting and retaining information and ideas” (2002, p. 122). Children begin this at an early age as they begin sorting and classifying flowers, plants, and animals. Through their experiences with nature and observations of their natural world, children learn to label, classify and identify objects. In doing so, they are practicing skills which are essential to cognitive development. In addition, natural experiences provide innumerable opportunities for critical thinking, creative inquiry, problem solving, and intellectual development. As Kellert (2002) so eloquently states, “A process of intellectual competence spirals upward through a matrix of direct, indirect, and vicarious experiences of nature, strengthening the cognitive muscle we call mind and developing and reinforcing the child’s capacities for empirical observation, analytical examination, and evidentiary demonstration” (p. 125).
     Studies also show the significant impact that experience with nature has on affective development. Through their interactions with nature, children learn to receive, respond to, value, organize, and characterize information. The natural sense of joy and wonder which results from interaction with their surrounding world provides a daily reminder of the profound effect nature has on a child. Rachel Carson (1998) notes how experiencing the diversity found in nature can also foster both enthusiasm and passion, two important emotions necessary for personality growth and affective development. When children are grown, the memories of their childhood often stress the emotional result of their interactions with nearby nature (Kellert, 2002).
     John T. Guthrie also notes the important role natural environments play in his theory of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction. Although teachers are aware that such natural environments are intrinsically interesting and naturally fascinating to students, they rarely connect these experiences to literacy development (Guthrie, 1996). Utilizing subject matter such as nature, which is naturally appealing to children, will inevitably result in a more effective learning experience. Just as a love of learning is fostered by passion for a subject, knowledge accompanied by pleasurable emotion will likewise foster passion for a subject (Wilson, 2006). Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) refers to an integrated instructional approach which combines real-world experiences with literary activities to facilitate learning. It is based on the idea that children are constantly making observations about their natural environments and attempting to explain them. Instruction begins with students observing their natural environment, personalizing their observations, then brainstorming and questioning (Guthrie, 1996). Instruction may also occur in the reverse: children explore their natural environments after reading about a related topic. Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction encourages students to relate their experiences and the information they read to what they already know. Literature, therefore, provides an effective means of connecting new information to students’ prior knowledge. It may provide the background information to help facilitate more meaningful learning later on.
     Teachers should use care and caution when selecting books because book selection is a crucial component to an engaging classroom environment. Although trade books are a more colorful, interesting, and relevant alternative to science textbooks, they should be chosen with care. When choosing high-quality trade books for teaching science, teachers should consider issues such as accuracy of information and illustrations, avoidance of stereotypes, quality of organization, level of vocabulary, and clarity of expression (Rice, Dudley, & Williams, 2001). Guthrie also cautions against trivializing the information. The conceptual themes must be significant in order to enhance the intellectual integrity and literary experience of the science topic (Guthrie, 1996). A study conducted by Rice et al. (2001), showed that children view the information in books as truth, whether it was correct or not. Their study demonstrated how trade books, when not chosen carefully can teach children misconceptions.
     The curriculum developed to accompany field trips to Airlie Gardens is based on these ideas; the field trips to Airlie Gardens offer the opportunity for students to directly experience nature, and thereby encourage student observations and questioning through nature’s natural ability to spark student interest in their natural environment. Guthrie cautions teachers against working alone (Guthrie 1996). He encourages them to use the many resources available to them. New Hanover County teachers have an opportunity to work with a local park to enhance their students’ understanding of their community and promote more meaningful learning through experiencing nature. The lessons developed in this project are literature-based for the reasons previously discussed. Combining literary experiences with children’s natural fascination with the world around them will undoubtedly result in more meaningful learning and more engaged readers.

Methodology

     I first met with the Environmental Education Program Coordinator at Airlie Gardens in order to identify the needs of Airlie Gardens and discuss possible solutions. She provided me with the third grade curriculum to use as a guide. The K-2 lesson plans I developed were modeled after this. The lesson plans were formatted the same way as those used by North Carolina states parks, using the Environmental Education Learning Experiences (EELE) Curriculum Guide. This includes pre-visit, on-site, and post-visit activities as well as student information pages, worksheets, fact sheets, vocabulary, and references. I included children’s literature selections in each plan, supporting the premise that non-fiction literature is motivating (Guthrie, 1996) and provides content area information in a usable format. Before beginning my project I completed the Human Subjects Training and submitted an IRB. I also used feedback from another student research study, concurrently developed through the Airlie Gardens Environmental Programs Office. In this study, the UNCW student surveyed New Hanover County teachers on their feelings about the effectiveness and organization of the Airlie Gardens field trips. The survey data was helpful in developing lesson plans that more appropriately met the needs and addressed the concerns of local New Hanover County teachers (Leister, 2006). I interviewed the district science coordinator as well, and received a list of recommended children’s literature titles to use in the lesson plans. I attended children’s literature classes at the university and requested students to send book titles to me that connected to the environmental program at Airlie. I submitted my lesson plans to the NHC science coordinator for recommendations. She invited me to attend a New Hanover County Science Rep Meeting at Airlie Gardens where I addressed the attending teachers, informing them of my project and providing them with the opportunity to review the lessons.
     In addition to the NHC district science coordinator, I received feedback from the science teacher at Gregory Elementary, a science magnet school, and several other elementary school teachers in New Hanover County. These included a kindergarten teacher from Bradley Creek Elementary and a second grade teacher from Codington Elementary. I asked the teachers to pay special attention to the age-appropriateness of the lessons and relevance of the children’s books, as they were two primary concerns expressed by the Airlie Gardens’ Environmental Education Program Coordinator. Suggestions included adding additional activities and strengthening connections between the lessons and the competency goals they address. Regarding age-appropriateness of the lessons, we agreed that it would be more effective to include pictures of Airlie wildlife to accompany the Kindergarten lesson plans. Teachers could then use these pictures to aid in student recollection as opposed to making a list of animals on the board since younger students would likely have difficulty recalling and reading a list of animals. When a meaningful and relevant opportunity arose, I would include extension activities at the end of the lessons as a means to offer additional opportunities to integrate the arts and make literary and math connections. This was one aspect of the curriculum with which the Airlie Gardens Environmental Education Program Coordinator was especially pleased. In addition, the Environmental Education Coordinator agreed with reviewing teachers that the format of the lessons should be changed from the multicolumn format of the 3rd and 8th grade curriculums, to a standard paragraph format. We agreed that this format was more readable and understandable. Occasionally, a teacher would express concern regarding the scientific content of the lessons and I would have to research the accurate information and verify my facts. This occurred, for example, in regards to tree aging. Therefore, before finalizing the lessons I verified my facts and discussed the content with the Environmental Education Program Coordinator. After reviewing and finalizing the lesson plans, I submitted the lessons to Airlie Gardens. The lessons were then piloted by a first grade teacher from Parsley Elementary who agreed to bring two classes on each of three days. She was given the first grade pre- and post-visit lesson plans in addition to the accompanying books and materials.

Results

     The collaboration with Airlie Gardens and New Hanover County teachers resulted in the creation of seven literature-based activities. Each activity includes a lesson to be completed prior to visiting Airlie Gardens and a lesson to be completed after visiting Airlie Gardens. The pre-visit lessons will more effectively prepare the students for what they will be experiencing on their field trip, while the post-visit lessons will help to make the experience last beyond the span of a single trip. These lessons will be distributed to the classroom teacher in a resource binder, along with the accompanying children’s books, prior to the field trip. In creating these lessons, I applied the research and ideas of the previously mentioned environmental psychologists and educators in order to create meaningful lessons to accompany field trips to Airlie Gardens. The lessons address significant scientific concepts in order to avoid trivializing the topic and compromising the intellectual integrity of the information (Guthrie, 1996). There are three activities to accompany Kindergarten class field trips, two for first grade field trips, and two activities for second grade field trips. A classroom teacher may choose to utilize one or all of the activities prior to the field trip, depending on the North Carolina curriculum standard he or she is addressing. The curriculum connections to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study are explicitly outlined prior to each activity along with the major concepts addressed and activity objectives. The activities are student-centered, literature-based, and many include extension activities. In addition to the books from which the lessons were developed, this project also resulted in a list of related children’s trade books which correlate to the science topics of the different activities. The trade books accompanying the lessons are colorfully illustrated and more interesting than a science textbook in order to make them more appealing to the students. The books were chosen with care using the guidelines of Rice et al. (2001) in order to ensure that they would be effective alternatives to science textbooks, but would not unintentionally teach students misconceptions. The environmental education program office at Airlie Gardens has purchased enough copies of the trade books to distribute to classrooms teachers when they sign up for a field trip.
     The first grade teachers from the elementary school who participated in the piloting of these lessons were very happy with both their experience at Airlie Gardens and the accompanying curriculum. They expressed their surprise at how much information the students were able to recall following the field trip, and commented on the high level of student enthusiasm and interest in the subjects. A sample activity can be viewed under Attachment A.

Discussion

     In addition to creating these activities to accompany elementary school field trips to Airlie Gardens, I wanted to make more New Hanover County teachers aware of the valuable resource they have available to them free of charge. Since over 2,000 students visited Airlie Gardens last year alone I hope that in the future just as many, if not more, students will take advantage of the many unique learning opportunities provided by Airlie Gardens. Since Airlie Gardens now has a curriculum to accompany kindergarten, first grade, and second grade class field trips, hopefully a greater number of New Hanover County teachers will be encouraged to participate in these free, convenient, and curriculum based field trips. As previously mentioned, Guthrie (1996) urges educators to take advantage of their local environments and the benefits of collaborating with others. By utilizing this service, teachers are not only taking advantage of an opportunity to collaborate with the university and the environmental educator at Airlie, but they also avoid the hazard of working in isolation. In addition, although the guidelines developed by Rice et al. (2001) were used in the development of the curriculum, it is still worth noting the importance of differentiating between fact and fiction within a few of the trade books. In order to most effectively prevent students from acquiring misconceptions, teachers should be careful to point out the fictional aspects of the trade book from the factual features of the book.
     Research clearly demonstrates the significant impact that interaction with the environment has on cognitive and affective development. New Hanover County teachers have the opportunity to utilize a naturally fascinating environment which facilitates student learning, questioning, and interest in the world around them. Therefore, the curriculum developed to accompany class field trips was created with the goal of exposing more teachers to Airlie Gardens and providing them with unique learning opportunities for their students. Hopefully their experience with Airlie Gardens will make a greater number of New Hanover County teachers more acutely aware of the many meaningful learning opportunities available to them in an outdoor environment.

Conclusion

     In conclusion, although Airlie Gardens provides an opportunity for local educators to take advantage of the benefits of environment-based education and outdoor classrooms, similar opportunities exist in most if not all schools across the nation. Such “backyard nature” can be seen anywhere from a local botanical garden to a city park to a school playground. Any school is capable of acquiring a bird feeder or bath, creating a native plant garden as a class project, conducting a nature walk on school grounds, utilizing an outdoor classroom, or simply incorporating lessons into the classroom which make use of the school’s local natural environment. Therefore, it should become a national effort to make more teachers aware of and encourage them to utilize the outdoor classrooms which exist locally in nature. Environment-based education provides an intrinsically motivating setting for experiential learning no matter the location of the school. If more educators were aware of the profound benefits which direct experience with nature can have on student development and learning, in addition to the fact that our students are growing more and more detached from nature, they would undoubtedly be more motivated to attempt significant school reform. This is especially important since the ability to save our children from what Louv (2006) refers to as nature deficit disorder may ultimately lie in the hands of our nation’s educators. We should therefore work together to inform our teachers and reform our schools to utilize the many naturally fascinating and intellectually stimulating outdoor learning opportunities provided by the natural environment surrounding us.

References

Carson, R. (1998) The sense of wonder. New York: HarperCollins.
Guthrie, J. (1996). Educational contexts for engagement in literacy. The Reading Teacher. 49, 432-445.
James, W. (1982). Psychology: The briefer course. New York: Henry Holt.
Kellert, S.R. (2002). Experiencing nature: Affective, cognitive, and evaluative
      development in children. In Kahn, Jr., P.H., & Kellert, S.R. (Eds.), Children and
Nature. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Kaplan, R, & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective.
      New York: Cambridge University Press.
Leister, K. (2006). Survey of teachers attitudes regarding Airlie Garden Environmental
      Education Programs. Unpublished research paper. Wilmington, NC: University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Louv, R. (2006, Jun/Jul). The nature-child reunion. National Wildlife, 44(4), 22-30.
Louv, R. (2006). Last Child in the Woods. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of
       Chapel Hill.
Rice, D., Dudley, A., & Williams, C. (2001). How do you choose science trade books?.
      Science and Children. 18-22.  
Wilson, E.O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wilson, E.O. (2006). The Creation. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Attachment A

Instructions:
Before visiting Airlie:

1. Read the book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynn Cherry.
2. Ask the students to recall the animals living in the tree.
3. Show the provided picture of the Airlie Oak Tree. Explain that the students will be taking a field trip to Airlie Gardens where they will see this tree. Discuss how this tree is similar and different to the Kapok Tree. Ask the students to predict what animals they think they will find at the Airlie Oak. Show these animals on the board using the provided pictures of animals found at Airlie Gardens.
4. Explain that while visiting the tree, we will observe what we see, hear, and feel. (The teacher or a parent volunteer can record the animals the students observe on the provided observation sheet.)

After visiting Airlie:

1. Recall the Airlie Oak Tree and the book we read prior to visiting Airlie Gardens. What animals did we observe at the Airlie Oak Tree? Show these animals on the board using the provided pictures of common animals seen at Airlie Gardens.
2. Allow each student to choose one of these animals. Provide each student with a single page of what will become a class book. Each student should identify and illustrate the animal they observed living in the Airlie Oak.
3. After each student has completed their page, combine the pages to create a class book.
4. Gather the students and read completed class book.

Extension Activities:
1. Go outside and enact the life of a tree:

• Curl up in a ball (you’re a seed)
• Uncurl and kneel (you’ve sprouted)
• Stick up one arm, clench fist (you’ve grown a branch)
• Wiggle your fingers (you’ve grown leaves)
• Stand up (you’ve grown tall)
• Spread feet apart (you’ve grown roots)
• Wiggle your toes (you’ve grown lots of roots)
• Start scratching all over (you’re attacked by insects)
• Make a loud noise (you get hit by lightning and lose a branch)
• Smile and sigh (an animal has made you its home)
• Make a creaking noise and fall down (you’ve blown down)
• Stick up one arm (a new tree has sprouted)

2. Create a Venn diagram or double bubble map comparing the animals found in the Airlie Oak to those found in the Great Kapok Tree. This should be done as a whole group activity with the teacher doing the recording.