Abstract
Most children today have little or no experience in the natural world. In many urban areas, children are surrounded by a jungle of cement and asphalt, have limited “free” playtime outdoors, and generally get their nature experiences second-hand from television and videos. Children are starved for real experiences with nature. This action research project takes place at Myrtle S. Finney Elementary School, a low performing public school, located one and a half miles from the Mexico/U.S. border in Chula Vista, California. Through the use of participatory ethnographic methodologies, this study shows what happens when twenty, third grade students were given the opportunity to “freely” explore nature in a school setting. The data reveals that students connected with nature, demonstrated empathy toward living organisms, took charge of their own learning, and developed social skills. It demonstrates that the school setting can be one way to help bridge the gap between children and the natural world. While exploration of nature was the focus of this research, integrating my passions for photography, art, science, and a love for collecting nature items played a key role in the process. In addition to experiencing the natural world, students developed new interests and hobbies.
Introduction
My passion for science and love of nature began when I was a little girl. Unaware at the time, I was engaged in inquiry-based science my entire childhood. My father, a botanist, and my mother, an entomologist, fostered my curiosity of the natural world by encouraging me to explore, make discoveries and ask questions about everything from how rainbows are made to why some creatures can only live in the ocean and why plants are green. I fondly remember spending weekends and holidays outdoors growing flowers and vegetables, camping, hiking to remote areas, exploring tide pools, observing birds and animals, and collecting insects, rocks and plant specimens. Our backyard was my very own private sanctuary. It was home to two pet mallards that followed us around the garden. Frequently, they perched themselves on our shovel waiting eagerly for worms to appear and, when they did, were quickly plucked and devoured. My father built a small pond with a waterfall that was home to tadpoles and frogs. My bedroom, even throughout my teen years, looked like a museum of natural history. On display were rocks, pressed plants, and shell collections. I was taught to respect all living organisms and be a good steward of the Earth. Today, as a young woman reflecting on my early years, I realize how fortunate I am to have had such a rich and full childhood with the opportunity to learn about the natural world through the process of inquiry.
My positive childhood experiences not only influenced my decision to become a teacher, but determined the kind of teacher I have become and are reflected in my classroom. I believe students learn best when they are provided with a safe, nurturing, challenging, but fun, environment where everyone is valued and treated with dignity and respect. To provide nature experiences in the classroom, my students enjoy our “zoo” and care for various kinds of indoor plants. Currently, our classroom zoo houses a rat, we call Cupcake; two hissing cockroaches, Tank and Dunkers; two fire-belly frogs, Rib and It; two turtles, Kicky and Stacey; and a tarantula named Skippy. These animals are not only attended to and loved by my twenty students, but remain popular attractions for the entire student body.
Outside the classroom, I long to share my passion for teaching science, and communicate my knowledge about our environment and natural world through the school setting. Sadly, through no fault of their own, today’s children spend much of their free time at the mall or indoors playing video games and watching television. They deserve the opportunity to experience the joy of exploring the outdoor world and discovering nature’s gifts. I hope by offering nature experiences at school, it will help them develop a fascination and appreciation for plants and animals and discover new interests. I am passionate about providing students with the outdoor setting and experiences that are sorely missing, bridging the gap between today’s children and nature. I wish to inspire students’ interests by exposing them to the natural world, helping them to recognize the current state of our environment and encouraging them to take ownership of their planet. It is critical that students be given the chance to develop the mindset and receive the background knowledge, acquired through real natural world experiences, so they can ultimately confront the environmental issues plaguing our world today.
Setting
This research was conducted at Myrtle S. Finney Elementary School located in Chula Vista, California. Chula Vista is located approximately one and a half miles north of the U.S. / Mexico border. Finney Elementary is part of the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD), the largest K-6 school district in California, with 44 schools.
Finney Elementary is a traditional public school with a diverse student population. Because of its close proximity to the Mexico border, 77% of Finney students come from a Hispanic or Latino background. This accounts for the high number, over one-half, of English Language Learners attending Finney, which is 16% higher than the district’s average. Approximately 58% of the students qualify for free or reduced meals. While parent involvement is very low in most classrooms, it does vary from classroom to classroom, and typically is a reflection on the individual teacher. Granted, in many situations, both parents work outside the home, but it has been my experience that parents do want to participate in their child’s education but are not sure how. Reaching out to my students’ parents/guardians has proved to be a successful strategy for me.
Finney institutes many programs to ensure all students’ needs are met. These include the Second Language Education Program that places a bilingual teacher in each grade, a Resource Specialist Program, a half-day special education preschool class, and a full-day severely handicapped special education class. As mentioned earlier, Finney follows the traditional approach to learning, which includes a curriculum dictated mainly by the district and the textbooks and instructional manuals they select.
This Action Research Project will be conducted inside our classroom, in the small garden located in front of our classroom, and the large Finney school garden. The small garden is approximately 8 feet wide and 15 feet long, with cement walkways on three sides and windows bordering the south side. The large garden is currently 88 feet wide and 47 feet long. The north and east sides of the garden border a steep, wild canyon with its natural habitat of plants and animals. The west side of the garden faces houses and the south side consists of a large, flat vacant area facing the school classrooms. I plan to expand the garden into this area for a total space of 10,500 square feet. This is an ambitious project, but a doable one.
Two years ago, the garden consisted of eleven, four by six by two feet raised planter boxes; one hose bib with running water; and a barrel-shaped composter. The garden was surrounded by a six-foot chain-link fence and a pad-locked gate. No one was using the garden. It was completely devoid of plants except for the three-foot weeds covering the entire area. After surveying the abandoned garden one Saturday in the Spring of 2008, I set a plan in motion.
I wrote several garden grants and was fortunate to receive all of them. I began spreading the word to other teachers about my vision for the school garden, but no one appeared interested. That didn’t stop me because I was on a mission. At the local Home Depot and Lowes, I purchased six tables with benches; pallets of soil, compost and manure; a wheel barrow; garden tools; gloves; hoses; an eight by eight foot storage shed; three shade structures and other miscellaneous items to get us started. I enlisted the help of our school custodian and my classroom of eager students to start the weed clean-up and putting the shed together. It was great fun and we got the job done…so far.
My fourth and fifth grade students, last year, moved the old planter boxes into a new formation and filled them with planting mix. They accomplished it all in a couple of hours! I don’t think I have ever seen them have so much fun. The next day, I brought in some small potted plants of herbs and vegetables for the children to plant and water. After observing the kids in action for the two days, I asked myself the question, “What happens when children explore nature in a school setting?” That was it. I was one hundred percent convinced that I found the perfect action research project.