Back to that first place I called my sit-spot, things are looking different. The frosty ground bites through my black rubber boots and chills my feet to the bone. The tree I noticed a month ago, still green and strong. It’s yet to lose its greenery to the harsh Cranbrook winter. The ground is hard as rock. Hard enough to scar the knees of a falling student.

The air smells fresher than last time I was here. It smells lighter, breathing is easier. The air is so crisp my nose begins to freeze. I can feel it getting red.

The wind still whistles off the lake, through the trees, and chills the rest of my warm body. The sun is rising and the birds are singing. They are hustling around. Preparing for winter? Heading south? Praising the warmth of the sun?

Theses seasonal changes have many curricular connects. For example:

Kindergarten Science Big Ideas (BC Curriculum, 2018):

“Plants and animals have observable features” which connects well to the other big idea, “Daily and seasonal changes affect all living things”. By observing their environment and seasonal changes, students are observing the physical and observable aspects of plants and animals and how they change throughout the seasons. 

Grade 1 Science Big Ideas (BC Curriculum, 2018):

“Living things have features and behaviours that help them survive in their environment”. By having students observe different plants and animals we can observe how they survive through harsh winters. This is a valuable way to begin talking about hibernation and migration as well as different strategies plants use to survive swell.

Grade 2 Science Big Ideas (BC Curriculum, 2018):

“Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment” and “Water is essential to all living things, and it cycles through the environment” both of these allow teachers to have students observing the seasonal changes and lead in to conversations about , “how do plants get water/survive when the creeks are dried up or frozen?” or “how do plants and animals adapt to the changing seasons?”

I won’t go through all the activities I can think of for each grade but here is a list of some grade to grade big ideas that connect to seasonal changes:

Grade 3 Science Big ideas: “Wind, water, and ice change the shape of the land.”

Grade 4 Science Big Ideas: “All living things sense and respond to their environment.”

After taking the time to consider the curricular connections, I began to realize the simplicity involved in taking students outside of the classroom. We talk a lot about the amount of preparation involved in taking students outside of the classroom, but it doesn’t have to be. These activities simply involve taking your students outside, and letting them observe their surroundings.