Early Explorers

Field Investigations 

During your field investigations, for our Early Explorers programs, students explore and observe habitats at the Arboretum. Below is an overview of the “standard” program activities to assist you with integrating this field experience into classroom experiences. Changes may occur due to weather, the volume of students, or communication with environmental educators. This sample schedule document will vary depending on the number of classes.

Early Explorers: Meadow Discovery

Meadow Treasures 

Students take a walk through the meadow. They are encouraged to use their senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch. Along the way, they collect "meadow treasures" (seeds, leaves, stems, etc.) Students observe and dissect the treasures they have collected and discuss their interesting meadow discoveries.

Meadow Masterpieces 

Students become plein air artists creating a meadow art exhibit. They are provided with art supplies, draw and color the area of Blandy's meadow they are observing, and share their masterpieces with the rest of the group.

Movement in the Meadow

Students learn about different meadow animals and mimic how these animals move through their habitat. They slither, jump, leap, and peck their way through meadow obstacles. 

Meadow Yoga

Students practice meadow themed yoga poses while viewing Blandy's beautiful meadow. They are also challenged to create their own poses representing various meadow animals.

Early Explorers: Terrific Trees

Leaf Shape Hunt  

Using shape cards we explore looking for leaves in the shapes of star, heart, oval, cat, and fan. After leaves are collected they match leaf shapes and sort leaves using shape boards. Students also create leaf rubbings and discuss the shapes they observe.

Discovery Tree 

Students participate in a "poem walk", each stanza of the Discovery Tree poem is on a different page, after each stanza is read aloud, students move to the next stanza. After they complete the "poem walk" students sit on felt leaf shapes around a child-sized model tree. Each student gets to hold a felt model of an animal in the poem. The poem is read aloud again and as their creature is mentioned, they come up to place their animal on the tree. We then admire the diversity of animals that can live in one tree!

Tree Observations: Up Close and Far Away 

Students will observe and examine leaves, branches, and other tree parts far away using "tree scopes" and up-close with magnifying tools. They will discuss the the interesting things they discover, from different perspectives, using their senses.

Literacy Resources and Suggested Activities

Field investigations are more meaningful to students when they are integrated into their curriculum: therefore we recommend several texts and associated activities to enrich your students' experience. 

Meadow Habitat & Plants: Surprise in the Meadow - Fiction

Author and Illustrator: Anna Vojtech

Grade: PK- 2                Lexile: Lexile: 310L

Suggested Activities:

• Count all of the different meadow animals found in the story. How many did you find?

• Discuss how the sunflower seed was planted and what the seed needed to grow. Plant your own sunflower seeds, put them by a window, take care of them, and watch them grow!

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Plants & Flowers: Planting a Rainbow - Fiction

Author and Illustrator: Lois Ehlert 

Grade: PK- 2                Lexile: Lexile: 310L

Suggested Activities:

• Practice word, letter, and color recognition during read-aloud. 

• Go outside into your schoolyard and try to find as many colors as you can. What colors do you see? What colors are hard to find? What colors are easy to find? Draw and color what you observe on a piece of paper. 

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Plants & Trees: Leaf Man - Fiction

Author and Illustrator: Lois Ehlert 

Grade: PK- 2                Lexile: Lexile: 460L

Suggested Activities:

• Practice word and letter, shape, and color recognition during read-aloud. 

Plants & Trees: My Leaf Book - Fiction

Author and Illustrator: Monica Wellington

Grade PK - 2                Lexile:  Lexile: 450L

Suggested Activities:

• Practice word and letter, shape and color recognition during read-aloud. 
• Go outside to collect leaves (or bring leaves from home) and create a leaf book. Practice writing by labeling the leaves. (teacher will need to be comfortable identifying leaves OR make a literacy activity of describing the leaves and giving them names based on characteristics) 
• Create leaf rubbings or prints (activities in book)

Plants & Trees: We're Going On a Leaf Hunt - Fiction

Author: Steve Metzger            Illustrator: Miki Sakamoto

Grade PK - 2                Lexile:  Lexile: 410L