Watch this online video modeling an outdoor activity for your students. Building an elf or fairy house is becoming a popularly recommended “nature play” activity, especially for young children. Research shows unstructured time in nature increases cognitive, creative, psychical, and emotional development in children. It also increases children’s connection to nature and their likelihood of holding conservation values as an adult.

I bribed my family with brownies to participate in an educational game night! In this video, we play a farm-themed word association game called Expression Connections taken from the Food, Land, and People curriculum. Try it out with your own family or classroom, and discover how many connections exist between you and the food that you eat!

Correlations to NC Essential Standards: Depends on how the lesson is adapted, but there is a lot of flexibility in this activity to be adapted to many standards in Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies.

In this virtual resource, students will engage their senses to observe birds in their schoolyard. They will compare different types of birds by color and shape, and evaluate their schoolyard for birds' basic needs.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Most field trips incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will explore soil texture on their school ground, and demonstrate the connection between texture and plant growth through a kinesthetic activity.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will think about the needs of plants and animals in their environments through a reading of "The Salamander Room." They will explore and compare different NC environments through 360 videos, and investigate the environment right outside their home or school.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Most field trips incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will explore a frog's unique life cycle and listen to sounds of several frogs that are native to NC. They will investigate and evaluate their schoolyard for frog habitat through mapping.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will observe rocks in their own schoolyard and take a virtual field trip to Spencer Mountain, learning from a local historian and geologist about the natural and human history of the landform.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will investigate the lithosphere, focusing specifically on conservation practices to improve soil quality. They will evaluate their school grounds, and sketch a plan to improve the soil health in their space.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will model the function of a watershed, and apply these concepts to an investigation of how water flows on their school grounds.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will explore how convection drives global weather patterns such as the ENSO.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will predict the weather using wind direction and cloud charts.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this virtual resource, students will predict the weather using wind direction and cloud charts.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

This video includes an interview with Tim Heafner, an amateur geologist and historian from Gaston County. I also demonstrate a fun activity modeling the formation of Spencer mountain.

This short video wraps up the 3-part Spencer Mountain series, explaining the local history around the mountain.

Join me as I uncover the secrets of one of Gaston’s County’s most beloved but overlooked landmark: Spencer Mountain. In this video, I investigate such questions as: who owns the mountain? How did it form? And- can I go to the top? But, a visit to the mountain raises more questions than it answers, so stay tuned for next week’s Part 2 as I continue to explore the history of this mountain.

Healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy ecosystem, and is inextricably linked to the biota found beneath the surface. This activity demonstrates an easy way to discover life within the soil.

Healthy soil gives us many benefits, including nutritious food. During this video, I interview a local farmer to find out how he takes care of his soil. I also demonstrate an activity where students can try their hand at designing their own soil-friendly yard or green space, either at home or at school.