Spring has sprung my friends! The weather here in Arizona has been so nice, I’ve tried to take advantage of it before it gets to 110F. When the weather is nice, I like to find ways to take my students outside. There are almost endless possibilities for an outdoor classroom, but I wanted to put together a list of ideas, as well as tips for when you head outdoors.
Tips for Outdoor Classroom Day
Planning on heading outside? Skim through this list of tips to make sure your day runs smoothly:
- First, I would run your idea by admin. Are they okay with you going outside? If your lesson aligns to a standard and you aren’t headed out just to play kickball, I don’t think you’ll have a problem. But the office does like to know, especially if they call your room looking for a student.
- Where are you headed? If you are just headed out to a grassy area on campus, no need to worry, but you might need to check with the PE teachers if you want to use the football or soccer field. If there is a cool (walkable) place to visit across the street that is just off campus, you might need permission slips. We have a lake at a city park next to my school, but since it is off campus I need parent permission slips even though it’s not officially a field trip.
- Prep your students. Make sure students know your expectations. Are they expected to stay in one confined area? Are they allowed to roam around (depending on the lab or activity?) Do they have to stay with a partner? Do they know how much time they have to complete the activity? What if they have to go to the bathroom?
- Prep your materials. If you have a rolling cart, this is GOLD for taking lab supplies outside. I also keep a box of clipboards by the door and students can grab one on their way out.
Outdoor Science Classroom Ideas
Ok, so the weather is nice, and you want to head outdoors, but you’re not sure what you can do with students. First, think about what labs or activities you already do with students that could be done outdoors. It could be something as simple as taking a stations activity outside and taping the station directions to the wall. Or, you could plan an activity that is specific to the outdoors. Here is a list of ideas!
- Sidewalk Chalk. Is there a concept you recently learned that students could diagram with sidewalk chalk? Examples could include a scaled model of the solar system, drawing a food web, or create a geologic timeline.
- Picture Photo Journal. This is one of my favorites! Pretty much every high school student has a cell phone these days. Have them take pictures of a concept in action! For example, if you recently taught kinetic and potential energy, students can go take pictures outside of swings or riding a skateboard. If you recently taught ecology, have them go outside and take a picture of a producer, consumer, and decomposer. They can easily upload the pictures to your LMS. Here is an editable template you can use.
- Stop Motion Videos. I frequently have students do stop motion videos to demonstrate their understanding of a concept. If the weather is nice, why not have them do it outside? If you want more details on apps to use and how to implement, check out this blog post.
- Messy Labs. Is there a lab that you dread doing because it leaves your classroom a mess (slime? bubbles?) Take it outside! I recently had my students do a stream table lab which leaves sand and water everywhere. Outside… who cares if they spill!
- Ecology. Anything ecology based can be easily taken outside. If you have flexibility in your curriculum, schedule your ecology unit when the weather is nice. You can measure air pollution, collect pond water samples, do a quadrat survey, or explore urban heat islands.
- Physics. Take students outdoors to build and test parachutes, do an egg drop, or build solar cookers to teach radiation.
- Go Rock Collecting. Have students find a rock on your school campus, and try to classify it as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic. You can also provide a dichotomous key and they can try and identify it (but this can get tough).
I hope you enjoy the outdoors and soaking up vitamin D!
Rock on,
