This fall over 700 second grade students from District 220 visited Vehe Farm in Deer Park to further their curriculum studies involving Life Cycles. If you would have been driving by Vehe Farm during one of these trips, you would have noticed all the excited and busy children. As one of the students on the trip explained, “I love doing science”!

The Vehe Farm location offered the ideal setting for these young children because of the close proximity of diverse habitats. Students traveled to four different stations to be “citizen scientists”. At the butterfly garden students recorded the life cycle stages of milkweed bugs. Often students as well as teachers were in awe at the eggs and bugs that they found. On the nature trail, they used hand lenses and bug catchers to observe and make scientific drawings of insects. Many discussions ensued about what was really classified as an insect. At yet another station, students were able to rest under a beautiful Catalpa Tree surrounded by prairie plants. Here they used their imaginations to complete a variety of scenarios as if they were an insect. If this weren’t enough, the final station involved hiking around a pond. The plethora of natural wonders that they found on their pond hikes was always amazing for the children – frogs, dragonflies, animal holes, milkweed bugs, etc. You could see and hear their excitement.

This endeavor supported the local Leave No Child Inside initiative by providing a wonderful learning experience in nature’s outdoor classroom. Thank you to the Barrington Community Foundation grant for making this opportunity possible for the second year. This trip required countless parent volunteers and dedicated teachers. Heartfelt thanks go out to all of them for their guidance and efforts in making nature accessible and awe inspiring to these students!

For information regarding our local Leave No Child Inside initiative and winter activities, please visit www.funoutside.org.

Article courtesy of Susan Lenz.