Broad Meadow Brook Brings Adaptation Lessons to School
June 04, 2024
Broad Meadow Brook isn’t just a beautiful place to visit; it’s also a hub for nature education, often collaborating with local school systems.
Fourth graders in Swanson Intermediate School in Auburn, MA recently participated in an Adaptations school program series with Mass Audubon educators both in their classroom and at Broad Meadow Brook.
What Broad Meadow Brook's Adaptations School Program Entails
What are adaptations? What motivates plants and animals to adapt and how do they do it? How can young students take these lessons and apply them to their own lives? All of these questions and more are explored in Broad Meadow Brook’s adaptation program for schools.
An initial classroom visit illustrated how plants and animals adapt to their environment through games and an engaging presentation. Why are bird beaks different for different species? And why don’t all plants look alike? A follow up field trip to Broad Meadow Brook allowed for an in-depth look at adaptations that can be found in New England meadows, forests, wetlands, and streams.
Another classroom visit allowed the students to meet a skunk and a bird of prey right in their classroom, which enabled children to practice identifying adaptations on real animals. For many students, this was a unique experience that allowed them to observe wildlife up close for the first time.
Finally, in the sanctuary’s wrap-up visit, students were encouraged to create a creature with a minimum of three adaptations out of recycled and found materials. This creative opportunity allowed the students to apply what they learned to a hands-on project. Finally, they shared their creature with their peers, allowing them to see a variety of unique expressions of adaptation.
A Lasting Lesson
Through these hands-on activities and explorations, students observed and discovered how local wildlife use physical characteristics and behaviors to meet their needs and how the structure and function of plants allows them to exist in certain habitats.
This impactful nature-based learning program was supported by the Webster Five Foundation. This funding allows us to provide crucial curriculum, serve more students, increase program hours, and provide advanced supports to teachers.
Interested in bringing a program to your school or taking a field trip to Broad Meadow Brook? Explore our school catalog to learn more.