Our IOS woods, or Nature Lit as we call it, is one of our most beloved areas on campus. We spend a minimum of 30 minutes every school day having unstructured Nature Literacy time in our woods. This area is filled with many types of trees, including our huge pecan tree in the center of our woods.
This is an active part of our approach to cultivate future environmentalists. We give our students opportunities to fall in love with nature and let them develop a relationship with our natural world. When you have a relationship with nature, you will have a very concrete reason to want to protect it. While our students know about climate change, we do not focus on the "doom and gloom" of climate change, as fear often can create paralysis and anxiety. Instead, we focus on empowering students to take care of the nature we have on campus.
Within the last year, we have discovered we have an infestation of beetles that is endangering our trees, and we have already lost a few trees to these beetles.
One of our Dimensions of Human Greatness is Initiative, and recently our 4th and 5th grade classroom (named Raccoons this year) has taken quite a bit of initiative to help the trees they love. They worked with their science teacher to find additional layers of protection. The Raccoons became “Nature Lit Guardians” as they took on this real-world environmental challenge.
Working in teams, students designed and tested a safe “tree protection formula” using natural materials such as cinnamon, mint tea, vinegar water, pepper, soil and leaf tea, flour paste, clay mud, oatmeal, rice, weeds, and even “beetle evidence.” They also used clean water and sponges to make sure their mixtures stayed balanced and environmentally safe.
Through this hands-on investigation, students learned how trees function as living systems, how insects and plants are connected in ecosystems, and why balance in nature matters. Along the way, they practiced problem-solving, teamwork, and creative thinking while using science to care for the world around them.
This is an active part of our approach to cultivate future environmentalists. We give our students opportunities to fall in love with nature and let them develop a relationship with our natural world. When you have a relationship with nature, you will have a very concrete reason to want to protect it. While our students know about climate change, we do not focus on the "doom and gloom" of climate change, as fear often can create paralysis and anxiety. Instead, we focus on empowering students to take care of the nature we have on campus.
Within the last year, we have discovered we have an infestation of beetles that is endangering our trees, and we have already lost a few trees to these beetles.
One of our Dimensions of Human Greatness is Initiative, and recently our 4th and 5th grade classroom (named Raccoons this year) has taken quite a bit of initiative to help the trees they love. They worked with their science teacher to find additional layers of protection. The Raccoons became “Nature Lit Guardians” as they took on this real-world environmental challenge.
Working in teams, students designed and tested a safe “tree protection formula” using natural materials such as cinnamon, mint tea, vinegar water, pepper, soil and leaf tea, flour paste, clay mud, oatmeal, rice, weeds, and even “beetle evidence.” They also used clean water and sponges to make sure their mixtures stayed balanced and environmentally safe.
Through this hands-on investigation, students learned how trees function as living systems, how insects and plants are connected in ecosystems, and why balance in nature matters. Along the way, they practiced problem-solving, teamwork, and creative thinking while using science to care for the world around them.
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