Whether it is watering a seedling or acting out a tree’s search for resources, a new program for elementary school students is connecting kids to their environment through interactive classroom activities.
Trees in the Classroom, a partnership between the Nebraska Forest Service and the Lower Platte South and Papio Missouri River natural resources districts, helps Nebraska teachers with environmental education through lessons and hands-on activities. Jack Hilgert, conservation education coordinator at the Nebraska Forest Service and School of Natural Resources alumni, said the pilot program aims to build up environmental education in the state and get Nebraska students to think about the role of trees in their communities.
“It helps students think about what people get from trees, how trees grow and benefit individual people or some of those community benefits,” Hilgert said.
The Trees in the Classroom program is rooted in a six-week series of lessons. About 600 second- and third-graders in 26 classrooms are taking part in lessons on the life cycle of a tree, its parts and structure, natural habitats and how they benefit people.
The students also each receive a seedling and will care for it for the duration of the program and then take it home to plant.
Read the rest of the story and see more images of Jack and the students at https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/forest-service-program-brings-hands-on-learning-to-classrooms/