Afterschool Science Club Gives Students the Ability for More Hands-On Activities
I started this program to get kids excited about science and learning. I send permission slips home with the fourth graders near the beginning of the school year. I make sure they know I will allow the first 30 students, that return their permission slip, into the club. Our school no longer has after school busing, so parents have to be able to pick their student up after club, or the students have to be able to walk home. Club begins right after school lets out at 2:25 and ends at 4:00. During the winter months, we spend our science club time doing different science experiments. I make sure the kids get lots of opportunities to use science tools, and try to have an ongoing investigation so they can make sure and keep data that they track over time.
One of our biggest projects however, is a community garden. This is just our second year with the garden. We designed and developed the garden last year. The kids measured the area we had for planting, decided what to plant, and then built the raised beds for the plants. They used power tools, hammers, squares, tape measures, etc. to develop the area. They also prepared the beds for planting. March is when we begin working on the garden by planting seeds inside. The kids built a grow light, that is housed in the science lab, to help with the growing process. In the garden, we plant both seeds that we have started ourselves as well as plants that we purchase. We meet once a week, during the summer, to weed and water the gardens. Our school calendar allows us to harvest after the school year starts again.
In addition to the garden we are working on establishing different habitats. This year we have added a decomposer habitat and are working on a pollinator habitat. We spent time talking about different ecosystems and animals they were interested in learning about and that we would like to see in our “outdoor classroom”. From there we did lots of research about those ecosystems and animals to see which ones would be right for the space we have available. I had a representative from the Nature Conservatory come in to help us with some of our research and answer some of our questions.
Challenges or Obstacles:
- One teacher and 30 kids
- When working in the garden it is hard to keep that many kids busy when many of them have never used garden tools or pulled weeks, etc. before
- Money for starting a community garden
- Never enough time
- Students can’t participate because they do not have a way home
- School property so changes have to be approved
Benefits and Successes:
- Student engagement
- Excitement about learning
- Student pride and confidence
- Team work
- Problem solving
- Life lessons
- Creativity
- Less stress
Submitted by: Gaylene Rubin, Rhoades Elementary School