When students step outside the classroom walls and into the wild, something shifts. Learning becomes tactile. For Grade 4 students from Cranbrook’s Gordon Terrace Elementary School, it wasn’t just the sun’s warmth on their heads or the long grass tickling their legs that sparked curiosity during a field trip with Wildsight Educator Dave Quinn. It was the whisper of wind in the trees, the evidence of life in every nook and cranny, the wilderness itself that invited energetic kids to fill the land with energy and awe.
On a warm school day, Ricki Thomson’s class visited nearby Wycliffe Provincial Park where they learned about the importance of forest and grassland ecosystems. They heard all about badgers and grizzly bears and how we can be good neighbours to these wild animals. They got to play ‘Huckleberry Scramble’ by pretending to be hungry bears gathering berries for winter. They hunted for insects and smelled the heady aroma of vanilla emanating from the bark of ponderosa pine trees as they ran small fingers over its bumpy-textured surface.
The class even got to explore Wildsight’s newest resource for classrooms: Claws, paws & jaws! The kit includes replica wildlife tracks and scat, challenging students to become wildlife detectives.
“Students loved our new Claws, paws, & jaws resource,” reports Dave. “We learned about different types of poop we might find in the forest, who may have left it, and the important role predators can play in our ecosystems by helping control behaviours of prey species. We learned how all species benefit from having predators in the system — from songbirds and small mammals to fish and other aquatic species.”
Teacher Ricki Thomson says she sees the benefits of her students learning in and from nature through programs like this:
These kids are learning fundamental skills in nature — how to sustain and respect it, creating more awareness other than just thinking about themselves.Ricki Thompson
This field trip was one of Wildsight’s 40 Classroom with Outdoors programs Wildsight delivered across the Columbia Basin in the last school year, reaching more than 1,000 students. Each outing helps students to build lasting connections to nature. And this learning helps us all; when students understand how healthy ecosystems sustain life, we lay the foundation for climate-resilient communities.
“Learning outside helps them recognize that time in nature can be healing and nourishing in all ways. With connection comes desire to steward and look after the future of wild spaces and creatures,” reflects Dave.
For teachers ready to spark conservation learning in their own classrooms, Wildsight’s new Claws, Paws & Jaws kit brings wildlife tracks, scat, and predator-prey lessons right to students — inspiring the next generation to learn about, and love, our wild neighbours.
Wildsight thanks Columbia Basin Trust, Columbia Power, the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies, Copernicus Education Products, Kimberley Alpine Resort Community Summit Fund, Kootenay Co-op, LeRoi Community Foundation, the Osprey Community Foundation, the Province of British Columbia, Regional District of Central Kootenay, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, Teck Trail, and all of our individual donors for making this program possible.
