Two grade 12 students in the Williams Lake Secondary Enviro Club expressed an interest in going out to a classroom to educate younger students on an aspect in environmental studies.
Ms. Kolinsky (Grades 1 and 2)) and Ms. Miller (Grdes 3 and 4)) from Nesika Elementary welcomed both Alana Witte and Alyza Arsenault into their classrooms to share their knowledge and get a taste of working with younger students, as both Grade 12 students are considering a career in education.
Alana chose to teach a lesson on food chains where she built on student background knowledge of predator and prey by introducing students to terms such as producer, herbivore, omnivore and carnivore.
As well, discussing animals that fit into each group, and the connection between all living things were part of the lesson. Interactive activities, including identifying which group their chosen animal fit into and creating a food chain from provided pictures, helped to reinforce student learning while giving students an opportunity to get active.
Alyza’s lesson saw both classes take a trip to the area near Williams Lake known as the Dairy Fields, on different days, to learn a bit more about tadpoles, their life cycle, what they eat at the various stages, how to handle these fragile animals and observations of tadpole movements, colour(s), or stages of development.
Before going dip netting for tadpoles students were taught how to gather animals in a gentle manner and how to keep their water clean in the bucket.
Both classes showed respect and care for their surroundings and the animals that they came to learn about.
Alana and Alyza both learned and adjusted from their first lesson to their second lesson with the students, realizing that these young learners are much more excitable and still learning to focus for longer periods of time, unlike their high school peers. As well, the Grade 12 students were able to see positive management skills to assist with keeping students on track from both teachers.
Read more: Nature K graduates foil Bigfoot plot at Wild and Immersive in Williams Lake
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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