Brookside students learn how ants and worms effect soil

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Baldwin second graders at Brookside Elementary School began their year in science by learning what the soil around their school consists of, and how it varies from place to place. As the year progressed, they learned how soil behaves, how it is formed, and how it supports the native plants and animals they can observe around them.

Students apply their classroom experiences in a variety of newly begun school gardening programs ranging from indoor gardens, to native gardens, to vegetable and flower gardens. Local experts from Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Nassau Community College and the Seatuck Environmental Association assisted them.

“Teaching elementary science through in-depth and integrated thematic units such as this affords us several advantages,” explained Nomi Rosen, district administrator for professional development. “It allows us to introduce children to grade-appropriate topics in the earth, life and physical sciences in a connected and meaningful fashion, while also providing us many opportunities to fold in work in literacy and math. As importantly, we hope with this approach to foster in children a solid foundation for environmental literacy and responsibility, one that is grounded in our unique Long Island setting.”

One of the highlights of the second grade occurs when children begin to focus in earnest on two foundational soil fauna: earthworms and ants. When these animals arrive, classrooms are transformed, Rosen observed. She added, it’s also when children’s reading and writing really takes off.