LESSON PLAN FOR A ONE-HOUR WEATHER 
CLASS AT THE SCHMIDT CENTER

Materials Needed (provided by the Center):

•  Kit containing: calculator, compass, anemometer, pencils, scrap paper, and barometers

•  Cloud charts

•  Rug sections (if desired for students to sit on)

•  Large thermometer model

Warm-Up

1.  Gather students outside behind building in a circle or at the picnic tables.  Raise your hand for quiet and wait for order.  Go around the circle and ask students to name various types of weather.

2.  Ask the group why it’s important to be able to forecast the weather.

3.  Tell students that they will be using a variety of instruments to collect data.  They will compare the data with other school’s data and with our professional weather equipment.  Finally, they will make a forecast using their data and the forecast chart.

Lesson

1.   Use the teaching thermometer to explain how a thermometer works.  Ask a student to read the temperature.  Would you stay home from school if you had this temperature?  What is the normal body temperature of humans?  What affects temperature?

2.   Have the students count off by 5’s.  Assign each group to their thermometer station to take a Celsius reading….All the 1’s go to station 1, 2’s go to 2 etc.  Each group reports their data. Why did the temperature vary?  (wood and concrete absorb heat, full sun vs. shade)  Students find the average/mean temperature using a calculator.  Record on the chart.

3.   Introduce the anemometer as a device that measures wind speed (in m.p.h.).  Follow the directions on the back of the anemometer.  Students remember their highest reading.  Report to the group and find the average wind speed.  Record on the chart.

4.   Introduce the barometer as an instrument used to measure the weight of an air mass in the atmosphere.  Tell students to pretend they are holding a 2-foot tall invisible tube.  The tube is filled with 100 molecules of air.  20 of the air molecules escape and 20 water vapor molecules sneak in.  Water vapor molecules are lighter than air molecules.  Was the tube heavier before or after the air molecules escaped?  (before since air molecules are heavier)  The barometer measures how much water vapor is in the air…the higher the barometric reading; the less water vapor/moisture is in the air.  Take a barometric reading from each of the barometers (round to the nearest whole number), find the average, and record on chart.

5.  Distribute the cloud charts.  Decide as a group which picture most closely matches the actual sky.  Record on chart. 

Wrap-Up

1.  Bring data chart inside to the computer.  Compare the results found to those of the schools listed.  Compare the results to the Schmidt Center equipment above the computer.  Make a forecast using the white chart hanging on the wall.

2.  On your way out, take a look at the turtles.  What do the students know about cold-blooded reptiles?  The water temperature is about 75 degrees F (75 degrees), what is the body temperature of the water turtles?  What if it was 90 degrees in the water?
 

LESSON PLAN FOR A ONE-HOUR ORIENTEERING CLASS
AT THE SCHMIDT CENTER

Materials Needed (provided by the Center):

•  Compass case (red)      

•  Large model compass

•  Candy prizes and trash bag (if desired)

Warm-Up

1.  Gather students outside.  Raise your hand for quiet and wait for order.  Go around the circle and ask students to name what they think orienteering is.

2.   Ask the group when you may need to use a compass.

3.  Tell the students that by the end of the class they will be able to use a compass to successfully complete the orienteering course.

Lesson

1.   Show the large teaching compass.  Point out the base plate, the magnetic needle (“Red Fred”), the North-South Orienting Arrow (“Shed”), the rotating dial, and the direction of travel arrows.

2.  Turn one compass to N.  Show the students that you move your body, not the compass, to get “Red Fred in the Shed”.  When the red arrow is between the two white dots, face the way the travels arrows point and you are facing north.  Discuss other ways people can tell where north is (sundial, North Star…) 

3.  Give them each a compass to set on North. Have the students face north with you and identify south, east, and west. 

4.  Students hold compass waist high with “Direction of travel” arrows pointing away from their bodies.  Now have the students turn the dial to 90 degrees.  Instruct them to turn their bodies so that “Red Fred is in the Shed”.  Monitor and assist.

5.  Move to the field.  Tell the students to mark where they’re standing with something (a rock, jacket, hat, stick, etc.).  Set compass at 20 degrees.  Walk 10 regular sized steps (paces).  Set compass to 140 degrees.  Walk 10 paces.  Set compass 260 degrees.  Walk 10 paces.  Students should be back at their marker.  What shape did they walk?  All successful students can begin the course.  Work with those struggling or pair with a student that has mastered the skill.

Wrap-Up

1.  Ready for the Orienteering Course!  Students should be in pairs.  See other side for course instructions.  Reward all students who finish with a treat (if desired).  Remember to bag all trash!

2.  Successful?  What was hard? 

LESSON PLAN FOR A ONE-HOUR STREAM ECOLOGY CLASS
AT THE SCHMIDT CENTER

Materials Needed (provided by the Center):

•  Topographic Map and marker     

•  Viewing tanks

•  Nets                         

•  Magnifiers

•  Course booklet        

•  Water quality tests

Warm-Up

1.   Gather students at the picnic tables.  Raise your hand for quiet and wait for order.  Go around the circle and ask students to name what they think lives in this stream.

2.  Ask students where the stream water comes from and where it goes (Water cycle).

3.  Outline the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay on the map.  Talk about the watershed…all bodies of water drain into the Bay then flow to the Atlantic Ocean (Swanson Creek-Patuxent River-Chesapeake Bay-Atlantic Ocean).

Lesson

1.   How can we tell if the stream is healthy?  What factors pollute bodies of water?

2.  Tell students that they will investigate the stream and determine its health.

3.  Show how to use the dip nets to look in places that are dark, still, and undisturbed near the stream banks.  Scooping up piles of decaying leaves and carefully looking through them will yield lots of life!  Students should not drag nets on the ground or dig with them.

4.  Students should place any life they find carefully into the viewing tanks.

5.  After about 20 minutes, call students to bring their tanks to the picnic tables.

6.  Assign students to use the charts see course booklet pp. 16-23) to identify what they’ve caught.  Samples of stream life can be scooped up into the magnifiers to get a closer look.

7.  Assign three students to test the water’s pH, O2, and temperature (directions in booklet, p.8-12).

Wrap-Up

1.   Is this stream a good habitat? (See side 2 for a data sheet to help determine stream quality.) What do the pH, O2, and temperatures tell us?

2.  How can you help to keep the water in your area healthy?  (Don’t dump trash into storm drains, dispose of all trash appropriately, use natural fertilizer, etc.)

3.  Read some of the water trivia to students (see course booklet p. 28).

LESSON PLAN FOR A ONE-HOUR CONFIDENCE COURSE CLASS
AT THE SCHMIDT CENTER

Materials Needed:

•  Swing apparatus (provided by the Center)

•  At least 4 adults

Warm-Up

1.   Students should be seated on surrounding logs.  Raise your hand for quiet and wait for order.  Ask students what it means to be confident.  Go around the circle and ask students to name something that took confidence to achieve. 

2.   Explain “Challenge by Choice”- this is a course where you challenge yourself to do something that may be scary or hard for you to do.  No one will make you do anything.

3.  Ask the group how they can support each other (be encouraging and positive).

4.  Students should read the brown sign “Hug a Tree Forest”.  Tell them to go hug a tree with a partner.  At the end of each challenge, students should hug the tree!  Partners will spot each other through the course.

5.  Tell the students that this is not a playground.  Safety is the first concern.  If they behave unsafely, they will be told to sit out. 

6.  Assign adults to “spot” students (one adult per activity, hands up, eyes on the student). One person travels at a time on each section (w/ their partner).  After being trained by the camp staff person, one adult secures students into the swing with the safety harness; another adult holds the “landing rope” out tightly to stop students at the end of the ride and returns the rope.

Lesson

1.    Students attempt to complete each section of the ropes course and the zip line swing.

Wrap-Up

1.   Ask students which section was the biggest challenge for them.  Did they surprise themselves at all by what they achieved?

2.   What did they do to support the other group members?

3.   How can this activity help you in real-life?  (When you think you can’t do something difficult, believe in yourself and push yourself to try.  Be supportive to others when they’re trying something new or challenging.)

LESSON PLAN FOR A ONE-HOUR MATH IN THE OUTDOORS CLASS
AT THE SCHMIDT CENTER

Materials Needed (provided by the Center):

•  Trundle Wheels (look like super-large pizza cutters, one revolution (some click and some are marked) = 1 meter (or  yard)

•  Meter or yard sticks

•  Tape Measures

•  Data sheets and pencils

Warm-Up

1.  Students sit in a circle.  Raise your hand and wait for order. 

2.  Ask students where they see math in nature  (angles, shapes, circumference, lines, patterns, etc.).

3.  Ask students what people used to measure before rulers or current-day systems were in place (hands, compared size to other familiar objects, paces).

4.  Introduce measurement tools (trundle wheels, meter/yard sticks, tape measures—specify if using metric or standard units).

5.  Explain that students will be using 3 methods to measure the height of a tree you choose.  Distribute data sheet or have student’s copy (see below).  Pair students.

Lesson

1.  Native American Method: Select tree.  Facing their tree, students walk back until they can see the top of the tree through their legs.  Their partner then measures the distance from the trunk of the tree to where they’re standing.  Student’s record on data sheet and switch to do partner’s tree. (over for illustration)

2.  Pencil Method: Student pairs need to find a small stick or pencil to use.  Partners measure how tall each other are and record (may round measurement).  One partner stands against the tree.  The other partner holds the stick out and backs up until the stick is even with their partner’s head and feet.  Then measures how many sticks high the tree is.  Multiply this number by the height of the partner by the tree. Student’s record on data sheet and switch to do partner’s tree.

3.  Tree-Felling Method: One partner holds the stick straight out in front of her and walks back until the stick is at the top of the tree and ground.  Then, she turns the stick 90 degrees and walks to that spot.  The other partner measures the distance from the tree to their partner.  Student’s record on data sheet and switch to do partner’s tree.

Wrap-Up

Name:  ______________________________

Pencil or Stick Method:     Partner’s Height = ________

                         X     _____  number of pencils tall

                           ________ estimate of tree height

LESSON PLAN FOR A ONE-HOUR WOODLAND ECOLOGY CLASS
AT THE SCHMIDT CENTER

Materials Needed (provided by the Center):

Web of Life Activity bag (instructions, cards, and yarn)  

Information poster on parts of a tree and tree facts

Project Learning Tree: Tree Factory Activity cards & 4 yarn pieces

Tree Identification guide

Leaf Viewers

Sandpaper

Spray bottle with water

Warm-Up

•  Find an area out or inside to have a discussion.  Wait for order.

•  Brainstorm with the students the many uses of trees. 

•  Ask the students who depends on trees and why. 

•  Ask students to describe what a food chain is. 

•  Distribute the web of life cards to students making sure that the six parts of the ecosystem are represented: energy source (Sun), basic elements (air, soil, water), food-makers (producers), food takers (consumers), breakers (decomposers). 

•  Instruct students to form a circle (sitting or standing). 

•  Hand the yarn to the energy source (Sun).  Ask Student #1 to pass the yarn (while still holding an end of the yarn) to a student holding a card that has a relationship or depends on the Sun for survival (Student #1 should explain what that relationship is). 

•  Student #2 holds their part of the yarn taut and passes the yarn to another student who is holding a card related to his/hers and explains the relationship. 

•  Continue until all relationships have been established.  You can repeat, but each card should have at least one relationship. 

•  Ask students what would happen if one of the components were to be lost?  If the sun disappeared, for instance, the entire web would be lost, as there would be no energy source.

Lesson

•  Tell students that they are going to explore how all parts of a tree work like a factory.

•  Using the poster and opposite side of this lesson, point out the different parts of the tree: Heartwood, Sapwood, Taproot, Lateral Roots, Cambium, Phloem, Bark, and Leaves.

•  Ask students what trees need to survive (food, water, air, and sun).  Ask how trees get what they need.  Refer to the definitions provided on the reverse.

•  Tell students that they are going to create a tree by acting out the parts discussed.

•  Have each student pick a “tree part” card.  Make sure that each part is represented at least once.

--TREE FACTORY INSTRUCTIONS--

•  Ask students what makes up the center of the tree and gives the tree strength?  HEARTWOOD The students portraying heartwood should stand in the center of an open area, tighten their muscles and chant, “I support, I support!”

•  Ask students what part of the tree transports water to all parts of the tree.  SAPWOOD  Have the sapwood students join hands to form a small circle around the heartwood.  Have these students chant, “Gurgle, slurp.  Gurgle, slurp. Transport water,” as they raise their joined hands up and down.

•  Ask students where the water in the sapwood comes from ROOTS Then, have the taproot sit down with his or her back against the sapwood, and have the lateral roots lie down on the ground with their feet toward the sapwood and their arms and fingers spread out to represent the root hairs.  Have the roots make sucking noises.

•  Ask students where the water in the sapwood travels to.  LEAVES  Then have the heartwood hold the ends of the four pieces of yarn.  Give the other end to students representing leaves.  Ask the leaves what they do all day (make food through photosynthesis).  Have the leaves flutter their hands and chant, “We make food, we make food.”

•  Ask the leaves what happens to all the food they make using sunlight, air, and water.  (It gets transported to the rest of the tree.)  Ask everyone what part of the tree transports food from the leaves to the rest of the tree.  PHLOEM  Have the phloem students join hands and form a large circle around the tree.  Then have them simulate the role of the phloem by reaching above their heads and grabbing for food, then squatting and opening their hands to release the food while chanting, “Food to the tree!”

•  Ask students if they’ve left out an important part of the tree.  What layer protects the new sapwood and phloem to keep the tree growing and healthy?  CAMBIUM  Have the cambium students form a circle between the phloem and sapwood.  Tell them to sway from side to side and chant, “New phloem, sapwood, and cambium.  New phloem, sapwood, and cambium.”

•  Ask students what final component of the tree is missing—something that protects the tree.  BARK  Have the bark students lock arms and form a circle that faces out from the center of the tree.  Ask them to look tough.  Have them march in place chanting, “We are bark.  Please keep out.”

•  When the tree is completely assembled, have all students act out and chant their parts simultaneously.  Tell the students that their tree is old and falls over.  Let everyone carefully fall down.  

Wrap-Up

•  Walk students by some trees.  Try to identify the type of tree by it’s leaves and bark.

•  Examine a “tree cookie”.  Use the sandpaper to gently sand the cookie, spray it off, and examine the growth rings—count for age of tree, identify the heartwood, sapwood, phloem, and bark.

•  Tell students to be sure and look at the giant tree cookie in the cafeteria at meal times.
 

LESSON PLAN FOR A ONE-HOUR PROBLEM SOLVING CLASS
AT THE SCHMIDT CENTER

Materials (provided by the Center):

A ball of any size, should be heavy enough to throw 10 feet     

Two hula hoops

Crocodile boards

Orange cones

*Know where “Quicksand” is set up on the Problem Solving course (yellow markers)

Note to Teacher/Parent: Remember you are observing student interactions.  Do not assist in coming up with a strategy.  You may stop them if they get overly frustrated, talk it through, try again or move on to a new activity.

Warm-Up

1.  Group gets into a circle outside.  Wait for order.

2.  Tell students their first challenge is to throw the ball to everyone in the circle exactly one time, successfully.  You may not pass to the person next to you.  Remember who you threw the ball to.  Try until students make it successfully around the circle without talking or dropping the ball.  Try this again, timed.  Try one more time faster!

3.  Ask:  What did you need to make this activity successful? (communication, catchable throwing style, pay attention, etc.).

Lesson

1.    For the next activity, students stay in a circle and hold hands.  One student should have the hula-hoop

     diagonally across their body ready to “pass” to the next person.  Students may not unclasp hands as

     they move the hula-hoop around the entire circle.  Try sending 2 hoops around if the group chooses.

2.   Was the group successful?  Why or why not?

3.  For the next challenge, position the crocodile boards in an open space.  Put the orange cones a fair distance away from the boards.  Explain that the group has ___minutes to use only these boards to cross “Lava Lake”.  Their feet may not touch the ground or they are stepping in lava and must return to the starting position.

4.  For their final challenge, follow the yellow markers to lead students to “Quicksand”.

5.  Students should stand behind one of the logs.  Wait for order. 

6.  Read the scenario on the back.

7.   If there is time, try “The Wall” activity to the left of “Quicksand”. (see scenario)

Wrap-Up

After activities have been completed, ask students:  What worked well with this group?  What could we improve on?  What was frustrating?  What was fun?

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