Outdoor Studies

We believe that the outdoors are vital to our growth as learners. Roseville Community School (RCS) explores plants and animals in a local, creek setting, teaching first-hand about watersheds, ecosystems, and how we can become stewards of these important resources. A special focus on bird study introduces citizen-science and kindles a life-long love of nature.

How deep is the water? Opportunities for learning naturally occur through questions: "What is the temperature? How does it compare to last time we visited? What is that type of bird? Why are these plants only here in spring? Is the water safe to drink? What else lives in the water? What makes a log decompose? Where do the squirrels go during the winter?"

Up close and personal: Connections to our outdoor space are developed through various ways, skimming stones, discovering birds nests and mushrooms, balancing upon a log, catching tadpoles and crawdads, recording the changing of the seasons, watching the salmon spawn, or beavers building a dam.

Stewardship: Children immersed in their learning process, through looking closely and asking questions, develop a sense of caring and concern for environment.

This year, our outdoor studies emphasize birds. We are paying close attention to our feathered friends and learning more about the world through their behaviors. Through this inquiry-based, integrated approach to learning, the children get inspired to find out about the world around them, and why it is important to us personally and as a community.

Birds study

"I never noticed how many birds were around until we started studying them!"

-- Chris 6th grade

Students study birds: Measure wing spans, explain differences, map migration patterns, learn local birds, and bird calls in our garden and creek habitats, all contributing to a growing appreciation of our environment and the lives within it.

Students become very engaged when hearing fun facts about local birds! They dash inside to grab binoculars when they've spotted something new in the garden.

We learn to take care of birds and gain understanding of how they, in turn, pollinate our garden or eat bad bugs from our vegetable patch to take care of us in return.