Part of being a responsible citizen is taking care of the environment and understanding the impact our behaviors have on the earth. Environmental Studies are integrated into many aspects of curriculum, both in the sciences and humanities. Beginning in PreK with the study of worms and composting, students learn about how animals, people and the earth interact. We are fortunate to be located across the street from the Fresh Pond Reservation and Black’s Nook which offers our students quick access to the natural world.
As stewards of Black’s Nook, our first and second graders, along with their Special Friends in the fifth and sixth grades, clean up trash and debris in the spring. This year, first through fourth grades planted native trees as part of a woodland restoration project in cooperation with the Cambridge Water Department. One of the first and second grade classrooms also gathered native wildflower seeds to sow in open areas of the woods. Students will continue to measure and monitor the trees they planted and the seeds they sow. In the process they learn about the complex systems of a natural habitat through their own personal connection to the pond and the woods around it.
Our third and fourth grades compare the forest of Black’s Nook to a tropical rainforest and build terrariums to study decomposition. In fifth and sixth grades our students spend three days at the Farm School, a working farm in Athol, MA. They help with farm chores, plant seedlings for the spring planting, tend the animals, and work on small construction projects.Our oldest students learn about migrant working conditions and fair labor practices and their impact on the land and people.