by Assistant Environmental Education Coordinator Shelby Bentley
SCFC Environmental Education Program Manager Matt Schnabel and Assistant Environmental Education Program Coordinator Shelby Bentley provided two programs for local homeschool groups at Harbison State Forest this May.
First, a Lexington-based group that calls itself The Adventure Group brought 12 kids ages 5-13 to go on a forest hike and play games to learn about animal habitats and adaptations like a nature scavenger hunt and Quick Frozen Critters from the Project WILD K-12 curriculum guide May 15.
Then, Fort Jackson’s Wild and Free homeschool group brought around 50 kids to participate in similar activities with their group May 22.
Homeschool groups visiting the forest participate in hands-on lessons that demonstrate the effects that different animal and plant traits like coloration or size have on survival rates. They also discuss predator/prey relationships, population changes, habitat availability and food availability.
These lessons provide new learning opportunities by exemplifying natural and earth science concepts related to state standards in an engaging outdoor classroom setting.
