Noel Primary Celebrates Earth Day
TEACHERS WANT KIDS TO GET ATTACHED TO THE EARTH
Noel Primary School celebrated Earth Day on April 19 with outdoor classrooms.
One of the outdoor classrooms was a planting station overseen by physical-education coach Lauren Watkins and English language learners teacher Deb White.
“We are talking about how plants grow and what it needs to grow,” Watkins said. “Each student gets to plant a seed. We have all kinds of fruits and vegetables (seeds). We picked ones that we thought would be fun.”
White said, “It’s a nice break for them to be outside and learn about things. Some of them had never planted anything. One little boy
was afraid of the dirt.”
As the children crowded around, Watkins showed them pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, cilantro seeds and lettuce seeds. Then, one at a time, they were allowed to scoop up a cup of potting soil and plant their chosen seed in an egg carton.
Next students moved on to an outdoor classroom manned by Newton County Conservation Agent Jerid Wilkinson and McDonald County Conservation Agent Adam Strader. They brought pelts and a few animals skulls that can be found in McDonald County.
Wilkinson started by showing the children an otter pelt and telling them that otters live in the water and eat fish. Next he showed them a beaver pelt and a beaver skull.
“What do they use those big teeth for?” he asked.
“To cut trees down!” came the enthusiastic reply from the kindergartners.
He also showed them muskrat, mink and weasel pelts.
Strader showed the students possum and raccoon pelts, discussing that possums eat dead things and that raccoons eat “anything they can get their hands on.”
He held up a black and white pelt.
“Skunk!” The children exclaimed. Strader told the students that skunks scavenge a lot and that is why they are often found in the road.
He also showed them bobcat, coyote, and gray and red fox pelts. At the end of the demonstration, the children were allowed to touch the pelts.
The final outdoor classroom was a nature trail. Principal Dr. Deborah Pearson said, “We worked with the Joplin naturalists to build this trail. It’s a fourth of a mile long.”
Students were also able to visit the library, where Master Naturalist Joyce Haynes of Pineville showed skulls of fur-bearing animals as well as antlers. Haynes is also an artist and had small illustrations of each animal.
Pearson said the school does something special each year for Earth Day.
“Every year we try to make that focus to be good stewards of the earth,” she said. “This week’s about getting kids attached to the earth so they have that sense of belonging.”