Plant exploration wouldn't have been Yusef Dobbs first choice for activities at the Brick Pond Park, but he loves nature.
"Some leaves I have never seen before or heard of," the 11-year-old said, after clipping different leaves and comparing them to pictures in a book to learn their names.
Dobbs and fellow fifth graders at North Augusta Elementary School learned on the Oct. 21 field trip that the ponds offer more than a home for alligators. The field trip to the park was part of a pilot program with the city's stormwater department.
Construction of the Brick Pond Park with a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation specified turning the ponds into a learning facility, said Tanya Strickland, an environmental coordinator with the stormwater department. North Augusta Elementary was chosen to be the pilot school for doing experiments at the park because it is within walking distance of the school, she said.
Pupils were divided into different groups -- some watched birds or identified different plants, while others read oxygen levels in the water or used microscopes to look at organisms.
After skimming the pond floor, Darius Bailey, 11, discovered a black worm that quickly caught the attention of other classmates.
"I caught two," he said of the leeches that he was excited to find.
North Augusta Elementary completed its first outdoor classroom program at the ponds in April. The class was originally scheduled for three days but was condensed to a one-day field trip trial last week. Strickland said the one-day program was a success and is now ready for other schools to begin field trips.
"The goal is to expand out to other elementary schools," said fifth-grade teacher Nathan Lobaugh.
Lobaugh said the outdoor classroom meets standards by teaching about the ecosystem, earth science, matter, math and language arts. Pupils complete reports about the activities and then present their group findings to the class. Although each pupil does not do each activity, they learn about the other experiments from their classmate's presentations.
Once the program is established, Lobaugh said the idea is to let middle school pupils and younger elementary grades participate.
Strickland said the program will be expanded to other North Augusta schools this school year, and then to Aiken County and other interested schools the following year.
"The key is to educate them about stormwater pollution and wildlife and how those two things affect each other," Strickland said. "We really want everybody to understand the system and help protect it."
Reach Crystal Garcia crystal.garcia@northaugustatoday.com.
INTERESTED?
To learn about educational programs available at the Brick Pond Park in North Augusta, call Tanya Strickland, an environmental coordinator with the stormwater department, at (803) 441-4246.
