Get Your Students Outside of the Classroom - No Excuses!!

Why its so important to get your students out of the classroom

Do you want to spend your whole day sitting, reading, writing, etc.  A lot of what we ask of our students, we wouldn't want to do ourselves.  I think this is particularly true for middle school students.  They are wiggly, social, active creatures.  They need to be moving around.  It's nice weather. They want to go outside. So do we. We are teaching about the outdoor world. Its OK once in a while to take them outside and conduct a class or activity outside.

Lessons outside the classroom

One of my favorite lessons when we learn about weathering is to take the students outside for about 10 minutes, with dry erase boards, to look for examples of weathering, draw it, and decide if its chemical or physical weathering.  Then, of course, they have to share they findings.

Students find it very exciting. It takes some management, but can easily be done in a short class period and on school grounds, even in an urban setting.  They love it! Its a big change.

I have also taken Biology classes outside to look for quick examples of living and non-living things, or to look for examples of different types of ecological relationships.

Where can I get more ideas to take my students outside? 

Here is a link to other ideas: 

Five Minute Field Trips: Teaching about Nature in Your School Yard (full-text)

AND 10 Minute Field Trips: A Teacher's Guide to Using the Schoolgrounds for Environmental Studies. (full-text) which is available in full text or for purchase as a bound book (affiliate link)

Enjoy, and let me know what you do in your classes to get them out of class!