Daleville Community Schools Engages Students in Outdoor Learning Lab

Congregating around garden beds this fall in Daleville Community School's Outdoor Learning Lab, 6th graders anticipated what they might find beneath the soil. After learning about the origin of potatoes from the Incan Empire in Peru and the way they spread through trade economies all over the world, students were curious about what had happened to the small pieces of sprouting potatoes they had planted with their 5th-grade classes last spring. With a burst of excitement, students began digging through the soil underneath the foliage that had died back to leave the potatoes beneath. Eureka! Over 80 students couldn't contain their excitement in finding the BIGGEST, the smallest, and so so many more in between. They couldn't wait to carry back the large boxes of produce to share with their student community in collaboration with the school cafeteria.

Meanwhile, over 80 first graders participated in harvesting carrots and onions they had planted last spring as Kindergarteners. In Kindergarten, they explored the difference between planting tiny carrot seeds and bulb onions. They waited all summer, only to be absolutely elated by the giant carrots they pulled from the ground where they left those tiny seeds as well as large onions in place of the tiny bulbs. They compared the root vegetables to the leafy vegetable of celery. Then they worked with their teachers to use the vegetables as real-world objects in a math activity to fill a giant ten frame as they practiced adding 2 numbers together to equal 10.

Daleville Elementary Cafeteria staff worked with students to receive the produce and made preparations to serve roasted potatoes, carrots, onions & celery to the entire elementary school of over 500 students.

Wow! These students were thrilled to get outside, follow the process from seed to table, and have something meaningful to contribute to their school community. The incredible cafeteria staff went out of their way to prepare students to try something new by giving them exciting news in advance and celebrating students' hard work by showing a slideshow of harvest and preparation photos during the lunch period. Students loved it, and it was an opportunity for whole-school collaboration on healthy eating!