Nature as Our Classroom

Learning from Nature: Grade 4 Explores Ecosystems in Our School Garden

For two days, our Grade 4 students swapped their usual classroom for the school garden. Together with educators from the Sächsische Landesstiftung Natur und Umwelt (Saxon State Foundation for Nature and the Environment), they took part in a hands-on workshop exploring ecosystems.

The school garden turned out to be a great place to investigate this topic. The children looked closely at the plants, animals and other living things around them and explored how they depend on each other and on their environment. What do plants need to grow? What role do insects play? And what happens to an ecosystem when one part of it changes?

Rather than simply reading about these ideas, the students could observe them first-hand. They explored, asked questions, shared their observations and worked together to make sense of what they found.

The workshop also connected naturally with the way we learn in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP). Understanding an ecosystem means looking at connections: between plants and animals, living things and their habitats, and people and the natural world. It also raises questions about responsibility and the role each of us can play in looking after our environment.

Throughout the two days, the children were encouraged to be curious and to follow their own questions. In doing so, they practised many of the skills we value in the PYP: observing carefully, thinking critically, communicating ideas and working collaboratively.

A parent wrote:
Hello Grade 4 teachers,
Your ecosystems unit is working wonders on engagement in our house. I have a very curious, engaged and reflective G4 boy who is recounting the visits from external groups and specialists with real interest… I can see his world expanding before my very eyes and it makes me so happy for him… the love of learning is clearly evident and the conditions you are providing are a huge part of that.
Thanks for all you do. I know it’s hard work and it is appreciated!

Most importantly, the workshop gave the students the chance to experience their learning rather than just talk about it. Our school garden became a place to investigate, discover and see familiar surroundings from a new perspective.

A big thank you to the Sächsische Landesstiftung Natur und Umwelt for spending these two days with our Grade 4 students and for bringing the topic of ecosystems to life.

Sometimes, the best classroom is just outside the classroom door.