Elementary Education Juniors Provide a Day of Outdoor Learning for Local Schools

On May 6, the Education Department hosted over 150 local Eastbrook South fourth and fifth graders on Taylor’s campus for the annual Outdoor Education Experience. This was the fourth year that junior Elementary Education students have planned and directed the service-learning, place-based Outdoor Education Experience, affectionately called the Trail Project. 

Origin of the Trail Project 

The idea for the Trail Project originated from a need in the local community. The Main Street Trail had just been completed, and Ron Sutherland, the now retired Special Assistant to the President at Taylor and former president of the Upland Area Greenway Association, wanted to encourage school-aged children and their families to use the trail. Sutherland approached Shelly Engle, Director of Teacher Education and Assistant Professor of Education, about the possibility of the Education Department providing programming for an educational experience at the trail.  

Engle charged her science methods class with the responsibility of creating programming to get Eastbrook South students out and exploring the trail. Her class created lessons around the tenets of service learning, outdoor education, and place-based education. While complying with Indiana academic standards, Elementary Education students designed lessons for students before the trail, at the trail, and after the trail. 

Students created videos for teachers to play in class before the field trip to get students excited about the outing. On the day of the education experience, one class from each year at Eastbrook South Elementary School, along with local homeschoolers, came out to the trail to participate in an hour of outdoor and place-based education. 

 “Serving the Upland Area Greenway Association was a service-learning project,” Engle explained. “They have a need, and we're providing a service that benefits the community.” 

During the third year of the Trail Project, Upland’s Main Street was under construction, so the Education Department had to look elsewhere for a place to host the young learners. They chose to bring the fourth and fifth grades of Eastbrook South and Wes-Del Elementary to Taylor’s Randall Environmental Studies Center for a half-day outdoor learning experience. 

A Day on Campus 

This year, both Upland’s Main Street and Taylor’s Randall building are under construction, so the Education Department once again explored alternative places to host the Trail Project. They decided to utilize other spots on Taylor’s beautiful campus to provide a day of outdoor education programming.    

Eastbrook South fourth and fifth graders walked to Taylor, and from there, junior Elementary Education majors took the students to different stations around campus where they explored different aspects of science. For example, one station taught about buoyancy and another about the life cycle of a plant. 

The Power of Outdoor Education 

Sitting in a classroom all day is typical of schools in America. But is it the best way to learn? Engle explained that taking students somewhere different as a part of the learning process automatically enhances the learning. It engages students through hands-on experiences and helps them gain a better understanding of course material. The Trail Project offers experiential learning like this and gives Taylor’s future educators the opportunity to engage students in a nontraditional way.  

Studies show that learning outdoors supports child development and increases mental, social, and physical health. A study in California found that students who attended an outdoor science school increased their science scores by 27%. The same study also found that the students had long lasting gains in cooperation and conflict resolution.  

Engle loves to see students outside, engaging with science content. “They don't realize how much they're learning in this authentic cross-disciplinary immersive experience,” Engle said. “They are immersed in the outdoors that God provides us, learning by being outside and present in that nature.”