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The Outdoor Classroom: A Natural Path to Science and Literacy A 2008 NSTA Professional Development Institute presented by First Hand Learning, Inc. A crisp, sunny, early spring day provided a perfect opportunity to explore field guide development. Pat McGlashan, FHL’s Director of Curriculum, deftly orchestrated the interaction between the presenters and the participants. Mark Baldwin, who directs the education program at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, New York, led the group sketching exercises, proper use of hand lenses, keeping good observational records, and illustrating how a well-kept field guide can provide a solid foundation for field guide development. Wendy Saul, Professor of Education and International Studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, conducted a discussion of the various literary genres of science writing such as journals and science notebooks, and introduced participants to a variety of published field guides showing diverse models of presentation. Diane Miller, Vice President for Community Science and Education at the St. Louis Science Center spoke about her work with inner city teens in developing their science writing skills, and Therese Arsenault, a fifth grade teacher at the Lansing Middle School in Lansing, New York presented the way she had approached field guide development with her students. Fortified by this background, groups of four then set about developing their own field guide templates, incorporating information that they had gathered on two outdoor excursions. These templates were then posted and the institute participants were able to see and discuss each other’s work through a “gallery walk” where each group’s template was displayed for public viewing. We were surprised and pleased by the enormous variety of formats that the various groups generated. Clearly a “field guide” can take many incarnations depending on the purpose that it is intended to serve and the nature of the audience. The take home messages might be summarized as follows:
To read about the 2007 Professional Development Institute held at the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden, click here. First Hand Learning, Inc. can provide professional development to schools around the country. To learn how to bring a professional development experience similar to this one to your district, read more here.
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Therese Arsenault’s fifth grade students developed and produced a field guide to their local habitat.
White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus)Class: Mammal, Order: Rodentia, Family: Muridae Role in
Ecosystem: Omnivore Description: The
White footed mouse’s head and body is brown, reddish, or grayish. They
are white underneath. Their bodies are 5 1/8 – 8 1/8 inches
including the tail which is about half the body length. These mice
have large heads, big round ears, black eyes, and very long whiskers. The
back feet are only 5/8 of an inch long. Habitat: The
White footed mouse lives preferably in wooded forests and deciduous areas. They
can be found living in old bird’s nests and in small burrows in the
ground. These mice spread through all of North America except tundra
regions of Canada, the Southeastern U.S: and parts of Mexico. Important to LMS Woods: Tiny these mice are but they hold a large roll in our ecosystem. The variety of insects they eat is quite large. Without them the population of bugs would increase dramatically. Prey: The White footed mouse eats quite a variety of food. Its diet includes the black cherry tree, white-oak, snails, centipedes, grasshoppers, small birds, and honey mushrooms. They climb shrubs and trees to get this food. Predators: Though strong these mice seem, they still have enemies. Red-tailed hawks, blue jays, and red foxes are the biggest of the fiends. Food Web: 
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