Nobleboro students attend Nature School at Salt Bay Farm

Learning with bodies and minds
Nobleboro Central School (NCS) 6th graders had the opportunity to spend a week at Nature School at Coastal Rivers’ Salt Bay Farm Preserve in Damariscotta in early February. As part of a unit on ancient civilizations, the students learned about Wabanaki culture and made their own birch bark etchings. The natural setting also lent itself to a focus on Fibonacci numbers and spirals and discussions on nutrient cycles in nature.

Coastal Rivers Education Director Sarah Gladu takes Nobleboro students into the salt marsh to learn about carbon and nitrogen cycles in nature.
During Nature School, Salt Bay Farm becomes the student’s classroom for a week, and active, hands-on programming is integrated into their studies. The historic farm and nature preserve offers the kids a fun and unique setting to engage in learning that is not constrained by a typical classroom setting or schedule.

A student works on a birch bark etching.
Coastal Rivers educators worked with NCS teacher Eddie Farrell to create a schedule for the week that integrated his lesson plan and teaching goals with nature-based programming. In the context of their studies of ancient civilizations, Coastal Rivers Education Director Sarah Gladu passed around Wabanaki artifacts dating from 4,500 years ago – about the time the Great Pyramids were constructed in Egypt.
Students met with local archaeologist Tim Dinsmore, who talked with them about the field of archaeology and how archaeologists do their work. He described some of the studies that have taken place in this area and what discoveries have been made.
Gladu introduced the class to Fibonacci numbers and spirals, which occur frequently in nature. Gladu also talked about how spirals may have influenced human artwork and architecture, from Wabanaki birch bark etchings to the design of the Taj Mahal and the Parthenon.
The students took a walk into the salt water marsh to observe first-hand the cycles of carbon and nitrogen in nature, then made dioramas and clay animals to illustrate what they had learned about these natural cycles.

NCS students go over the finer points of their diorama with teacher Eddie Farrell.
During the week the students also had the chance to practice outdoor skills such as shelter-building and making fires. They found a strip of unmelted snow on which to go sledding, played outdoor games, and enjoyed a session with a special guest, yoga instructor Sarah Plummer.
Nature School is provided free of charge to participating AOS 93 schools, thanks to the support of Coastal Rivers’ members and donors.

Time for a game!
Photos by Brian Threkeld/Photography for the People