Through the Classroom Window: Grade 3 Trip to the Evergreen Brick Works

“Through the Classroom Window” is an opportunity for teachers to share the inspiring learning that takes place in their classrooms, giving others a glimpse into the heartbeat of the school. Today, we hear from Grade 3 teacher Hillel Kurlandsky and Mika Gang about the recent Grade 3 field trip to the Evergreen Brick Works as part of the Science and Environmental Studies unit:

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Last week, we had a wonderful field trip to the Evergreen Brick Works. Students were so excited to be on their first field trip since Grade 1!

During our end-of-day reflection, many students shared that their favourite part of the trip was hiking around the beautiful natural area.

Together, we learned about the history of the area, including how it was once part of a river and how it was later turned into a quarry for brick-making materials after clay was discovered in the region. In more recent history, with efforts to regenerate the Don Valley, the area has become a collection of unique ecosystems.

As such, students created beautiful drawings of the pond habitat in chaveruta as one partner drew lines and textures and the other drew colours. They also observed specific ecosystems and documented their observations on an ecosystem mapping page.

This field trip was part of the Science and Environmental Studies unit Im Ayne Ani Li Mi Li, which focuses on taking responsibility for ourselves, others, and the environment. It was thus the essence of integration at Heschel as students examined how ecosystems comprise habitats for living and non-living things, and they considered human impact on nature.

Truly interdisciplinary, students analyzed their surroundings, drew illustrations of their findings, and will later embark on a poetry project about ecosystem interactions.

Please enjoy these pictures from our learning adventure!