Week of September 8, 2024 – September 14, 2024
by Katie Robideau, School Programs Manager
As a child, I always recognized the late summer insect “symphony” as the return to school and a sign that fall was well on the way. I remember associating these sounds with the fear of starting a new school year, joining a new class, and making new friends, a feeling that quickly wore away once the school year began. I’ve grown to appreciate the receding chorus of crickets, cicadas, and katydids that mark the changing of seasons and routines. With these sounds of late summer comes the fast-approaching 23rd year of the Nature in the City Program in the Syracuse City School District, and we are very excited to return to classrooms for some hands-on science learning!
For kindergarteners, their first experience with Nature in the City will include an outdoor “habitat hunt,” where we search for animals’ homes right in their schoolyard. Do animals need the same things we need? Where do animals make their homes? How are they adjusting to the change of seasons? These are just some of the questions students are exploring during their first lesson with us. With a focus on trees, students will learn about the many local animals that make their home in a tree through a habitat-matching game! Most importantly, students are learning that nature is all around us and it’s worth exploring during any season.
As the weather becomes cooler and the insect chorus begins to fade, our education team looks forward to hearing another easily recognizable chorus from the hallways and in classrooms: “Hey, it’s Nature in the City!” or “Can we see what’s inside your bin?”. We never go empty-handed for programs, and our big blue bins are a clear indicator that we’ll be visiting classrooms for some science fun. Whether we’re searching for habitats outside, acting out the water cycle or bringing in one of our Eastern Box Turtles to explore what living things need to survive, we can’t wait to join classrooms for another year of discoveries, experiences, and learning about nature right in the city of Syracuse!