5 to 12-year-old students from the Perséides school of the city of Pointe-Calumet, located in the region of Quebec, Canada, took part in the W5 project and started using nature as a classroom!
The students at Perséides had expressed an interest in spending more time outdoors and the teachers quickly came on board and started finding creative ways to teach different subjects outside.
Each of the eight classes of the school benefited in different ways from the project. One class made art by drawing the trees and surrounding flora while others used the flora to learn about polygons. Small catapults were built with materials found outside to explore concepts linked to physics. Other classes learnt about the history of Iroquoian life (hunting, fishing, shelter building, bartering, etc.) as well as the Industrial Revolution by physically moving from a field to a more populated area with huts. In short, every reason was used to go outside, learn, and enjoy nature – in all kinds of weather.
"It’s amazing for me to work in the nature with my students! Lately we have been working on observing nature in order to reproduce it in art and we have been practicing math by calculating the perimeter of our snow fortress with tape measures.” - Cassandra Chenard, Teacher at the Perséides school.
The school used the funds of the Alcoa W5 project to buy equipment for outdoor observation and exploration. A group of dedicated parents helped the school with the management of the funds and the learning activities.
"To hear and see the students engaging in their outdoor learning is simply amazing. As parents, we realise how useful these hands-on activities are. They understand different concepts in a much better way. Moreover, we are seeing that they now want to observe and protect the nature more at home.” - Anik Rochat, parent of four students at the Perséides school.
Exploring nature with appropriate equipment has created a real increase in student motivation and engagement in their learning. Retention of information is stronger when students have experienced their learning and it is therefore more concrete and meaningful to them. A reduction in stress was also noticeable for several students. This project is now embedded in the students' weekly learning!
The Alcoa W5 project activities at Perséides alternative school support the following SDGs:
