My six students with autism love science and getting their hands on anything they can learn from! I teach 4th and 5th graders at a low-income public special education school. As their classroom teacher I am constantly looking for ways to enhance their learning and make them excited about education, and field trips are one of the best ways I've found to do so.
Experiential learning is the most effective way for my students to learn. They are more engaged and excited about learning when they can actually see, smell, and touch what they are learning about. Often we will study a concept for several weeks and I may not see my students experience an "Aha!" moment until we get out of the classroom to explore it in the real world at a museum or park or farm. We will be studying animal adaptations as part of our science unit on living things this spring and I'm sure that a trip to the aquarium will solidify what they learn throughout the unit.
The "Designed for the Deep" school workshop at the New York Aquarium will bring alive all that we learn about animal adaptations throughout our unit on living things this spring. The workshop focuses on adaptations for living in an aquatic environment and includes role-playing, examining bio-artifacts, and even handling live invertebrate animals! We will then take our knowledge of animal adaptations and apply it to our next science unit on environmentalism. Hopefully seeing these animals and their amazing adaptations will help inspire my students to take better care of their environment and the creatures in it.
Please consider helping us participate in the "Designed for the Deep" school workshop at the New York Aquarium. Your support will make it possible for my students to observe animal adaptations live and up-close, which will surely help them understand the concept better and grasp the importance of protecting ecosystems. Thank you for your consideration!
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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