What are macroinvertebrates and why are they important? How do decomposers help us? These are a couple of the questions 4th grade students should be able to answer, but you would be surprised the number of them who cannot. This was a concern of the 4th grade teachers at Hearn Elementary School. Therefore, the Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development Agent collaborated with the State Specialist, Sustainable Systems/Manager, Environmental Education and Research Center at Kentucky State University (KSU) to plan an Environmental Day. 

     During the Environmental Day, the 96- 4th Grade students, three teachers, and five parent volunteers from Hearn Elementary School packed up their lunches, loaded the buses, and traveled to Henry County to the KSU Environmental Education Research Center to spend their day outside having fun, as well as learning! The day consisted of the students rotating through different classes. The classes taught were: pond, rotten log, and nature hike. During the pond lesson, the students learned about the different types of water and their importance; then they had the opportunity to learn how to fish from the pond. The rotten log lesson consisted of searching through leaves, under fallen branches and in trees for decomposers and their friends; the nature hike class took a trip to the creek to learn about aquatic macroinvertebrates and their importance to them and our streams. 

            Based on a verbal evaluation the Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development conducted at the end of the day, the short term outcome showed nearly 100% of the students learned something new and enjoyed being outside more than they thought. Nearly 70% of the students agreed they would like to explore more outside and 1 in every 5 students wanted to learn more! The intermediate outcome showed the students test scores increasing on the topic of natural resources following the program.  

Testimonies:

“I didn’t know you could have fun getting your hands dirty!”

“This has been the best field trip!”

“Decomposers are talented!”