The problem

Youth environmental education plays a pivotal role in cultivating a generation of environmentally conscious individuals who understand, appreciate, and actively work towards sustainability and conservation. By engaging young people in learning about the environment, ecosystems, and the impact of human activities, we empower them to become informed advocates and stewards of our planet's future.

The most impactful way to reach our youth is through hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that cannot be replicated in the classroom.  Field trips help bridge the gap between knowledge learned in the classroom and practicing it in the field.  These connections motivate students to ask questions, problem solve and develop a deeper appreciate for their local environment. The time spent outside also promotes teamwork, social interaction, communication skills, and improves mental health.

The educational program response

Boone County Extension offers a full day, environmental field trips to county public, private and homeschool students in grades 3-6 grade. Students get the opportunity to explore their local forest and wetland habitats through 4 hands-on  stations.  Each group rotates through tree life cycles, aquatic ecology, wildlife adaptations and decomposers roles in the nurtient cycle.  Many youth are getting the opportunity to explore the forest for the first time, facing their fear of bugs and witnessing the amphibian life cycle by holding tad poles and salamanders for the first time.  Each lesson reinforces 4th grade Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

The participants/target audience

Third through sixth grade students, their parents and their teachers.

Other partners (if applicable)

• Boone County Public Schools
• Boone County Private Schools
• Homeschool Community
• Erlanger/Elsmere Independent Schools

Program impact or participant response.

Many students return to Extension in later years remembering the experiences during this field trip and how it was one of their favorite field trips they took.  Children have overcome fears of insects and other wildlife having a better understand of them and being able to properly ID harmless animals that life in nature and help us indirectly.  Parents return with younger slblings commenting how their older child would explore under rocks and logs around their home after the field trip to see what they could find.