The pollinator garden at River Bend Farm.

I was fortunate to spend four days at River Bend Farm in Saco, Maine, at a teacher institute on watershed science and conservation. The program is run through The Ecology School, an organization that provides outdoor, place-based learning experiences for both students and teachers.

The Ecology School’s summer teacher institute sets you up for success by removing you from your everyday routines and responsibilities and plopping you on a beautiful piece of land surrounded by hiking trails, a river for kayaking and canoeing, a working farm, and a pollinator garden. A talented chef and kitchen staff prepare delicious, healthy farm-to-table using products grown on-site or locally sourced.

Dorm living adds to the summer camp feel of the teacher institute.

It feels like summer camp for grown-ups, but your fellow campers are like-minded educators who are there to learn, share, and improve their practice.

The schedule includes engaging sessions interspersed with free time for relaxing, connecting, and adventuring. During field ecology lessons, participants learn about the ABCs of ecology, explore watershed science through hands-on activities, investigate factors impacting water quality, and embark on a tide pool field trip.


The institute is designed to facilitate impactful change. The schedule includes 2 ½ hours to spend researching your local watershed, identifying and contacting local community partners, and designing lessons and curriculum integration. Each teacher creates a poster showing how they plan to integrate what they learned into their teaching. At a gallery walk on the final day, participants peruse the posters, get inspired by their colleagues’ brilliant ideas, and leave comments, praise, and questions on sticky notes.

My poster outlined my ideas for implementing lessons at my school.

 

I left with ready-to-implement teaching strategies and lesson ideas, and bountiful resources. Some of my favorites:

  1. River Runner interactive map – Follow the path of a raindrop that falls in any location and learn what creeks, rivers, and body of waters it flows through on its way to the ocean.
  2. Classroom management strategies – During our field sessions, educators modeled strategies designed to keep students focused in an outdoor learning space. We learned tips and tricks to keep students on track during transitions and how to quickly and efficiently get participants to circle up to receive instructions.
  3. Skits – Each lesson at The Ecology School begins with a skit. They have a whole closet full of silly wigs, costumes, and props. The skits introduce the main points of the day’s lesson, such as the ABCs of ecology. By the end of the skit, everyone is laughing and they’ve learned the basic vocabulary required to move the lesson forward.
  4. Mind Pie – This is a simple pie chart on paper. Our leader took us into the woods and invited each of us to pick up three small rocks and three small sticks. She told us to put our rocks on things we are already “rock solid” at doing – things that are our strengths. We put our sticks on things that we need to “stick with” and practice or learn more to get better at.
  5. Observation – Observation is a big part of science, and it is a skill that must be taught. We participated in simple games and activities that helped us see how to spark and develop students’ observation skills.

 

I also left with questions:

  • What resources are teachers in my school using to teach about water? Are they connected with community partners? If not, how can I facilitate and collaborate?
  • How can I mobilize students to push for sustainability in our school? Could we compost? Use more environmentally-friendly napkins and other goods?
  • How can I get students outside more during library lessons?

This enviroscape is a 3D tabletop model designed to teach about water pollution and storm water runoff. Materials like cocoa powder, jello powder, sugar, and soy sauce represent pollutants. Participants spray the model with water to simulate rainfall and see how pollutants spread to rivers and groundwater.

Applications and funding

Through sponsorship from Poland Spring, lodging, meals, and program materials are provided to participants free of charge. Teacher institute attendees receive a travel allowance of up to $500 in addition to a $250 stipend awarded for participating in all sessions. An additional $250 stipend is available for those who document implementation of content learned during the institute. Teachers of all different levels and subjects can attend. My cohort included teachers of elementary, P.E., ELA, science, and STEM along with two librarians.

Interested in attending? Watch the promotional video below for a sneak peek into the facilities and activities. Applications open in January for travel in the summer.