Muddy Sneakers provided Lilesville Elementary School fifth-graders an educational event on weather at Pee Dee Wildlife.
Muddy Sneakers’ mission is to awaken in children a deeply felt connection with the natural world — one that inspires curiosity, stimulates learning and brings new life to classroom performance.
“We are not a one-time event but rather a nonprofit organization that runs outdoor science education programs throughout the school year,” said Carolyn Morrisroe, communications coordinator. “We partner with schools to provide six to 10 curriculum-aligned science expeditions on local protected lands over the course of the school year.”
Muddy Sneakers partners with elementary schools to supplement fifth-grade science instruction with hands-on outdoor learning expeditions on nearby protected lands. Participation has been shown to enhance academic achievement, spark a lifelong connection to nature, and inspire a commitment to the principles of conservation.
The expedition on April 30 was the sixth, and final, of the school year.
“It was our hope to support Lilesville in their science education and to give their fifth-grade students unique experiences outside and hands-on science experiences that will allow them to make connections in their science classroom,” said Elise Tellez, Piedmont field officer director. “We aim to connect these students with nature while also connecting them with the science curriculum.”
Students were in awe of all of the noises they heard at Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge. With spring in full swing, the frogs were being very vocal along with geese being active in the pond at the end of the boardwalk.
“It is always great to see how students react to different wildlife that we encounter on Muddy Sneakers expeditions,” Tellez said.
In the expedition, field officers cover a number of science standards that allow students to connect conceptual ideas of weather phenomena to observable features of their environments by participating in activities and recording weather data. Students engaged in activities and play games that simulate cloud types, air molecules or different temperatures and densities, frontal systems and the jet stream.
In order to learn more about fronts and how air masses collide, students build a small town on the forest floor out of natural materials that they foraged. Once their towns have been created, they act out what would happen to the town in different types of fronts: cold fronts, warm fronts, occluded front, and stationary front.
Tellez added that this activity allows students to talk through how air masses interact together and how weather impacts humans while also giving the students a visual of this interaction.
Students enjoyed learning about the different cloud types and making cloud observations along the boardwalk of the refuge.
Expeditions explore public lands within a 30- to 45-minute drive of a school’s campus, such as state parks, state forests, national forests and county parks. Muddy Sneakers also partners with conservation organizations to provide students with access to privately-owned protected properties.
Muddy Sneakers employs highly qualified science educators who are passionate about teaching and the outdoors. All instructors are CPR and wilderness first aid certified; and are working toward or have completed the North Carolina Environmental Education certification.
Schools contribute 25 percent of the programming cost; and the remainder is raised by Muddy Sneakers through a mix of public funding and private donation, such as grants, community sponsorship, and corporate and individual donors.
“Muddy Sneakers hopes that we were able to excite the topic of science for Lilesville Elementary fifth-graders while also providing them with unique experiences outdoors; and we want every fifth-grader in our program to feel like a scientist while on expeditions with us,” Tellez said. “Not only do students perform at least one outdoor science experiment on each expedition but our inquiry and hands-on based learning give students the skills to think like a scientist and engage in cooperative learning with their peers.”
Tellez went on to say that, “throughout the school year, we also hope to introduce the students to public land that they will one day go back to and continue to explore.”
Lilesville Elemtary School fifth-graders and Muddy Sneakers staff gather in a closing circle at Pee Dee Wildlife.