The Montana Outdoor Science School (MOSS) out of Bozeman recently visited Brorson Elementary on Monday October 13th and Tuesday October 14th. Moss is a privately funded science program that goes into schools across the state teaching the global leadership concept of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. MOSS brings a hands-on approach pairing lab studies in the classroom with field science. The no-textbook method encourages kids to explore science in the world around them.
“MOSS’s main goal is connecting students with the outdoors,” says Sarah Normandeau, who has been with the program for three years. “We want them to be connecting what they learn in school with what they’re observing outside.”
Topics covered were aquatic plants, photosynthesis, animal tracking, renewable resources and predators.
The students were separated into two groups; kindergarteners through third-graders focused on sustainable energy, while fourth through sixth graders studied airborne engineers relating to a predator unit. Students studied how flight for birds of prey such as hawks and eagles differed from the flight of other birds.
The younger group had in class lab studies with Casey Dilg who has been with MOSS for about six months. Students studied a bear pelt and discussed how the animal’s hide would benefit it in ways such as keeping it warm and protecting it from elements of nature as well as competing predators. The children drew pictures of animals with adaptations and were asked to explain why those adaptations would benefit it. Dilg also discussed how an adaptation could benefit an animal in more than one way, such as the spots on a peacock being beneficial to both scare predators and attract females. He explained that certain adaptations can be used for entirely different purposes in varying species, for instance a predator’s speed allows it to catch its prey while a prey’s speed allows it to avoid predators. The involved method of teaching allowed kids to both answer and ask the questions of why and how do things in nature work.
With the instruction of Normandeau, fourth through sixth graders studied samples, attempting to determine what each sample was and where it had come from. The class discussed different elements of tracking animals such as animal signs like waste, prints, gall and exoskeletons. Near the end of the lab studies on Monday, the students were guided through the process of deductive reasoning to figure out what a worm is as it isn’t an insect or arachnid. The energetic discussion opened the door for the class to collect worms during the field study portion of the day so that they could study them later.
For the field study, Brorson students took a field trip to a wooded area near a creek. Backpacks were handed out containing observational tools like binoculars, magnifying glasses, and pencils and paper to record findings. Group discussions reviewed findings and individual observations where encouraged making the day a fun learning experience.
MOSS has regular programs, field day events, day camps, and a Master Naturalist program for adults; one benefit is that MOSS can boost a science curriculum and offer experience and equipment that schools may not have available to them on a regular basis. To bring the MOSS program into schools there is a financial obligation which the program will match 50% of with grant money. Schools in a localized area can also coordinate the program to come in during the same week and share the remaining traveling costs. For more information on the Montana Outdoor Science Scholl, please visit outdoorscience.org.
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