WEST FRIENDSHIP Elementary School was empty yesterday.
In celebration of Earth Day, the pupils -- kindergarten through grade five -- traveled to Nixon's Farm for environmental studies.
Students and teachers (including afternoon kindergartners, who came in the morning yesterday for the event) boarded 11 buses for the ride to the farm. Nixon's Farm, on Nixon's Farm Lane, off Route 32 in West Friendship, is the second oldest minority-owned business in Maryland.
L It is also West Friendship Elementary's educational partner.
The Nixon family donated the use of the facilities for the day. The farm's grounds provided an outdoor laboratory for Earth Day activities.
What could be more fun for kindergartners than going on a scavenger hunt? The object of the hunt was to look for things to classify as "living," "nonliving" or "dead."
The children examined and compared seeds, planting some and tasting others.
First- and second-graders were met by members of the National Honor Society from Glenelg High School, who served as companions and led activities focused on endangered species, baby beluga whales, worms and rain forests.
The first-graders sang songs about nature with music teacher Eileen Clark, while second-graders created pictures that they plan to turn into a mural about their experiences at the farm.
Third-graders observed cloud formations, learned about tree rings (estimating the ages of cut trees), tested stream samples for water quality and learned about recycling and antique farm machinery.
The environmental impact of oil spills was the topic for fourth-graders, and they watched aquatic life in the farm's pond and speculated on how its ecology would be affected by a spill.
Fifth-graders became bird watchers, discussing creatures with wings from bluebirds to birds of prey.
The fourth- and fifth-graders also learned to monitor water quality and participated in orienteering activities, finding hidden objects following directions, using compasses and locating natural landmarks.
Relying on maps to travel about the farm, the children measured, estimated and sharpened their powers of observation.
By 1 p.m. the students were famished. They headed to the picnic area to consume the lunches they had brought and cupcakes provided for the occasion.
After cleaning up, to make sure the farm was left in good Earth Day order, the pupils went home.
