Children learn best when they are given authentic experiences and opportunities to practice what they have learned. The Outdoor Classroom at WWPS provides a living laboratory for students to study habitats, life cycles, environmental ecology and other natural phenomena. The Outdoor Classroom is used to enrich the scientific discovery and inquiry of students at WWPS. Students have the opportunity to have hands-on experiences and become involved in their topics of study instead of only reading about them in a book.

What kinds of wildlife habitats are in different regions of Georgia, and what organisms are suited to these habitats? These are the questions that third graders are researching this month in LAB classes (Science and Social Studies). The Outdoor Classroom at WWPS is the ideal place to investigate habitats. Students simulate the changing deer populations using Project Wild activities in the field. They collect data, use graphing software to analyze it, and write their own math word problems. Monarch butterflies are swarming to the Outdoor Classroom's habitat as well! They are on their annual migration to Mexico, and the third graders are tracking their journey from Ontario, Canada to Mexico City, Mexico using the internet through the Journey North web site http://www.learner. org/jnorth/. Journey North is the nation's premiere "citizen science" project for children.

The Outdoor Classroom is also used as a place for reflection. It is not uncommon for students to explore the area and then write poetry to reflecttheir observations and feelings. Through experiences such as this, students gain a greater awareness of the beauty of nature and develop, through written expression, ways to explore their thoughts, reactions, and emotions. In the past 6 years, some WWPS students' poetry has been chosen for national publication. What a wonderful outreach of the WWPS Outdoor Classroom!