Snail Trails

Yesterday, I explained that one of the big (or central) ideas we explore with our young students all year long is: People have a responsibility to look after nature.

To begin to understand this statement, the young children must know what “responsibility” means and what “nature” is. We call this “unpacking the central idea”.

Yesterday I shared ways we learn about nature. Today, I’ll share ways we learn about responsibility. Learning about responsibility requires taking action. 

We engage in many learning experiences throughout the school year to learn about responsibility, too. 

  1. We plant seeds, bulbs and flowers in our outdoor learning environment (OLE) to make it more beautiful and to provide food for the insects that live there.
  2. We water and care for the flowers, bushes and scrubs in our OLE.
  3. We are careful when we handle the insects, worms and snails we catch and we always release them.
  4. We don’t pick the flowers in our OLE so the bees and butterflies will have the pollen and nectar they need.
  5. We don’t throw anything in our pond so our newts, frogs, and water snails have a safe, healthy environment.
  6. We learn about nature so we can take care of it correctly.

How are land snails and water snails alike and different?

That last point is important. Often times humans mean well when they help nature. But without sufficient knowledge, that help can be quite detrimental.

The children had been fascinated with the water snails in our pond. But then when some of them found land snails, they thought the land snails would be happier swimming with their friends so they threw them in the pond.

Needless to say, the land snails didn’t survive the experience. I discovered what was happening, when my students proudly told me how they were reuniting the “friends”.

We noticed the water snails “crawled” on the top of the water!

To care for nature properly, the children need to be knowledgeable. For the next few days, we added a live exhibit to our nature museum. We observed, noticed and discussed the differences and similarities between land snails and water snails. This was an extremely interesting and engaging experience for the children. I’d like to think the land snails appreciated it, too. Knowledge can truly save lives.

No, thank you. We’d prefer not to swim.