Hands-on, discovery-based learning opportunities have been a focus this year at CitySquash through our Elementary School Activity Club and our Middle School Wilderness Club.
In Activity Club, CitySquash’s elementary school students were in for a special treat one recent Friday afternoon – using toothpicks and tweezers as their tools, the young students dissected owl pellets! Working in groups of three, the excited team members dug through the regurgitated meals of owls, discovering bones and hairballs as they sifted through the pellets. The owl pellet dissection in Activity Club is one of the many opportunities for CitySquash’s elementary school students to experience hands-on, discovery-based learning. The students loved discovering the various pieces inside the pellet, from the jaw to vertebrae to skull of a mouse.
Likewise, CitySquash’s middle school students have been thrown outside of their comfort zones through Wilderness Club. New to CitySquash this year, students have grappled with the basics of survival, first-aid, and cooking through project based learning. They began the semester by making shelters and campfires, and this May, the students will be putting their new skills to the test by taking two weekend camping trips! Each trip is meant to provide a different set of challenges, like assembling a tent in the dark, that the students will tackle using the skills they learned in class. Our students can’t wait to hit the wilderness!