During the Fall semester students dove into the geology and ecology of Ohio. Mrs. Morvilius’ classes learned about how Ohio’s landforms developed through geologic time and geological events. Then students quickly switched gears and learned about the geographical regions that make up Ohio’s unique diversity. Students made globes, read and created multiple maps, referenced literature, and participated in whole class web quests to learn about all five geographical regions.
Once finishing the study of Ohio’s geographical regions students were all-hands-on-deck as they explored brochures, pamphlets, resource books, and internet articles to gather as much information about the ecosystems within the regions particular to Ohio. Utilizing all their creative energy, Mrs. Morvilius’ students created dioramas of each of the seven ecosystems thriving in Ohio today. Students gathered material from Mother Nature (the outside recess area and from hiking field trips to parks in Cuyahoga and Geauga County) to use in their projects- plus other items they were able to find and re-create into something else. Students enjoyed working with partners and honing in on their creativity to make replicas of the word outside.
All dioramas were put on display in the school library and each group and every member of the facility was invited to view the students’ work in the
school library. Flashlights were provided to observe inside the cave dioramas while the other dioramas drew special attention from the multiple mediums students used to engage their senses.