Eco column bridges learning between Peeples, Starr’s Mill

The 4th grade at Peeples Elementary is getting a fun upgrade to their ecology unit with an eco column built by their friends at Starr’s Mill High. 

“We’re thrilled to have this living science project and look forward to observing how it changes over time,” said Peeples teacher Ingrid Hudson. “It’s already sparking thoughtful questions and conversations about ecosystems, balance in nature, and giving us a visual model to use our new vocabulary in class discussions.” 

The eco column will move between the 4th grade classrooms for observation and application. Students will use it for hands-on studies of what they are learning in their ecology unit, like identifying the producers, consumers, and decomposers.

“It makes the learning much more understandable when they can see a real-life example,” said Hudson. 

The Starr’s Mill High AP Environmental Science class taught by Staci Killingsworth donated the piece, which is a small-scale model of a real ecosystem complete with plants, water, a beta fish, and other organisms within the soil. Killingsworth and her class created the piece and delivered it to Peeples. The Panthers will be studying their own column in their class, so they will be able to communicate about changes they see, and the Peeples students can ask questions of their high school counterparts. 

Hudson was thrilled to see the students excited to get to work. 

“The eco column is something we can refer back to each day for observation and also see how it connects what we are learning about in our ecology unit to a real-life ecology simulation,” said Hudson. “Science is such fun content, and I think having real-life organisms in our class makes the learning relevant and fun.”