Eco Watch

Fifth-graders in public schools across Avery County are receiving a mountain adventure right in their own classrooms and schoolyards thanks to the Eco Watch educational outreach program offered by the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation.

The program provides educational enrichment in line with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for fifth-graders. After an initial pilot at Banner Elk Elementary School in the 2021-22 academic year, where student knowledge of related science concepts increased from a pre-program assessment average of 72 percent to a post-assessment average of 86 percent, the program was expanded to four out of the five elementary schools within Avery County’s public school system in the 2022-23 school year.

“Classroom teachers, and fifth-grade educators in particular, are under a lot of pressure due to high-stakes testing. With the addition of the new Science and Engineering Practices in N.C. Standards, experiential, student-led learning has taken the front seat in education,” said Michelle Malalang, education specialist for the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation.

Eco Watch provides students with six in-depth interactions with one of the mountain’s expert naturalists, plus two field trips to Grandfather. Each visit teaches students how to think like a scientist and make observations like one. A portion of these interactions focuses on weather and weather patterns, data-collection instruments and how weather patterns affect the students and the world around them.

The other half of these interactions focuses on the ecosystem unit. The educator, together with the students, delves into various crucial components of an ecosystem, including its physical and biological properties. Students learn and explore the different types of ecosystems on our planet with special emphasis on how everything in nature is connected. Whether it’s acting out food chains, creating food webs or participating in activities that reveal how human and animal interaction influences everything in ecosystems, students develop an understanding of the importance of balance in life and in nature.

“Our environmental educators engage students at the transformative level of hands-on instruction which sparks critical thinking through active observation,” said Malalang.

Best of all, the students always get outside.

During the weather unit, classes take their weather-recording capabilities to the next level as they visit Grandfather Mountain’s Mile High Swinging Bridge and record the daily weather reading from the National Weather Service reporting station near the bridge and at the Wilson Center for Nature Discovery. Students compare and contrast their weather data to the weather they observed at their school before leaving on the field trip.

The Eco Watch program, coupled with the Wild Watch program, which provides similar outreach to first-graders in Avery and Watauga counties, offers a truly unique experience for Grandfather Mountain educators to support academic achievement, enrich learning in science and shape the next generation of conservationists and stewards of the natural world.

“Our goal is to collaborate with schools and partner with teachers to deliver high-quality programs that promote learning and retention in a very presonal way. For us, as educators, we strive to share and show our love of nature in every program, with every interaction, with every student, every day.

The nonprofit Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation strives to inspire conservation of the natural world by helping guests explore, understand and value the wonders of Grandfather Mountain. Learn more about Grandfather Mountain’s educational initiatives.