• Observing and studying samples of real and synthetic fall leaves;
• Raking fall leaves;
• Making leaf rubbings of fall leaves;
• Make a fall leaf plant press;
• Observing and studying fall fruit and vegetables;
• Sorting, matching, and weighing fall fruit and vegetables;
• Observing and studying the seeds of fall fruits and vegetables;
• Sorting, matching, and weighing the seeds of fall fruits and vegetables;
• Weigh pumpkins;
• Count the lines on a pumpkin;
• Cut a pumpkin open and let the students feel the inside of the pumpkin;
• Count how many seeds are in a pumpkin;
• Bake the pumpkin seeds and eat the seeds;
• Make predictions as to whether fall fruits and vegetables float or sink (pumpkin, squash, apples, etc..);
• Discuss why the fall fruits and vegetables float or sink;
• Making a fall fruit and seed bracelet or necklace using masking tape or clear laminating material (place pumpkin, squash, acorn seeds, etc.. onto tape or laminating material);
• Plant fall fruits and vegetables- allow each student to plant their own seeds in a small cup, etc.;
• Plant a fall fruit or vegetable garden in the schoolyard;
• Take a fall autumn nature walk around the school yard, have your students make observations of the seasonal changes. Have them record and draw their observations;
• Record fall and autumn temperatures, wind speed and direction, rain fall;
• Have students draw pictures of the fall and autumn clouds;
• Have a model bat center- where students are able to explore the characteristics of bats;
• Human Skeleton center – where students are able to touch and explore the human skeleton via a model, I also use a dis-articulated human skeleton and students attempt to try and put together the entire human skeleton;

The above hands-on science centers should be a good start for implementing some educational, inquiry-based, and meaningful hands -on science centers in your classroom to introduce and reinforce fall and autumn science concepts to your students. The following photos are from a recent hands-on fall science program I conducted. Check out my teacher training workshop entitled Young Nature Explorers under the teacher training pages of this website. During the Young Nature Explorers teacher training workshop teachers are actively engaged in exploring life and environmental science concepts, as well as fall and autumn science concepts. Additionally, I offer life and environmental teacher training workshops for intermediate through high school level teachers.

• Using eye-loupes to observe specimens from nature;
• Using simple microscopes to observe leaves;
• Making leaf, tree bark and tree ring rubbings;
• Observing and touching live pill bugs, earthworms, and garden snails;
• Observing rocks, pebbles, and sand;
• Observing how rocks break down via mechanical weathering- teachers placed sedimentary rocks inside of containers and shook the containers back and forth. This resulted in the rocks breaking down;
• Observing, comparing, and sorting seeds;
• Making paper helicopter models that depict how certain seeds travel; and
• Observing and comparing animal coverings (fish scale, bird feathers, synthetic animal fur and more.

In addition, to exploring life and environmental science concepts Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski introduced early childhood teachers to over 70 children’s literature that can be used in the classroom and at home to reinforce life and environmental science concepts. The list of books used during the workshop can be seen on the book page, as well as ordered from Amazon via the book page on this site,  at no extra charge. This was a timely teacher training professional staff development experience for the Cherokee Nation early childhood teachers since outdoor education/ exploring the natural world has been designated as a major focus of their early childhood science curriculum for 2010-2011. On the national level “The No Child Left Inside Act” is now listed as one of four key pieces of legislation in the reauthorization of ESEA on the Ed & Labor Committee. For a good read Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski recommends the book “Last Child In The Woods” by Richard Louv. Last Child In The Woods is the first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults (from official website of Richard Louv).

All of the teachers enjoyed the training session, many were heard discussing how they were going to implement what they had been introduced to immediately within their own classrooms. Many of the teachers overcame their pre-existing fears of touching common school yard invertebrates (pill bugs, earthworms, and snails). There is nothing that makes a teacher training facilitator smile more than seeing that they have had an immediate and positive impact on their audience, and more importantly the students of the teachers will benefit immensely from their teachers willingness to spend a Saturday exploring and learning about the natural world.

I produced the following video to pay tribute to the earthworm, a common backyard invertebrates. The earthworm’s activities are vital to the plant and animal kingdom. Earthworms are not only consumers, they are decomposers as well. Earthworms benefit the plant and animal kingdom by decomposing organic matter, excreting nutrient rich casts, and their burrowing actions aerate the soil. An earthworm science lesson is a great hands-on science lesson to investigate a multitude of science concepts including: animal classification, interdependence, food chain, population, decomposers, consumers, and producers. As you’ll observe in the video, young children enjoy learning about snails, pill bugs, and earthworms via hands-on explorations. Ideas for earthworm explorations include:

1. Comparing and contrasting Gummy Worms to synthetic fishing worms, to live earthworms.
2. Exploring the anatomy of live earthworms.
3. Measuring earthworms.
4. Experimenting with what type surfaces earthworms prefer (dry, wet, rough, smooth, etc.).
5. Making earthworms out of Playdoh and clay.
6. Make earthworm paintings with fishing worms.
7. Drawing earthworms based on observations of live earthworms.
8. Make a classroom terrarium to house common backyard invertebrates (snails, pillbugs, and earthworms).
9. Make a composte or vermiposte pile.
10. Read children’s literature with earthworm themes.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0iOx6nSwz0