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Benefits of Learning Outside: STEM in Our Environment

When you think about it, the great outdoors was humanity’s first laboratory. A place where we could dream, test, and learn about the world around us. And today, at STEM Camp, the learning continues! In fact, any chance we get, we bring learning outside! 

We make sure we take advantage of that beautiful summer weather whenever possible – even taking our Chromebooks outside when we can! Much more than that, we make sure we incorporate our environment into our camp day: there is so much awesomeness in the natural world around us that we don’t often take the time to experience! At STEM Camp, we make sure learning (and fun!) also happens outside, using found materials, creativity and the awesome power of observation! 

What You Can Learn Outdoors

Anything and everything! You can find science under every rock, engineering in watching those clever ants build their structures, technological principles in how the sun moves around a sun dial, and math in the beautiful symmetry of a flower. We put the screens aside to experience the wonder of STEM in nature – and have so much fun while doing it!

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The science of biology and ecology, as we observe, collect and make note of the plants and animals around us.

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Engineering and materials science, as we test the properties of natural materials, learning what floats best in that big puddle.

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Kids can construct their own technology. For instance, we’ve been known to construct a kid-friendly catapult or two!

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Let’s not forget math! Counting the objects we discover, the role of symmetry, or experiencing the Golden Ratio for ourselves. 

STEM Experiments in our Environment

There are endless things to learn from just being outside – from observing and interacting with the wonderful world around us! Here are just a few examples of new ways to experience our environment, and how we create opportunities for campers to better understand their big, beautiful planet! 

  1. Create a catapult using sticks and found materials from the yard and recycling, and an elastic band. Test the catapult for 10 launches. What could be changed to make the catapult launch more efficiently?
  2. Make a ramp for a stone using the landscape, twigs, leaves, and any other found materials. How can you adjust the ramp to make the stone roll? 
  3. “Paint” things with water and a paintbrush. Which objects absorb water better? Why might this be? 
  4. Move like an animal in each location: North: jump, South: crawl, East: slither, West: fly.
  5. Pick a critter you can see in the yard: bird, squirrel, chipmunk, etc. What are four nonliving and four living things it interacts with?
  6. Draw an object outside with a shadow in the morning. Go back later in the day and draw it in the afternoon. What has changed? Why might that have been?
  7. Observe a small square of land close up. What can be seen on the surface? If there is a log, stone, leaves, etc that can be carefully moved, what can be seen underneath? Were there insects, worms, bugs etc? Why might they live under or over the objects that were moved?
  8. Bring a piece of paper and pencil crayons or a pencil outside with you. Close your eyes and listen for sounds. Then, open your eyes and draw yourself in the middle of the page. Place symbols or simple drawings of the things you heard around you as a map (birds, train, cars, frog, etc.)
  9. Locate an ant hill. Observe where the ants go. Place certain food bits around the anthill, for example apple core, bread crumbs, a carrot, etc and observe the immediate change in behaviour. Is there a food preference for ants? Are they working cooperatively to bring the food back to the anthill? What else do you observe?
  10. Imagine you’re in a time machine. Think back 10, 100, and 1000 years. What grew in this place? What animals lived here or used this land as their habitat? Who lived in the area that is now our camp?

There's So Much to Learn From Our Environment!

As you can see, there’s a lot we can learn while being outside and exploring our environment. The activities above are only just a start! We didn’t even get into all the water day activities that can happen outside too!

Does this sound like the kind of learning that your kid loves? Check out all of the STEM Camp locations and themes, and give them the gift of an unforgettable learning experience this summer. 

Ready for some outside fun? Find all that and more at STEM Camp! Join us!

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