Sharing the Universal Language of the Outdoors
Emerging bilingual students at Lewisville High School’s Harmon and Killough campuses recently experienced the environmental education experience provided by LISD’s Outdoor Learning Area (LISDOLA).
The biology students, all sophomores on their respective campuses, participated in LISDOLA’s “BioBlitz,” which pairs small groups with expert volunteers from state and local organizations, such as the Master Naturalists and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. LISD students visit LISDOLA during yearly curricular field trips, but this was the first trip to LISDOLA for these high schoolers, many of whom have recently immigrated to the United States.
Secondary ESL Specialist Sarah Guedry saw LISDOLA as a unique educational opportunity for the Harmon and Killough emerging bilingual students.
“[Last year] I got to come on this field trip with my own first grader as a parent volunteer,” explained Guedry. “I thought ‘we have high school students that have never been here because they’re new to the district, and many are new to the country, and they may not know about the plants and animals in North Texas.’”
Guedry took her thoughts to Shelly Robinson, LISDOLA’s Environmental Learning Administrator. Robinson immediately began contacting expert volunteers and planning a day of outdoor learning for the high school students.
“We recognized that our ELS newcomer biology students had not previously visited LISDOLA as elementary students,” said Robinson. “This was a perfect opportunity for our newcomer biology students to experience the natural setting LISDOLA offers and allow them to build context for their upcoming unit of study in an authentic way.”
When the students arrived at LISDOLA, they were grouped with members of the Master Naturalists and provided with iPads pre-loaded with the iNaturalist app. The app allows citizen scientists to upload photos of observations which are then compiled into a database that is constantly being reviewed and refined, and can help identify plants and animals in near-real time. Through the use of iNaturalist, the emerging bilingual students were able to log and find more examples of their findings concerning the language barrier.
Craig Hensley, part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Texas Nature Trackers division, helped guide the students through the BioBlitz with the iNaturalist app. Hensley, who has worked as a naturalist for over 30 years, believes that the experience offered to students at LISDOLA is an invaluable one.
“You can’t replicate being out here in a book, or in a movie or whatever,” said Hensley. “It just creates a stronger relationship with the natural world, which is what every one of these kids needs, especially in this day and age where they’ve got so many other pressures on them. To just be able to get away and explore – it’s just the best way to learn science, frankly.”
Robinson credits volunteers like Hensley for making the event successful and impactful.
“They allow us to implement the big ideas at the heart of our mission. During the event they engaged students in small group conversations to promote participation, assisted in identifying interesting plant and insect species and helped students in making meaningful observations in the field. These volunteers not only made this experience possible, they made it one the students will always remember.”
Robinson, the ESL program representatives and emerging bilingual students were all in agreement that the event was a learning experience unlike any other, and plans are already in the works to continue the collaboration in the future.
Lewisville ISD’s Outdoor Learning Area (LISDOLA) provides LISD students with unique, hands-on environmental education opportunities. This 84-acre nature center hosts thousands of students each year on its grounds, featuring trails, interactive features and displays to promote learning in areas such as biology, ecology, conservation and more. Visit the LISD Environmental Learning website, or follow LISDOLA on Twitter and Instagram to learn more about the Outdoor Learning Area.