Miller Valley Schoolyard Habitat is in partnership with Highlands Center for Natural History.
Read more about Miller Valley’s Eco Efforts.
Habitat Curriculum
GET’EM OUTSIDE: YouTube from the No Child Left Inside Coalition
Highlands Center WINS “Be More Awards” – Channel Eight awards Lisa Packard for Excellence in Education
Related Outdoor Learning Links
Greening Miller Valley’s Campus: The Schoolyard Habitat Program
Written by Lisa Packard, Habitat Learning Coordinator, Highlands Center for Natural History
“Does my class have Habitat today?” Students ask me this question every Tuesday when I’m at Miller Valley to teach the outdoor Science program. They look forward to the lessons – 12 total for each class – during which students explore seasonal changes taking place in their schoolyard. Kindergarten students pretend to be Hummingbirds and learn to identify the shape and color of native flowers in late summer, while Fifth grade students measure the angle of the sun in winter and later compare it with the angle in the Spring.
Miller Valley is the first school in Prescott to have a Highlands Center Schoolyard Habitat Program. Students in second and fourth grades have been attending Highlands Center field trips for years, but this is the first time we have brought an outdoor nature program directly to the school.
Thanks to the hard work of school staff, parents, and community members, Miller Valley has two areas for Habitat instruction: Marilyn’s Reading Garden (a certified Wildlife Habitat) and a new area of native plants near the school office. “Habitat” means “home”; both areas provide homes for wildlife like butterflies, birds, and lizards. After a student naming contest, the new native plant area has been named “Home Sweet Habitat” or “HSH” (i.e., hush, be quiet, the plants are growing).
Would you like to volunteer in the Habitats – planting, raking, or weeding? Look for a notice sent home in the Spring announcing a Beautification Party. Until then, ask your student on Tuesdays, “What did you learn in Habitat today?”
