Our Mission
Fall in the Field seeks to nurture a sense of belonging in nature by providing inclusive, place-based environmental education to the students of southern Oregon.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement
“We have placed a lot of value in this year’s Fall in the Field program planning on strengthening community connections throughout the Rogue Valley. It is important to us that our program is focused on justice-oriented education by offering equitable programming to all varieties of audiences that could benefit from environmental education. We are honored and humbled to offer our outdoor education programs on the ancestral homelands of the Shasta, Takelma, Latgawa and Cow Creek Umpqua people, who have lived here since time immemorial. Today, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians are living descendants of the Takelma, Shasta, and Latgawa peoples of this area. We hope to approach this year’s programming in an inclusive, student-centered way with our mission to help kids find their unique place within nature.”
Fall in the Field offers place based curriculum aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, the Oregon State Common Core Standards and the Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan. We strive to hit on major cross-cutting concepts and utilize multi-disciplinary lessons whenever possible. This provides a unique opportunity for students to get outside and learn about subjects like biology, ecology, geology, culture, art, and many others.
NGSS Standards
Grades 4&5:
4-LS1-1 Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
4-ESS2-1 Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind or vegetation.
4-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.
5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the Sun.
5-ESS2-1 Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and/or atmosphere interact.
5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about the ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
Middle School:
MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
MS-ESS2-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
MS-ESS3-3: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing human impact on the environment.
Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings
These essential questions and enduring understandings have guided us in our curriculum development.
Essential Questions
- What responsibilities do humans have to the environment?
- How does biodiversity support healthy ecosystems?
- What role do adaptations play in species fitness?
- How do matter and energy cycle through Earth’s systems?
Enduring Understandings
- All elements of an ecosystem are interconnected. A change in one element of an ecosystem can create cascading changes across that system.
- Humans are an integral component of Earth’s natural systems.
- Biodiversity is essential to maintaining healthy, resilient ecosystems.
Fall in the Field 2022 Statistics
883
Students Served
15
Schools Served
80%
Title 1 Schools
Contact Fall in the Field
SOU Environmental Education Graduate Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6876
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