Our Mission
Fall in the Field seeks to provide place-based environmental education to learners and lovers of nature that come from all backgrounds. Fall in the Field takes the classroom outside, teaching students from all over Southern Oregon in the rich biodiversity found in the Cascade-Klamath bioregion. The major goal of Fall in the Field is to inspire wonder, honor nature through science centered inquiry, and foster stewardship of our local bioregion.
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.”
Curriculum
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
Elementary (3-5)
3-LS4-2: Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, or reproducing.
3-LS4-3: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
4-ESS2-2: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features
4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
5-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
Middle School (6-8)
MS-LS1-4: Use an argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
MS-LS1-5: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
MS-LS2-4: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Fall in the Field 2019 Statistics
1,227
Students Served
27
Schools Served
60%
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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