Twin oaks is an outdoor learning center in Marathon Country, where students go to learn about various science topics and outdoor education. These fifth graders get to go for two nights and three days, learning 15 activities on survival skills.
Cindy Damrow is the lead environmental teacher at School Forest. She's divided up the children into small groups and given them a hands-on assignment to pretend they are lost and have to build shelter and fire to survive.
Given nothing but a tarp and some matches, the children got right to work.
"We're trying to figure out where we can set our tarp, and we're working together as a team," Fifth grader Aaliyah Jackson said.
Damrow was recently named Wisconsin's environmental teacher of the year. She says this lesson goes so much further than just learning how to find shelter and build a fire.
"What may look like fire building on a very simple level is really teaching kids how to problem solve," Damrow said. "Teaching kids how to work together cooperatively in small groups. These basics are encouraging creative thinking."
Jackson says, "We had fun, tons of fun we actually the most fun was agreeing."
The goal is to teach students about nature and wildlife so they learn how to connect with the outdoors, and students say its the highlight of their 5th grade year.
