As we emerge from our fight against COVID-19, many parents may want to rediscover the outdoors with their kids. The Cemex team has turned its Outdoor Education curriculum into four At-Home Learning Activities to make this process easy and fun!

Each lesson plan is complete with easy-to-follow instructions, a list of needed materials and what kids will learn. The best part? All four lessons apply to Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards.

Don’t forget to let Cemex know how it goes! Remember to take plenty of pictures and share them on Facebook. Please tag us at @CemexFloridaCarolina and include the Hashtag: #BuildingCommunityTogether.

Nature Walk

Take a walk on the educational side with our Nature Walk activity! Students will actively search for flowering and non-flowering plants, use their pocket microscope to view plants’ structures, and identify the food, water, shelter, and space that living things need to survive in their habitat. And if you’re missing a pocket microscope, don’t worry! The zoom feature on your Smart Phone camera will work just fine!

Kids Will Learn:

  • To classify flowering and non-flowering plants
  • To describe structures in plants and their roles in food production, reproduction, support, and water and nutrient transport
  • To recognize and explain that all living things can only live in habitats that meet their basic needs

Materials:

Map Like a Pirate

“If you were a pirate burying your treasure, you would want to make a very detailed and accurate map so that you could send your crew back later to retrieve your treasure.”

Today we use apps on our phone to navigate our world, but what did people use before smartphones? This activity will familiarize students with the art and science of Cartography. Students must use their mapping skills to solve a variety of problems. Then, just like a pirate, students will be asked to create map of their own.

Kids Will Learn:

  • Basic map reading skills
  • Basic map elements
  • How to create a map of their own

Learning Materials:

Fishing for Knowledge

Dust off the old fishing poles and hike down to the nearest pond!

People fish for both pleasure and food collection. It’s a great way to enjoy the environment, but it’s also a great way to learn the physical characteristics of fish and the role sunlight plays in aquatic food production!

Cemex has been leading this activity at its Outdoor Education Centers for years. Every student loves the chance to fish and learn in the great outdoors!

Kids Will Learn:

  • To classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, fish etc.) according to physical characteristics and behaviors
  • How plants use energy from the Sun, air, and water to make their own food
  • To trace the flow of energy from the Sun and throughout the food chain

Learning Materials:

Art From The Recycling Bin

One person’s recyclable material is another person’s recyclable treasure! In this activity, students will use what’s in the Recycling Bin—from egg cartons and packing peanuts to soap containers, plastic lids and newspaper—in order to create beautiful art.

Kids Will Learn:

  • To use non-traditional thinking
  • To create a piece of art from recyclable materials
  • The difference between Relief, Sculpture in the “round,” Functional and Decorative sculptures

Learning Materials: