Are you a parent or educator looking for fun ways to take learning outside this summer? Whether you’re reviewing math and science concepts from the school year or looking for ways to connect with your local ecosystems, I’ve got you covered with these 5 outdoor educational activities!
In this post, you’ll find directions for nature activities for learning outside this summer! From catching aquatic macroinvertebrates to measuring the infiltration rates of soils, your students are sure to enjoy these fun outdoor learning activities!
Before we dive in: If you’re an educator or parent looking for fun outdoor educational activities, great learning resources are key to deepening understanding! I think you and your students will love my Earth & environmental science units (plus you’ll support my blog with your purchase! ❤️)
Stream Measurements
For this activity, learn how to measure water flow with your students as a river field trip activity! With a few household items, you can collect river measurements. All you need are some simple measurement tools like a tape measure, yardstick, and stopwatch!
Water resource scientists, called hydrologists, collect stream measurements to ensure we are not using our water resources too quickly or in unsustainable ways. In this hands-on activity, students will not only practice math and measurements, but they’ll also learn about how scientists measure and study our rivers!
Catch Aquatic Macroinvertebrates
Catching aquatic macroinvertebrates is a memorable and educational field trip experience your students will love! Aquatic macroinvertebrates are little creatures like insect larvae and crayfish found at the bottoms of most ponds and streams. Just flip over a few river rocks or submerged logs near the shore of a pond and you’re likely to spot a macroinvertebrate underneath!
But here’s the cool part: macroinvertebrates are bioindicators – creatures that teach us a lot about the overall health of their ecosystems! That makes this outdoor activity a great way to review your classroom studies of biodiversity, bioindicators, entomology, or aquatic food webs. It’s also a great way to build connections with local ecosystems – almost any pond or small stream will work for this activity!
Measure the heights of trees using math!
Unless you are measuring a short seedling, you probably won’t be able to measure tree height directly because you can’t reach the top. So how do you measure something so tall? Answer: use an inclinometer and trigonometry!
I don’t know about you, but I think math is more interesting when we can apply it to real-world situations! If you’re reviewing trigonometry, right triangles, or angles in your classroom or homeschool, you and your students will love this tree-height applied math activity! In this simple learning activity, students will learn how to make a homemade inclinometer – a device for measuring the angle of inclination. Then, they will take measurements and calculate the height of a tree in this outdoor educational activity.
Outdoor Experiment for Climate Change & Sea Ice
A sunny summer day is the perfect time for this outdoor activity that’s all about heat, solar radiation, and reflection! For this activity, all you need is a warm sunny day, containers with cold water, foil, and a thermometer!
In this outdoor educational activity, students will create a model of sea ice and ocean water albedo using aluminum foil and two tubs of water. Students will track the temperature in a covered and uncovered tub on a sunny day. It’s a great way to learn about albedo and the impacts of positive feedback loops in climate change.
Measure Soil Infiltration Rates
Summer is the perfect time to study soils! If you have a summer garden, you know the importance of healthy and permeable soil. Measuring soil infiltration rates is an activity that you can easily do in your garden with a few simple household items.
Why study soil infiltration? Infiltration rates of soils are important for many reasons. First, they are important in agriculture – different crops require soils that drain at different rates. Soil infiltration also plays a role in natural disasters like flooding and landslides. Finally, infiltration is an important part of the water cycle – when water seeps into the earth, it becomes part of the groundwater. Humans access groundwater with wells – an important source of water for drinking and growing plants!
Learn in Nature with Wild Earth Lab!
There’s no need to scramble to put together the perfect materials for your outdoor educational activities– I’ve already created them for you! Check out my Earth and environmental science units, complete sets of printable learning materials with activities, posters, handouts, and more!
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Antarctica: an ecology unit plus STEM activities!$15.00 -
Soil Science Unit: with 5 lab activities! Soil horizons, textures, porosity, permeability, & more!$12.00 -
Macroinvertebrates: a hands-on aquatic ecology unit!$15.00 -
Science on the River: a hands-on STEM unit!$10.00 -
Math in the Forest: a unit study with outdoor applied math activities!$8.00
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