The question is not what you look at, but what you see. — Henry David Thoreau

10. No Child Left Inside: Visiting the Savannah


Student journals

Student journals are a routine part of activity in most classrooms. The questions included in the “Before your visit” section will help to guide discussions, and students may track their studies in their journals. Journals are used to record what students observe, and help them reflect on those observations. Part of journal keeping may be drawings, maps and photographs that student create themselves, or “cut and paste’ into their journals. There are a wealth of links as part of this on-line guide that will give students a source of visual content about the Savannah, its environs, and the plants and animals that occur there.

A bee on a plant in the BW Wells Savannah
Niche

Especially important is the link to the NC State University Special Collections Library of B. W. Wells and other photographs of people, places and plants.

The Media Center and local library will have guidebooks to the state’s or region’s plants and animals that students can use in the classroom and carry with them on the field trip to the Savannah. Also, remember that you can download the “Welcome to B. W. Wells Savannah! Brochure” from this website.

If you have access to digital cameras, students can use them during their field trip, and return with photographs for their journals. If cameras are limited, assign the job to one or more students who can share the photographs with the class.

Following are suggestions for preparation and discussion before, during and after a visit to the B. W. Wells Savannah and that will guide the focus of student journals.

Google Map of B.W. Wells Savannah area in Pender County

Before your visit

  1. Contact the Coastal Land Trust. The 117-acre B. W. Wells Savannah is located north of Burgaw, NC off State Road 1319 (Pelham Road) in Pender County. The GPS coordinates are 34°39’34”N/77°59’21”W so you can locate the Savannah on-line and even print out maps and aerial photographs for sources such as Google Maps. To plan your visit, first call the Trust at (910) 790-4524 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to make specific arrangements. A staff representative from the Coastal Land Land Trust will accompany all field trips to provide background information on the site, its conservation and management and safety tips for visiting the preserve.
  2. A copy of the brochure, “Welcome to the B. W. Wells Savannah!” is available as part of this online guide. The brochure includes a list of plants and animals of interest in the Savannah, as well as tips for a safe trip.
  3. Background information is provided as part of this on-line guide to the cultural and natural history of both the Big Savannah and the B. W. Wells Savannah, and links are included that can exponentially expand the content available to teachers. Students get to know where they live and understand the relations between their natural and cultural history of the area.
  4. The old axiom is that people find what they are looking for, so help your students to develop a search pattern before visiting the Savannah relative to your course of study. There is a wealth of media available as part of this guide, so make sure students see a sampling of plants and animals that they may encounter at the Savannah, and that they understand how those plants and animals fit within the environment of the Savannah.
  5. Following are content questions and statements related to the objectives in the NC Standard Course of Study that may guide the study of the Savannah, before, during and after you visit.

Questions and statements to guide your discussions

    Science
  • What is your natural community? Name plants and animals that live in the coastal plain.
  • What is the climate and weather in your area?
  • What is the geology of the coastal plain?
  • What ecosystems occur in the coastal plain?
  • Discuss some relationships among plants and animals.
  • How have people affected ecosystems?
  • How was the coastal plain formed?
    Social Studies
  • How have people changed the coastal plain?
  • What business and agricultural activities take place in the area, and what impacts have they had on the environment?
  • What people have lived in the area over time?
  • Name some of your community leaders and discuss their contributions.
  • Discuss the area’s human and natural resources.
  • Discuss the relationships between our unlimited wants and our limited resources.
  • How are the area’s natural resources being used?
  • How has technology changed the area over time?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of technology?

Questions specific to B. W. Wells, The Big Savannah, the B. W. Wells Savannah

A plant in the BW Wells Savannah
Niche

Using guides, maps, photographs, text, brochures and other content offered in this on-line guide, its links and through the media center, relate the natural and cultural history of the state to the history of the Big Savannah and its “ghost.”

  • The creation of the soils in the area.
  • How the climate and weather affect the area.
  • The plants and animals that occurred in the Big Savannah and that occur in its “ghost,” and how they are managed.
  • How technologies have positively and negatively affected the Savannahs.
  • How land use changes relative to the economy.
  • The increase in understanding and preservation of natural communities.
  • How citizens like Richard LeBlond, David Richie, B. W. Wells, and others can change the direction of our society.
  • How individuals, non-profit organizations and businesses can collaborate to support conservation and sustain economic development.

During your visit

  1. As you drive to the preserve, have students pay attention to what they are driving through. How would they describe the towns, farms, fields and forests that they see, and the changes among them, based on their preparatory research?
  2. Once students have their search pattern for their visit, and are prepared for what they will be seeing, students may be grouped and given different assignments. One group may be responsible for animal identification, another group for plants, another to record information about the soils they encounter, another focusing on weather and climate. Some students may be responsible for taking photographs, while others may handle binoculars for bird and other plant and animal identification. Guidebooks, photographs and drawings downloaded from this guide will help students identify what they encountered during their visit. There is a link below to a source for waterproof copier paper. This is a great way to print materials that can be taken to the field again and again as they are muddy-student proof.
  3. When you are at the Savannah, be alert and be safe. Here are some things to consider
  • The Savannah is often wet, so be prepared for muddy shoes and socks.
  • Foot access only
  • Please do not litter.
  • Please do not remove or disturb any plants or animals…and watch where you are walking, so that you don’t step on plants.
  • Beware of biting insects, venomous snakes and other hazards that may exist in the Savannah, such as wet soils and holes in the ground.

After your visit

A plant in the BW Wells Savannah
Niche

You have given students background about the cultural and natural histories of the Savannahs, and you have given them a search pattern for their visit. You’ve visited the Savannah, and students have recorded their observations in their journals. Now is the time to review key concepts, as to have students share their observations from their journals, as guided by the question listed above.

  1. Immediately following the visit, either on-location, or back in the classroom, have students write about their visit to the Savannah, using the questions and statements from the NC Standard Course of Study that has guided their preparation.
  2. Back in the classroom, students can insert maps, drawing, and photographs provided as part of the on-line guide, or better yet, that they create themselves.
  3. Given the groups of students you have created prior to the visit to the Savannah, for animals, plants, and specific tasks, the same groups may also be responsible for sharing what they observed with the class, as illustrated with photographs, drawing and other media they may have gathered or downloaded.
  4. Guided by the NC Course of Study, and the philosophy of B. W. Wells, students are encouraged to integrate what they observe into an ecological framework; the relations among plants, animals and their environment.

Teaching activities

A wealth of activities has been designed to support the teaching of science, social studies, and English/language arts. Some are keyed to the NC Standard Course of Study. Following are links to some of the best in North Carolina:
 
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