Learning at the Portland Public Schools doesn’t take a vacation during the summer. Learning opportunities are taking place to boost students’ confidence, grades and school-readiness.

One such opportunity is Wayfinders, a six-week program at Talbot Community School for rising second- through fifth-graders at Talbot and Rowe schools. In partnership with Maine Audubon, Wayfinders uses a nature- and STEM-based program to offer math and reading support and hands-on learning through such activities as arts and crafts, sports, field trips and guest speakers. 

On July 28, as part of a unit titled “Living Systems and Survival Strategies,” fourth- and fifth-grade students in the program took a field trip to Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm in Falmouth to experience being “ecological wayfinders.” The students explored the hidden life of the marsh through hands-on “ponding” and nature exploration. Armed with nets and buckets they searched for the small aquatic creatures that live beneath the surface of the pond. 

“I got an eel!” one excited student shouted as he examined the clump of plant matter and other material he had scooped up from the pond in his net. Other students crowded round to watch the tiny snake-like creature wriggle before it was returned to the pond.

Other catches of the day included a leech and dragonfly larvae. The students also were thrilled to hear a bullfrog booming away across the pond and to see two sizeable snapping turtles swim up near the dock where the youngsters were using their nets. The turtles were seemingly curious to see what was going on. 

Using magnifying lenses, the students later got a chance to observe the discoveries they’d netted up close, ask questions, and learn how these tiny organisms are part of the larger ecosystem. At one point, some students were startled to find a larger bug in one of their collection buckets and scattered, screaming, at the sight of it. But once they recovered, they returned to scoop up the bug again and study it. 

Other activities that day included walking in the woods, where students spotted a fox and groundhogs, and playing “Nature Bingo,” in which students crossed off on printed paper images of flora and fauna that they saw in real life. 

Lesson plans throughout the week introduced the biodiversity of freshwater habitats and food webs, helping the young wayfinders begin to recognize the patterns and relationships that sustain life. By exploring biodiversity, food webs, and adaptations in ponds and salt marshes, the program helps students realize that healthy ecosystems depend on countless connections between living things.