Algoma Highlands Conservancy Nature Connections Program: Experiential Soil Education for Grade 3-10 Students.

The Algoma Highlands Conservancy Nature Connections Program is a hands-on day program that explores soil ecology, stream ecology, forests and wildlife of the Algoma Highlands Conservancy region, just north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Teachers and students from the local school board have accessed Environmental Education funding which has allowed 2-3 classes to visit the Conservancy each week of the school year. All content is directly connected to the Ontario curriculum, making this program very appealing and relevant to science, geography, mathematics and physical education teachers. Classes participate in true experiential education, getting their hands right into the soil pit and the variety of soils of the surrounding forest, taking samples and forming ribbons. Students explore concepts of soil profile development, erosion, the connections between terrestrial and aquatic systems and the importance soil has every day to the lives of people, plants and animals. Students leave at the day’s end announcing, “I love soil!” This presentation will outline the evolution and operation of the program, what a day of soil education looks like at the Algoma Highlands Conservancy and how enthusiasm for the underappreciated natural resource of soil is blossoming in Northern Ontario.