Project Overview

Seventh-grade Open World Learning Community (OWL) students explore the guiding question, “What makes a community thrive or suffer?” in their year-long interdisciplinary Community Expedition. Fall field work in local nature centers kicks off each school year. Seventh graders observe Minnesota species in outdoor settings. In collaboration with Belwin Nature Conservancy, Mississippi Park Connection, and the National Park Service, each student explores the ecology of one wild species while applying nature drawing skills learned to record the species in their natural habitat. Winter art lessons challenge students to elevate their species sketches to high-quality drawings and paintings. In spring science and English Language Arts classes, students explore how Minnesota's changing climate affects their species. After conducting guided research tasks, students write impact statements that provide evidence showing that climate change causes their species to thrive or suffer. Once the statements are complete, a seventh-grade design team works with professional layout software in the OWL publication studio to bring the artwork and writing together as a cohesive calendar. After publication, the calendar is shared with families, community partners, and OWL staff. Each fall, when a new class of seventh graders visits community partners to begin research for a new calendar, they bring a copy of the published calendar from the previous class as a gift. An archive of OWL Phenology Calendars 2018 is available here.