Digging for worms, feeling millipede tickles and listening to the hissing of a cockroach keep your little environmentalists giggling as they learn. These animals play a vital role in the food chain as decomposers, or nature’s recycling team! Students understand that soil is made from living and nonliving organic material as they compare sand, clay and garden soils. Healthy soil, along with sun and water, facilitate the life cycle of a plant.

Students develop a new understanding and deep appreciation for all bugs, soils and plants. They are so excited to take home the seeds they planted during this hands-on presentation!

This in-school field trip is designed for no more than 35 students to keep the presentation engaging and hands-on. Your STEAM Presenter will need a table to set up the live animals. It is best if the students sit in chairs in a large semi-circle and the presenter stays in one room as the students rotate between classes/groups. We are flexible if a central room with chairs is unavailable. We’d be happy to discuss different options.

Presentations may be scheduled in the classroom, media center, gym, library or cafeteria.

If there are no indoor rooms available, the presentation area must be in the shade outside with a limit of 4 hours in one day. Temporary tents blow in the wind and a shaded area from trees eventually turns to a sunny spot. Please reserve space under a permanent pavilion type structure. If you need more than 4 hours to accommodate your students, we will schedule another day to complete the in-school field trip. The limit on time outdoors is for the wellbeing of the students, presenters and animals (The reptiles love the heat, but some of our bugs and arachnids may not survive all day outdoors in their containers).

Now you may copy and paste Science Standards into your lesson plans! For your convenience, we’ve made a list of Florida standards that are introduced or reinforced during each STEAM City Kids program. Our experienced presenters adjust the content of each presentation to according to the grade level standards, interests and special needs of each group.

Click on the green button below to view the complete list of standards K-7 for Worms, Plants & Soil. You  may use the experience as a review before an upcoming assessment or as an introduction to a new unit. Let us know while booking if you want to focus on a specific topic or standard!