Butterflies, live animals, and birds come alive in Fall River Schools

Nov 8, 2021

The Lloyd Center for the Environment is happy to share that they have been working with the United Way of Greater Fall River and the Fall River Public Schools, bringing science to students in kindergarten, first and second grade. Over the past two months, across eleven elementary schools in Fall River, the Lloyd Center visited a total of 88 classrooms, teaching over 1,500 students.

“We are thrilled to work with the Fall River Public Schools through this grant from the United Way. Our Education Team has really enjoyed bringing live animals to the kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms.” said Lloyd Center Executive Director, Rachel Stronach, enthusiastically.

For first grade students, Lloyd Center educators created a Butterfly Program. This program is a captivating and up-close look into the world of butterflies. Over the past months, first grade students learned about the specific anatomy of insects by focusing on the Monarch butterfly. Students took a visual journey through the Monarch's life cycle and learned about the long migration to Mexico that the Monarch’s endure during fall. In addition, classroom students had the opportunity to observe a live Monarch and participate in a nation-wide science project to track and monitor these amazing little insects. The Center’s Butterfly Program is a great compliment to the Massachusetts science learning standards and a wonderful up-close experience.

Following the first-grade Butterfly Program, Milford James III, Redesign Coach-Fonseca Elementary School, Fall River, MA commented, "After the butterfly exhibition, I am eager to experience the rest of your curriculum with our students!" The Lloyd Center also visited the Foncesca Elementary School for the kindergarten Animal Diversity Program and the second-grade What is a Bird? Program.

Lloyd Center educators created an Animal Diversity Program for kindergarten students, bringing live animals from land and sea into the classroom! Animal Diversity is a unique, hands-on program that brings the estuary and forest into the classroom! In this program, kindergarten students discovered wildlife first-hand by observing the live species right in front of them. Focusing on the animals’ habitats and the fascinating creature adaptations, it is the perfect complement to early life science learning standards in schools. Animal Diversity is a great program to introduce coastal biodiversity to students.

For second-grade students, the Lloyd Center staff brought in their What is a Bird? Program. The focus of this program is on birds, what they have in common with each other, and what makes birds birds. In What is a Bird? students learned about the common traits that all birds share, and how birds adapt to their habitat. With a large drawing of a bird hung upon the board, students were given props representing a bird’s body parts. One by one, body parts were discussed, and students attached their “body part” prop to the drawing, creating a very funny looking, exaggerated bird which helped them to remember all of the characteristics unique to birds. This interactive program helps students understand how birds’ function.

"Thank you! These programs are wonderful!" - Kimberly Laliberte, Ed.D., Director of Curriculum – Science, Fall River Public Schools

The Lloyd Center is grateful to the United Way of Greater Fall River for providing a grant to the Fall River Public Schools, as well as the Fall River Public Schools for including the Lloyd Center in bringing science to their young students.

Rachael Sirois, from the United Way of Greater Fall River, explains below where the funding for these programs came from: “The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) has developed an innovative approach to supporting public schools throughout the Commonwealth, providing extra support to young learners entering school in the fall. United Way’s across the state have been able to work closely with community partners to effectively engage local schools and organizations in an effective way that works well for their communities. United Way of Greater Fall River was fortunate to receive this support, enabling us to work closely with the Fall River Public Schools and organizations such as the Lloyd Center.”