During the week of Sept. 11, Country Day School science teacher Margie Heintzleman took students in her first, fourth and fifth grade science classes to visit the Senior School Farm.

Country Day students hike to many different areas on campus and beyond as part of a program to develop a "landscape of childhood." The goal is for the children to connect to the land that surrounds them by walking the trails and through sensory exploration. The visit to the farm also tied into the science curriculum in other ways.

The main theme for the year in fifth grade science is energy. Later in the year, students will put together clues for how their body makes energy from food. To develop these ideas, fifth graders are reviewing how plants make food and pass this energy along the food chain. To reinforce the concepts, and to learn about eating healthy foods, the fifth graders picked produce at the farm and made a delicious pasta salad with it.

Each year, the grades earn one of the letters in the word DISCOVER. The fourth and fifth graders have been collecting and studying insects and spiders as part of their "E" letter in the DISCOVER program. To earn the "E" letter, students are observing the special body features and coloration of caterpillars that help them survive. While at the farm collecting produce, the children kept their eye out for caterpillars on the plants.

The first grade letter is "C" for cooperate and caring for the environment and each other. By walking the trails together and exploring new places, students have the opportunity to learn to help each other and show respect for the living things in their environment. The first graders also learned how to take care of farm animals and how our food is grown.

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