At The New School we work hard to bring our curriculum alive, and to take our students out into the community for hands on learning experiences. This fall, as we started learning about fresh water biomes, we took our students in grades 4 – 7 to explore Butternut Creek. Nothing quite like donning a pair of rubber boots and wading in a creek searching for crayfish, tadpoles, cattails and minnows. After making observations about the depth of the water, the width of the stream and its temperature, children had to figure out how fast the water was moving. Our next field trip took us to a different section Butternut Creek, where the water was deeper and slow moving. Rich discussions took place about the difference in the two habitats Children then collaboratively created a slide show. Each student was responsible for researching one critter they found living in the creek. Each slide had to illustrate and describe the life cycle of the critter.