Nature Lab a new feature at Northwinds

After a sustained effort to establish prairie, wildflowers and outdoor learning areas at Northwinds Elementary School, students are reaping the benefits with a new special class this year.

Debi Volkenant is leading Nature Lab, a unique course that, along with music and physical education, is offered to all Northwinds students on a regular basis.

“This is a dream job for me,” said Volkenant, who has spent two decades teaching fourth and fifth grade at Discovery and Northwinds, but who now gets to focus on a passion area that has been on the periphery in previous years. “I love what I’m doing. This is really refreshing.”

That same enthusiasm was evident as fifth-graders and their kindergarten buddies joined up for a recent nature walk. The kindergartners were carrying burlap bags they had sewn together for collecting items, and were helped along a trail through a wetland and small woods by their older counterparts. They gathered seeds, leaves and other treasures that will be put to use in art projects later on. One of the most popular finds were cattail seed heads, which students quickly dubbed “nature’s corndog.”

“When going on nature walks, students always have a purpose in mind for their explorations,” said Volkenant. “They are discovering colors and patterns, or finding birds by sight and sound. They might be identifying insects and spiders, or learning the names of flowers and trees. Or they are just enjoying being outside. These students are making meaningful lifelong connections with nature.”

Multi-subject learning
While nature is the focus, lessons encompass a wide range of scholastic inquiry, including art, science, social studies, math and English. Students learn through experiences that include nature walks, gardening, seasonal observations, experiments and problem-solving challenges.

Each grade level will have a wood project during the year, with plans for some grades to build bird houses or bird feeders, and third-graders have received bird identification books and are learning to use binoculars for spotting.

Outdoor learning will continue across the fall, winter and spring seasons, with the winter months including studies on snow, crystal observations, and experiments with ice and water.

“I’m trying to keep phenology in mind and connect what I do in the classroom with what’s happening outside each season,” said Volkenant. “For example, in late summer and early fall students have been learning about monarchs and migration, other insects and pollinators, prairie plants, and types of trees. The depth of the instruction and the activity or art project varies among grade levels.”

Developing the setting
While Volkenant and other teachers previously made some use of Northwinds’ 30-acre setting for outdoor learning, reception of a grant in partnership with Wright County to establish native prairie grass and wildflowers around a large portion of the property’s perimeter in 2023 paved the way for increasing possibilities.

By the summer of 2025, wildflowers were in spectacular bloom around the property, a learning area had been established in a small stand of woods at the north end of the property, and a prairie trail had been developed along a pond. Volkenant recalled that it had previously been an event to find a garden spider on Northwinds’ acres of lawn, “but now that we have all this prairie here, they’re discovering a lot of different little critters. And the students are just fascinated by all the garden spiders we find in the grassy areas.”

While the grant has accomplished its purpose of enriching the school’s outdoor learning environment, another significant support has been the Northwinds PTO, which provides tools, supplies, books and other materials for outdoor learning.

“Many of the Nature Lab activities students will participate in are possible because of the generosity and vision of our wonderful PTO,” said Volkenant. “I think we’re very fortunate that we have prairie, we have a small wetland, we have a wooded area. Because we have so many options, it makes sense to teach a nature class here. 

“I go home feeling so good about what I do every day because the kids are loving it, they’re excited about it, and they’re engaged.”