Project AWE is a collaborative effort of the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Regional San) and Sacramento Splash. We offer educational opportunities at a historic non-working dairy in Elk Grove, CA for 2nd through 5th grade students in the areas of Agriculture, Water, Energy, and the Environment (AWE). Project AWE preserves local history for the community, while promoting sustainable practices and environmental stewardship through grade-level specific education programs.
Testimonials
My fifth grade students loved the Nicolaus Dairy Farm field trip! They were engaged at each of the hands-on learning stations and were excited to bring back the projects that they made.
Christine Goodwin, 5th Grade Teacher, Stonelake Elementary, EGUSD
My favorite activity was making the tags out of leather because I had never done anything like it.
5th Grader
The Nicolaus Dairy Farm field trip is a hidden gem of Elk Grove. My students loved all of the hands-on learning stations and projects they got to take home. The knowledgeable staff kept students engaged!
Tara Anderson, Teacher, Helen Carr Costello Elementary, EGUSD
My favorite activity was petting a baby cow because that was my first time doing it.
5th Grader (2)
All activities were fun and informative!
Girl Scout Troop Chaperone
About the Field Trip
We offer a hands-on, engaging, outdoor classroom experience! Students rotate in groups through four, forty-minute stations. At each station they will explore phenomena with experienced docents while noticing, wondering and asking questions about their natural world. The day ends with lunch and outdoor games from the past. We frequently partner with FFA and 4-H so that we can offer a live animal “Meet and Greet” in our critter Theater. Your students will walk away with new learning and some fun make-and-takes! Use this field trip for frontloading some of your science standards or as a culminating activity. This field trip will present new experiences, help students learn new concepts and help them make connections to classroom lessons.
2nd & 3rd Grade Stations
(With Grade Level NGSS Focus)
Investigating Pollinators
Students explore pollinators on the farm and participate in a pollinator simulation activity.
2nd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the function of various animals in pollinating plants.
Key Points:
- A variety of animals, including bees, play an important role in pollinating plants. (2-LS2-2)
3rd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the beehive community and how each member has a role that helps the group survive.
Key Points:
- Some animals form groups that help members survive. (3-LS2-1)
- Plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms. (3-LS3-1)
Examining Seeds and Growing Food
Students examine seeds, make flour from acorns or grain, and consider the life cycle of a seed. Students explore a working garden and participate in planting and harvesting food.
2nd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the requirements of a seed to grow into a productive plant and how animals can play a role in dispersing seeds.
Key Points:
- Plants need sunlight and water to grow (2-LS2-1)
- Animals can play a role in dispersing seeds and pollinating plants (2-LS2-2)
3rd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the life cycle of a plant, from seed to flowering and fruiting and then to seed again.
Key Points:
- Plants have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death (3-LS1-1)
Seed Dispersal
Students investigate different seeds and the ways they move, including hitchhiking, exploding, and wind dispersal.
2nd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the structure of different types of seeds and how the shape and texture helps them to move.
Key Points:
- Animals can serve a role in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants (2-LS2-2)
- The shape and texture of a seed plays a role in how it disperses (Cross-cutting concept of “Structure and Function”)
3rd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the unique traits that seeds inherit from their parent plant and how seeds are an important part of the life cycle of the plant.
Key Points:
- Plants have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death (3-LS1-1)
- Plants have traits inherited from parents and variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms. (3-LS3-1)
Worm Bins and Chicken Coops
Students explore the life cycle of worms in a worm bin and chickens in a coop and consider some of the similarities and differences. In addition to making a worm bin to take back to their classroom, they learn about food waste and its impact on the environment.
2nd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the type of environment required for a worm to survive and how that differs from the preferred environment of a chicken. Students help design and build a worm bin.
Key Points:
- Different types of animals require different types of habits to survive (2-LS4-1)
- People can design engineering solutions to problems (K–2-ETS1-1)
3rd Grade Emphasis: Focus is on life cycle and inherited traits of worms with a compare/contrast to the life cycle and inherited traits of chickens. Students help design and build a worm bin.
Key Points:
- Animals have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death (3-LS1-1)
- Plants have traits inherited from parents and variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms. (3-LS3-1)
- People can develop an object or system to address a problem while taking into consideration constraints on materials, time, and cost (3–5-ETS1-1)
4TH & 5TH Grade Stations
(With Grade Level NGSS Focus)
Growing Food
Students explore a working garden, consider food webs, and participate in planting and harvesting food.
4th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the structure of plants and pollinators and how specific structures serve specific functions (for example, a tube-shaped flower and a long, thin hummingbird bill).
Key points:
- Plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction (4-LS1-1)
5th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the movement of energy and matter through ecosystems (for example, energy from the sun flows to plants which is converted to starches/sugars which flows to animals that eat them; alternately, matter from compost and soil is absorbed into plants and then is transferred to animals that eat them)
Key points:
- Plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water (5-LS1-1)
- Matter moves through plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment (5-LS2-1)
- Energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun (5-PS3-1)
- Farmers can implement sustainable farming practices that benefit the environment and communities (5-ESS3-1)
Composting and Worms
Students explore the cycling of matter in a compost pile and a worm bin. In addition to making a worm bin to take back to their classroom, they learn about food waste and its impact on the environment.
4th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the structure/function of worms and specific habitat needs of worms.
Key Points:
- Animals, including worms, have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction (4-LS1-1)
5th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the movement of matter from decomposing food to worms to the worm castings/compost and ultimately to plants.
Key Points:
- Matter cycles through plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment (5-LS2-1)
- Individuals and communities can implement sustainable practices that benefit the environment (5-ESS3-1)
Hydroponics
Students explore and explain how plants obtain nutrients in the farm’s hydroponic system. They discuss the limited sources of freshwater and agricultural land on Earth, and make their own hydroponic garden out of a recycled plastic water bottle to take back to the classroom.
4th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the structures of plants that allow them to absorb nutrients from air and water through their leaves and roots.
Key Points:
- Plants have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction (4-LS1-1)
5th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the nutrients that plants absorb from air and water and the movement of matter from the environment into plants. Students also consider the limited amounts of freshwater and farmable land on Earth as they consider hydroponics as a sustainable option for growing food.
Key Points:
- Plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water (5-LS1-1)
- Matter moves through plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment (5-LS2-1)
- Fresh water is limited on Earth and is found in various natural reservoirs (5-ESS2-2)
- Farmers can implement sustainable farming practices that benefit the environment and communities (5-ESS3-1)
Dairy Cow Farming: Farm to Carton
Students explore a historic dairy farm and engage in an activity to consider all of the resources that go into making a gallon of milk. They discuss the unique digestive system of a cow, learn about innovations in the dairy industry, and milk a life-size mechanical (non-living) cow.
4th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on the unique features of a cow that help it to survive, including its four-chambered stomach and its large milk-producing udders. Students also consider energy innovations in farming over time, including windmills and the conversion of cow manure into biogas.
Key Points:
- Animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction (4-LS1-1)
- Energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment (4-ESS3-1)
5th Grade Emphasis: Focus is on all of the resources that go into making a gallon of milk and how energy, nutrients, and water move from the cow’s food to the milk. Students also consider how manure can be recycled into valuable fertilizer for crops and innovations that are reducing the environmental impact of farming.
Key Points:
- Matter moves through plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment (5-LS2-1)
- Farmers can implement sustainable farming practices that benefit the environment and communities (5-ESS3-1)
- Energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun (5-PS3-1)
Leatherworking and Workshop
Students examine a historic farm workshop where they learn the value of sustainable practices, repair, and resourcefulness. They create their own leather “ear tag” key ring by stamping and staining the leather.
No Grade Level Emphasis for this Station
Key Points:
- Cows have a thick hide that functions to support their survival (4-LS1-1)
Information for Teachers
Program Eligibility
To be eligible to participate in the Project AWE Program you must teach 2nd – 5th grade at a school in the Sacramento Region.
Standards Alignment
This PDF document provides detailed information about how the Splash curriculum aligns to the 2nd – 3rd grade NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) and California State Teaching Standards.
This PDF document provides detailed information about how the Splash curriculum aligns to the 4th – 5th grade NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) and California State Teaching Standards.
What to Expect
Once you are accepted into the program, you will receive access to a full set of digital curriculum materials. The lesson is organized in a collaborative jigsaw format. Each student will become an “Expert” on one integral worker at the dairy. We will provide you with grade level readers and graphic organizers to complete your lesson.
You will be required to administer (and report data for) a pre- & post-assessment along with completing one lesson designed for your specific grade level.
…And of course, you get to join your students on the Field Trip!
The Nicolaus Dairy Story
History of the Dahlia Gardens
