The field study allowed the students hands on experience with nature.

Students enjoyed getting outside and picking fruit.

NEWBERRY — NES first grade students took a field study to strawberry fields to observe nature, horticulture and plasticulture on a family-owned farm that is Certified S.C. Grown.

The trip built into lessons about seasons of the year, the planting process and germination times for seeds and plants.

“We taught a unit on Plants at the beginning of the school year so they had prior knowledge about plants before they came to Lever Farms,” said NES First Grade Teacher Pamela White. “The planting process ties in with our writing standards in which we write stories in sequential order using First, Next and Last.”

NES first graders plan to repeat this trip next year because it gave students, not only a chance to reinforce lessons from early in the year but the farming work ethic tied into the school’s 21st Century Learning Skills, such as integrity, self-discipline, problem solving, accountability and adaptability.

“Our students had to use Reflective Listening because Mr. (Todd) Lever told us where and how to pick strawberries,” White said. “Our students had to take that information and use it to pick their own strawberries. They also had to use Self-Discipline so that they remained in the correct row and near an adult to pick the strawberries.”

White said students loved receiving their own baskets to fill with the red fruit. They scoured the field looking hard for the biggest and brightest red strawberries.