McKayla Jacobs

Service Learning Project

Due: April 12, 2022

“Service Learning is an educational approach where a student learns theories in the

classroom and at the same time volunteers with an agency (usually a non-profit or social service

group) and engages in reflection activities to deepen their understanding of what is being

taught.” (Elmhurst University Admissions, 2022). From my personal research, I have concluded

that service learning is a type of learning where the students learn of a given topic and then

complete an outside experience in the community to deepen their understanding of the concept.

As a result of service learning, students learn more about their community while also meeting the

state requirements of learning. Service learning also gives students a chance to interact in real-

world experiences to gain practical skills for their future. Since I am placed in a middle school

life skills classroom, this service learning project will allow my students to better understand

their area and climate while also volunteering to assist the school’s new garden area gain

wildlife. (Elmhurst University Admissions, 2022).

For my service learning project, I taught the students about our climate change in

Pennsylvania and the types of wildlife that live in their area. I first instructed the students to

research the types of birds we may see in their area of Western Pennsylvania. I gave the students

a list of websites to choose from to modify this lesson to their ability level in research skills.

Each student was then instructed to choose one bird they would find such as a robin, blue jay,

pigeon, etc. I made a list of the birds the students chose in the front of the classroom so no two

students chose the same type of bird. The following day, the students were reminded of the bird

type they chose and were asked to research at least four facts about this type of bird. I gave the

students some starter questions such as, what color are they?, how can you tell if they are female
or male?, and do they stay in Pennsylvania all year, or do they migrate? to assist them in finding

facts about their birds. Once each student found their facts, the students created a small poster of

their bird on their iPads using Google Docs. This poster had to include the bird type’s full name,

a picture of the bird, and their four facts they found.

The following day, the students and I made bird seed ornaments to hang in the school’s

garden. In order to make these, I first started by pre-cutting slices of bread with cookie cutters

and placing a hole in the top portion with a straw. I then baked the bread for fifteen minutes to

toast the bread and make it stale. The students then smeared peanut butter on the stale bread

shapes and rolled them in bird seed. Lastly, the students slid a pipe cleaner through the pre-made

hole in the bread to hang from the trees. We placed these in the fridge for a few hours to set up

and in the last period we went out and hung them in the trees surrounding the garden. I

completed this project by printing their posters out and laminating them. The students then hung

their posters near the door leading out to the garden for others to see what type of birds could be

seen in our garden. I also included a page of extra QR codes for people to scan to see what other

birds may be seen in our garden.

This is considered a service learning project because it teaches the students about the

climate and birds we could see in our area while completing research and then allows them to

complete a hands-on activity to assist their school community in bringing birds to their new

garden. The students benefit by completing community work for their school and learning more

about the garden. The community benefits by bringing in wildlife to our garden to help beautify

our school.

During my service learning project, I learned a lot about the different types of birds in

Pennsylvania that I did not know. I also learned a lot about my students and how they feel about
wildlife and animals. Upon completing of this project, we had a discussion about animals and I

found out that the majority of my students are not fond of animals. I have always looked at

animals as a middle ground for students and for people in general, but this project taught me that

not all people like animals and want to learn about them. Another thing I learned about my

students is the true amount of work they are willing to put in when the process appeals to them.

For this project, I allowed the students to create a poster on their iPads and a lot of the students

worked really hard on their posters to make them appealing. I truly feel this is because I allowed

them to use their iPads rather than pencil and paper.

A strength of this project was the planning for me. I was able to stick to my plans made

earlier in the week without much downtime in between or going overtime. This can be difficult,

especially with a multi-part activity such as this one, but I was able to stay on track with my

plans. A weakness of this project was the research I received from some of my students. I think

this goes back to an effort issue with my students that they did not want to research birds, but

needed to so they were not researching very good facts. After some discussion, the students were

able to each come up with at least four good facts, but it was tough to get all the students to this

point.
 Reference

Elmhurst University Admissions. (2022). What is Service Learning?. Elmhurst University.