Background/Question/Methods Curriculum designers have proposed that appropriate preschool content should focus on a child’s real and observable experiences. At Fellowfield Farmhouse School, we chose the study of ecology as the basis for our early childhood program because it integrates basic subject areas, allows for individual interests and rates of growth, lends itself to hands-on learning, addresses the interrelated nature of development, and relates to familiar childhood experience and concerns. We developed an education unit to determine whether long-term study of unfamiliar environments is an effective context for exploring ecological concepts and meeting goals of early childhood education. Over a six-month period in 2006, seven preschool students from rural southeast Michigan participated in study of ocean, rainforest, desert, savannah, and city ecosystems. We used features of the classroom environment and planned activities to explore five areas of ecology. Education goals were to (1) enhance content knowledge about ecology, (2) support continued development in basic subject skills, (3) foster values of diversity, community, responsibility, and openness to learning, and (4) promote metacognition. We evaluated whether these goals were met by documenting the presence and context of observable student behaviors. Sources of data include teacher observations recorded on daily activity sheets, student progress documented in developmental reports, and student performance on evaluation activities.

Results/Conclusions Daily reports and evaluations show gains in content knowledge: seven out of seven (7/7) students could identify features of organisms and conditions of biomes; 7/7 used this knowledge to match organisms to their habitats; 5/7 analyzed how and why organisms fit in an environment; 7/7 explored types of organism interactions and strategies for survival, but students demonstrated different levels of understanding of specific concepts. Developmental reports document that all students continued positive growth in the basic subject areas of language, mathematics, science, art, music, and motor skills. Students showed exceptional growth in language. In a final evaluation project, where students as a group applied what they had learned to create a fantasy ecosystem, 7/7 displayed social growth by collaborating, making compromises, assuming responsibility, and showing persistence in problem solving. 4/7 demonstrated leadership skills. Daily reports and evaluations also show that 6/7 initiated questions and observations about how they learned. Our results indicate long-term study of exotic environments is developmentally appropriate for preschool students. The unfamiliar content builds on a young child’s capacity for imagination. The long-term approach appears important for students to build comprehension and confidence.