A nature field trip may be right outside the schoolhouse door for some Fayette County students, thanks to some forward-thinking teachers.

A number of local schools have developed "nature habitats" on the campuses, usually in a courtyard or other protected area. Dr. Sharon Boyer, coordinator for science and health for the Fayette County School System, said the habitats provide an outdoor learning area where many different science topics can be studied firsthand, and "in a fun way."

Huddleston Elementary School in Peachtree City may have one of the "oldest" and most extensive habitats, started in about 1990, said enrichment teacher Lynda Fields. The gradual development of the habitat has been a combined effort of students, teachers, local businesses, parents and other volunteers, she said, including three Eagle Scouts.

The Huddleston habitat started with "keeping a rabbit in the courtyard," Fields said, but now includes an area of nearly 10,000 square feet with two ponds and a garden area "separated by in-ground fencing so the rabbits don't eat what we plant." The program also has a permit from the state Department of Natural Resources for keeping box turtles, who are "so happy in this really natural area that they are hatching babies," Fields added.

Through the years, habitats in Fayette have received "seed money" grants from DNR and several other programs to "create the outdoor classrooms for all types of environmental education," Boyer said. In addition, a number of Fayette school personnel and Marcia Brown, director of the Flat Creek Nature Center, are certified for instructing in the Georgia Wildlife Federation's "Project Wild," the Georgia Forestry Commission's "Project Learning Tree," and the Environmental Protection Division's "Project Wet."

Other local schools with habitats in various stages of development include Brooks, Braelinn, East Fayette, Spring Hill, Fayetteville and Kedron Elementary Schools; Flat Rock Middle School, and McIntosh and Sandy Creek High Schools. Fayette County High will likely look at starting another habitat at its new location, Boyer said, and Rising Starr Middle and Starr's Mill High School may apply for grants.

Grants are also available through the State Department of Education, which also helped the Huddleston teachers develop an entire "habitat curriculum" for all the school's classes, not just the enrichment program. Fields said the school has a "HARE Room," playing on the rabbit inhabitants of the nature area but meaning "Habitat Activities for Researching the Environment."

"Any teacher can go to the HARE Room," she said, "where we have placed more than 100 lessons, geared for all grade levels, in plastic boxes, along with all the materials that are needed to go along with the lessons."

The habitat can help teach water testing and measuring, seasonal effects on plants, soil composition, weather, life cycles of insects, animal care, migratory and nesting patterns of birds, conservation of natural resources and effects of man-made items on the wildlife population. The "kinds of learning" are almost unlimited, said Dr. Boyer, "and habitats make science come alive for students."

That's the whole purpose of having a nature habitat, said Sandy Thomas, who teaches enrichment students with Fields: to present in-depth science studies in such a way that the children are likely to become responsible guardians of their environment. Thomas stressed that the habitat teaches a lot of responsibility to the enrichment students charged with its care, including special summer projects like volunteer watering and animal "adoption."

The two teachers have for the last several years conducted fund-raisers, selling "environmental T-shirts" to help buy animal feed and other items for the habitat. These funds helped Eagle Scouts Justin Springer, Jonathan Niebes and Mark Stokes install fences, benches, picnic tables and a storage shed, Fields said. The shed has been painted with a nature mural by Karen Beam.

When the Huddleston group discovered that the box turtle babies had begun to hatch, Thomas said, the Internet provided a lot of information on hatchling care. The little ones are put into "protective custody" when they're found, since "some are no bigger than a quarter, and having 20 kids tramping in the habitat is a potential for injury," Fields added.

"Every day the students find something to get excited about," Fields said. Thomas agreed, noting, "It's the perfect way to teach respect and care for the earth."

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