Autumn Safari Lesson Plan Early Elementary Science • Grades K-2 • 60 Minutes
Late September Season
Autumn Senses Safari | Teacher Guide
Guiding young naturalists to investigate seasonal transitions through observation, texture exploration, and active listening.
Essential Question
What clues tell our eyes, hands, and ears that autumn has arrived?
Target Senses
Sight (colors/light), Touch (textures/temp), Sound (crisp rustles/breezes).
Setting
School grounds, courtyard, community garden, or tree-lined playground.
Standards Focus
NGSS K-ESS2-1, 1-ESS1-2, 2-PS1-1 (Sensory Properties & Patterns).
Learning Objectives
Identify & Describe: Name at least 3 distinct late September changes using descriptive sensory adjectives.Texture Sorting: Compare rough bark, smooth acorns, brittle leaves, and cool stone surfaces.Sound Mapping: Differentiate natural autumn sounds (dry leaf crunches, flocking bird calls) from urban ambient noise.Chart Findings: Record tally marks and sketches on the Safari Field Worksheet.
Materials Needed
Clipboards & safari worksheets (1 per child)
Crayons/pencils with string tether
1 Magnifying hand lens per pair
Safari "Ear Cones" (cardstock paper cups)
1 Teacher chime or call-and-response whistle
Outdoor Safari Safety & Ground Rules
Boundaries: Mark the perimeter with orange cones or natural tree borders. Gentle Naturalists: Only touch fallen leaves, twigs, and sturdy bark—never snap living branches. No Tasting: Remind students that berries, mushrooms, and seeds are for wildlife eyes only.
Phase 1 & 2 Instructional Sequencing
10 MIN Classroom
Safari Launch: Activating the Three Senses
Gather at the carpet. Introduce the mystery sound shaker (dried leaves inside). Ask: "What makes that crackly sound?" Model using "owl eyes" (wide observation), "raccoon paws" (careful fingertips), and "fox ears" (listening cups). Review safari buddy rules and distribute field clipboards.
15 MIN Station A
Visual Safari: The Late September Palette Hunt
Lead students to the tree grove. Students search for leaves that are transitioning (green veins turning gold, brown edges curling). Guide them to record color tallies (yellow, bronze, green, burgundy) and look for seeds falling like maple helicopter samaras.
Autumn Senses Safari • Page 1 of 2
Teacher Facilitation Guide • Outdoor Execution & Debrief
Lesson Protocol Continued
15 MIN Station B
Tactile Safari: Texture Detective Challenge
Students test four surface textures: tree bark (rough/furrowed), smooth acorn caps, crunchy dry leaf vs. damp green leaf, and cool soil. Have them do a crayon leaf-rubbing directly onto their worksheet clipboards to capture leaf spine patterns.
10 MIN Station C
Acoustic Safari: The 60-Second "Fox Ears" Silence Sit
Gather in a seated circle on grass or sit-upons. Ring the teacher chime. For 60 silent seconds, students close their eyes, hold up fingers for every seasonal sound heard (wind gust through drying leaves, blue jay chatter, footsteps scuffing dry grass). Debrief immediately.
10 MIN Classroom
Regroup & Senses Chart Synthesis
Return to classroom anchor chart. Transfer student worksheet observations onto the large classroom "Autumn Senses Matrix": We Saw... We Felt... We Heard... Connect to why leaves change color and fall as days shorten in late September.
Higher-Order Sensory Questioning Prompts
Sight Deepener
"Did all leaves change colors at once, or are some trees still summer green? What colors appear first at leaf tips?"
Touch Deepener
"What happened when you bent a dry yellow leaf versus a flexible green leaf? Why do you think one crumbles?"
Sound Deepener
"How does walking on late September grass sound different from stepping on summer grass after a rain?"
Differentiation Strategies
Support: Provide pre-drawn icon checklists with color-coded circles for non-writers to stamp or circle.
Sensory Sensitive: Offer noise-dampening earmuffs during the walk; allow tactile exploration with gardening gloves if textures cause aversion.
Extension: Challenge students to write comparative similes (e.g., "The bark feels rough like sandpaper" ).
Evidence of Learning
Formative Walk Check: Student accurately names one texture and one color change during field checks.
Worksheet Completion: Completes at least 3 sensory field observations with recognizable marks or drawings.
Exit Talk: Student shares one full sentence using a sensory word during the closing circle.
Teacher Post-Safari Reflection Notes
Autumn Senses Safari • Page 2 of 2
Autumn Safari Slides Outdoor Science Expedition
Late September Edition
Grades K-2 Nature Detectives
Autumn Senses Safari
Grab your field clipboards and open your senses! Today we explore how late September transforms our outdoor world.
1. Looking Eyes
2. Gentle Hands
3. Sharp Ears
Investigator Toolkit
Our Three Super Senses
Field Guide
Owl Eyes
Look up, look down, and look close! Notice patterns, shapes, and color shifts.
Safari Words: Golden • Crimson • Dotted
Raccoon Paws
Use your fingertips gently. Feel the textures that tell us things are drying out.
Safari Words: Crumbly • Rough • Smooth
Fox Ears
Cup your hands behind your ears. Listen to wind whispering and dry twigs snapping.
Safari Words: Rustle • Crunch • Whistle
Remember: Naturalists observe carefully without harming living plants!
Mission 1 Visual Clues
The Autumn Color Shift
What will our Owl Eyes spot?
1
Two-Tone Leaves: Leaves that are still green in the middle with yellow or orange edges!
2
Fallen Seeds: Acorns with rough hats and maple helicopter wings twirling down.
3
Lower Shadows: The late September sun sits lower, making our shadows longer.
Color Palette Challenge
Find All Four Late September Tones:
Amber Gold Sunlit ash leaves
Scarlet Red Sugar maple tops
Warm Bronze Fallen oak leaves
Fading Green Retreating chlorophyll
Chart each color on your worksheet when you spot it!
Look closely: Why do the leaf tips change color before the middle veins?
Mission 2 Tactile Clues
Texture Detective Challenge
Rough Bark
Deep grooves and ridges that protect the tree through cold nights.
Bark Rubbing Target
Smooth Acorn
Polished shiny nut body paired with a bumpy, bumpy cap.
Smooth vs Bumpy
Crisp Leaf
Drying in the sun! It bends slightly, then snaps and crumbles.
Brittle & Crumbly
Damp Moss
Spongy, cool, and soft on the north side of stones and roots.
Cool & Spongy
Touch Rule: Gently inspect fallen items on the ground. Never tear living bark or twigs!
Autumn Safari Field Worksheet Junior Naturalist Field Guide Late September Expedition
Outdoor Science
Autumn Senses Safari
Name:
Date:
Mission 1: Owl Eyes Color Tally (Sight)
Make a tally mark ( | ) each time you spot this color!
Golden Yellow
Total: _______
Scarlet Red
Total: _______
Nut Brown
Total: _______
Summer Green
Total: _______
Draw a Two-Tone Autumn Leaf (Turning Color):
Find a leaf that has green veins and yellow or red edges. Color both tones inside the frame!
Leaf Question
Where did the green color fade away first?
At the tip Along edges In the middle
Mission 2: Raccoon Paws Texture Hunt (Touch)
Touch gently! Check the box when found.
1. Rough Tree Bark Crayon Rubbing Zone
Press paper against trunk and rub side of crayon:
2. Smooth Seed or Acorn Shiny nut with bumpy cap
Felt it:
3. Brittle / Crumbly Leaf Dry leaf that snaps in fingertips
Felt it:
4. Soft, Cool Moss / Soil Spongy damp patch on shady ground
Felt it:
Autumn Senses Safari • Student Field Journal Page 1 of 2
Part 2: Sounds & Science Synthesis Listening Log & Discovery Summary
Late September Evidence
Mission 3: Fox Ears 60-Second Sound Sit (Sound)
Close eyes when chime rings! Circle every sound heard.
Breeze in Branches Leaves swooshing
[ Circle Me ]
Dry Leaf Crunches Crackly footsteps
[ Circle Me ]
Flocking Bird Chirps Calling overhead
[ Circle Me ]
How many total natural autumn sounds did your Fox Ears detect?
Count:
Classroom Senses Matrix (Chart Your Evidence)
Our Sense What We Observed Autumn Descriptive Word Sight Leaf changing color Touch Fallen dry maple leaf
|
| Sound | Wind gust through trees |
|
My Favorite Autumn Wonder
Draw your treasure & complete the sentence
Sketch your favorite find
On our safari, my favorite discovery was .
Autumn Safari Discussion Guide Facilitation Protocol • Post-Expedition Socratic Circle
Grades K-2 Debrief
Autumn Senses Safari | Discussion Guide
Structured dialogue routines to guide students from raw sensory impressions to scientific reasoning about late September environmental changes.
1 Notice (Concrete)
Prompt students to state exact physical evidence recorded with sight, touch, and hearing during the safari.
2 Wonder (Inquiry)
Guide students to ask why trees lose moisture, why leaves turn yellow, and why seeds fall now.
3 Connect (Pattern)
Connect late September observations to seasonal cycles: shorter days, cooler nights, and animal preparation.
Facilitator Questioning Architecture Tiered by Cognitive Demand
Tier 1: Recall & Observation "What did you observe?"
• “Show your buddy your leaf rubbing. What surface lines or textures did your crayon catch?”
Tier 2: Comparison & Contrast "How are they different?"
• “How did touching a green leaf attached to a twig feel different from a leaf lying on the grass?”
Tier 3: Cause, Effect & Prediction "What does this mean for the season?"
• “Late September days are getting shorter and nights are colder. How does that cause the trees to change?”
Sensory Word Wall Bank
Crisp
Brittle
Furrowed
Rustle
Amber
Spongy
Crackly
Chilly
Dappled
Talk Moves & Partner Protocol
Turn-and-Talk: Partner A shares one sound; Partner B repeats it and adds a touch feeling.
Agree/Add-On: “I agree with [Peer], and my eyes also noticed that...”
Non-Verbal Gestures: Two fingers in the air = “I felt that exact same texture!”
Autumn Senses Safari • Page 1 of 2
Cut-Out Facilitation Cards • Partner Pairs or Small Group Circles
8 Printable Discussion Prompts
Cut along the dashed lines. Laminate for outdoor field kits or hand out to student pairs for the debrief circle.
Card 1 • Sight
The Mystery of Leaf Colors
Why do some trees have bright yellow tops while the lower branches are still green?
