Lyn Public School Brings Scavenger Hunt to Mac Johnson Wildlife Area

Brockville – Grade 6 students from Lyn Public School have partnered with Brockville’s Mac Johnson Wildlife Area in a Real-World Learning project that will bring a fun, engaging scavenger hunt to the conservation property.

The students involved with the project have worked with the Mac Johnson Wildlife Area in the past but wondered what more they could do to help entice children and families to its beautiful wetlands, fields, and forests. This spring, with the help of their teacher Adam Cross, the class decided to utilize technology to create their very own scavenger hunt that would highlight the great things the area has to offer.

Thanks to the hard work of the students, visitors can scan a QR code as they enter the property and be presented with a series of slides, that guide them to various features found throughout the trail system. Users can take photos along the way and be entered to win monthly prizes generously donated by the Tincap Berry Farm, Pastry King’s Princess, McDonald’s, Sport Chek, and Friends of Mac Johnson.

On June 20, students delivered the wooden “Mac Johnson Snap ‘N Seek” plaque to Kelly Mcgann from Cataraqui Conservation. “The group was really keen to get more people out to Mac Johnson to experience the space that they enjoy and appreciate so much,” said Mcgann. “It’s been a really good opportunity for us to see through the eyes of local children and families in this country community to see how they feel about visiting conservation areas and how they feel about drawing more people to these spaces.”

“We were walking down the trail one day and we saw a bunch of interesting stuff in the woods and I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to try and find this stuff for small prizes?” said student Jackson Swann.

“I just like the thought of helping people have more fun at this great conservation area,” added classmate Carter Bingley.

This type of community-focused, real-world learning offers students an alternative to traditional classroom scenarios, and teacher Adam Cross had a front-row seat to his student’s excitement and engagement in the project. “There are so many different things that they were able to do, like phone call conversations where they had to ask for sponsorships, understanding how the website was created, and collaborating with other classrooms within the school board to produce the sign. There were a lot of different things that they wouldn’t have been exposed to without a project like this.”

Lyn Public School, the Mac Johnson Wildlife Area and Cataraqui Conservation hope to continue with their partnership, helping expose students to both real-world learning and the natural environment that surrounds them.