Wareham’s students are doing great things in the great outdoors.

Last week, 130 7th graders from Wareham Middle School traveled to Charlton, Massachusetts for “Nature’s Classroom,” which gives students a chance to get out of the classroom and into an alternative learning situation filled with plants, animals, spider webs, jungle gyms, and more.

The five day, four night program can be described as a hands-on learning experience that incorporates survivor skills into all of the normal subject areas students face in their everyday curriculum.

“The kids get to be kids,” said Jessica Andrews, a Wareham Middle School mathematics teacher who along with science teacher Sue Taber have coordinated the Nature’s Classroom trips for the last four years. “I’ve never had anything but a positive reaction from them.”

There, students spend the nights in dorms, and during the day, take part in a wide variety of activities, from hikes to team-building exercises to dissections.

“We got to dissect a pig fetus, which was pretty fun,” said student Avery Gilbert, 13, saying he also learned about things like the food chain and deforestation. “We passed around the lungs . . . and most of the organs.”

Gilbert said he’d been away from home before with the Boy Scouts, but for many of his classmates, it was their first time.

Students stayed in either all-boy or all-girl dorms (which Andrews said were more like hotels) with anywhere from two to five students to a room. Students arrived in Charlton Monday morning, and were back in Wareham by 3 p.m. Friday afternoon.

“Some do get homesick, but we make them tough it out, and at the end of the week, they’re very happy that they did,” said Andrews.

She said that because students were out of their normal element, they also got a chance to get outside their social groups, interacting with students they don’t necessarily mingle with on a regular basis. She also said they had to leave their cell phones and iPads at home, which took a little getting used to for some.

“You get to see them play the outdoor games and doing things that they don’t get to do that much (in schools) anymore,” she said.

To take part in the trip, students either had to do their own fundraising, get the money themselves, from their parents, or elsewhere.

“Every year, we happen to increase our attendance in the trip, which is nice seeing as every year the price seems to increase as well,” said Andrews, noting that some students did extra fundraising to help provide for those who might need assistance in paying for the trip.

She also said that she’s had parents donate to future attendees of Nature’s Classroom because they see the effect it’s had on their own children and they want to pass that on to others.

“After they see the experience their kid has, they want to give back, which is nice,” said Andrews.

As for the this year’s trip, Andrews said it was right on par with past years—packed with fun, and worth the time and money.

“They’re on the move from 7:30 in the morning to 9 at night, so they’re very busy. I’d definitely say it’s rewarding.”