Learning with Butterflies, Chickens and Goats
As the daughter of a civil engineer and an inquisitive librarian, University of Delaware alumna Caroline Mann spent much of her childhood outside exploring, experimenting and learning. Through backpacking, trips to a local lake and other outdoor adventures, her parents demonstrated how classroom knowledge could apply to real-life situations.
As an elementary resource room teacher and a district-wide leader in sustainability initiatives in Clinton Township, New Jersey, Mann now creates nature-based learning opportunities for her students. Whether she’s teaching English language arts or math, Mann helps her students learn through the natural world, bringing butterflies, chickens, goats and more to her classroom. She also encourages student activism, leading her students in campaigns to reduce food waste and air pollution.
“My educational philosophy centers on the principle that meaningful learning occurs when students understand the why behind concepts,” said Mann, who graduated from the College of Education and Human Development’s (CEHD) elementary and middle school teacher education program and teaching students with disabilities master’s program. “A common thread across all of my classes is the emphasis on demonstrating the real-world applications and societal impact of their learning. When students connect their learning to tangible projects and see the concrete outcomes of their efforts, they internalize knowledge rather than merely memorize it.”
A classroom teeming with life
In Mann’s classroom, every subject comes to life. For example, during her unit on pollinators — insects that help flowers grow by spreading pollen — students not only read and write about them but actively engage in raising monarch butterflies, documenting their growth and learning about their habitat.
“There is something truly magical about having a classroom with free-flying butterflies all day long throughout learning,” Mann said. “Annually, students go outside on the school property to find monarch eggs, harvest milkweed, raise caterpillars into butterflies and then create an indoor butterfly sanctuary before releasing the monarchs. Students also measure the monarchs as they transition through their lifecycle stages, keep a growth journal and read articles about where to find them outside and how to feed them.”
Similarly, for the past three years, Mann spearheaded an initiative to raise chickens in the school courtyard so that her students could learn about the life cycle, become experts on the chicken’s needs and apply other concepts from science and math. With her leadership, the students secured funding for the coop and live-streamed hatching events for classrooms across the district.
“I taught measurement by massing chicken eggs throughout incubation and through related building projects, measuring area, perimeter and volume with my students,” Mann said. “This experience was so much more valuable than a 2D worksheet asking students to perform a task. I started thinking differently about math and how children learn when I took ‘Math for the Elementary School Teacher’ at UD. That class shaped who I am as a math teacher today.”
Last year, Mann and her district colleagues began a new project with students to transform an overgrown, outdoor space at her school into a vibrant garden with the support of a Sustainable Jersey for Schools grant funded by the New Jersey Education Association. Clearing brush and weeds was the first step, but Mann didn’t hire a landscaping crew or rent any machinery.
Instead, she rented goats from fellow Blue Hen Matthew Hood, who owns NeighborHood Farm in Warren County, New Jersey. The goats cleared the brush around the perimeter, providing an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional clearing methods.
Learning beyond the classroom
Outside of the classroom, Mann partners with the Community Environmental Commission in Clinton Township to increase student activism and community awareness of sustainable initiatives. She also leads the Clinton Township School District’s Green Team, a district-wide group of educators, students, parents, local experts and staff dedicated to promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility in their schools and community.
In fact, Mann’s leadership in this group led to “Sustainable Jersey for Schools” certification for all four schools in the district.
“As part of this certification initiative, we had to demonstrate a school-wide commitment to sustainability practices,” Mann said. “So our students conducted food waste audits, designed waste reduction strategies and presented their findings at community events, demonstrating the power of student-led initiatives to address real-world issues.”
Similarly, Mann led students in an anti-idling campaign, encouraging parents and caregivers to turn off their car engines when waiting in the school carline to pick up their children from school. In addition to increasing safety on campus, this initiative helps reduce air pollution from cars’ exhaust pipes.
Parents and students alike recognize Mann’s passion for sustainability, but they especially praise her innovative teaching, dedication and leadership.
“Mrs. Mann was able to connect with both of my daughters, who are two very different types of learners,” said Megan Lazovick, whose daughters Nadia and Joni were both students of Mann. “Nadia is more introverted, and Joni is completely opposite. Mrs. Mann recognized their individual needs and was able to bring out the best in my girls in ways that no other teacher has been able to do. She found what got each of them excited and engaged, and I think that’s a really fantastic quality in an educator.”
“She was my favorite teacher, and she still is,” said Nadia, now in eighth grade. “I think she understood how I could learn better. My other teachers would teach the whole class, but Mrs. Mann would teach certain kids, like she knew them personally.”
In August 2025, Mann received the Hunterdon County, New Jersey Teacher of the Year Award and was named a Sustainability Hero by Sustainable Jersey in February 2026.
To learn more UD degrees in education or professional development opportunities, visit UD’s education pathways webpage, CEHD’s overview of graduate programs or CEHD’s School Success Center. To learn more about nature-based education for children and related learning opportunities for UD student teachers and professionals, visit CEHD’s Lab School.
