Seeing
"Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives." Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth
I am sitting boxed in. Surrounded by walls on walls. And I’m trying to write about how nature is important - or better yet - essential to the development of children. It seems like such a funny thing to talk about. What has happened to our society that we need to talk about nature deficit disorder? We spend so much time thinking about what we need to cure the disease, but fail to look at how we got here in the first place.
It seems so silly to me because I was given opportunities - opportunities that most don’t get . I’ve been in the middle of a pod of a hundred dolphins as they raced our boat. I’ve traveled up and down the coast of British Columbia. Picked wild strawberries on Rose Spit. Built forts away from all adults, where we were in charge. I’ve damned rivers. I’ve started fires then put them out. Chopped down and then planted trees. Caught steel-head fish with my bare hands in the creek behind my school. Rode bikes, caught frogs, killed birds, saved dragon flies. I’ve climbed and hiked: Rocky Mountains, Strathcona, Juan de Fuca, Grand Canyon, the Knuckle Heads, Paradise Meadows , Castle-Craig, Mount Fink and Albert Edwards. But I have just begun.
All children need experiences like these. We need to help children forge a strong connection with the world around us. We need to give them opportunities to make their own connections. To make meaning for themselves .
How do you write about something that’s obvious? Why do people hide inside when there is so much beauty around them? We talk about developing moral character, but what about ecological character (it doesn’t seem like anyone has written about that)? Hmm ecological character; connection and understanding with the world around you; an ethical or spiritual awareness of the vital importance of the world around us. [Deep ecology].
How do I feel in nature? I often struggle with describing how I feel in nature. It’s not that I take nature for granted; the beauty is immense. However, I always wished my feeling was a sense of awe. For me, that’s not it. For me, there is a sense of familiarity, comfort, contentment. I’ve never felt a sense of awe going home after a long trip, but I always knew that home is where I was meant to be. That’s what nature is to me; the quiet contentment of arriving home.
It doesn’t need to be anything more than that. -Hamish Thomson
Tree Identification Nature Walk
Even Young students can start to learn the basics of identifying trees. In this activity students will learn to identify different local trees The focus is not on memorizing the many types of trees, but recognizing the differences between leaves.
The Basics: Here are few things to start helping your kids understand before and during the game.
Conifers: These trees do not loose their leaves every fall. They are also referred to as evergreens because they stay green all year round. Use game to show your kids the shapes for needle-like and scale-like leaves of conifer trees.
Deciduous: These trees loose their leaves every fall. Their leaves are generally broad and thin. Check of these posts activities for teaching kids about trees in the fall and winter.
The Activity:
-Print out the worksheet on card stock or mount on cardboard.
- Cut along the dotted lines. Make sure cuts remain small.
- Get outside and collect leaves in your neighborhood, at the park, on a hike, or on your next camping trip. Slip collected leaves into the small cuts.
- Once all the leaves are collected you can secure them with a small piece of tape on the back and hang the game in your kids room.
Source:http://www.mommylovestrees.com/2014/06/tree-identification-nature-walk-for.html#sthash.no5ewWGl.dpuf
It seems so silly to me because I was given opportunities - opportunities that most don’t get . I’ve been in the middle of a pod of a hundred dolphins as they raced our boat. I’ve traveled up and down the coast of British Columbia. Picked wild strawberries on Rose Spit. Built forts away from all adults, where we were in charge. I’ve damned rivers. I’ve started fires then put them out. Chopped down and then planted trees. Caught steel-head fish with my bare hands in the creek behind my school. Rode bikes, caught frogs, killed birds, saved dragon flies. I’ve climbed and hiked: Rocky Mountains, Strathcona, Juan de Fuca, Grand Canyon, the Knuckle Heads, Paradise Meadows , Castle-Craig, Mount Fink and Albert Edwards. But I have just begun.
All children need experiences like these. We need to help children forge a strong connection with the world around us. We need to give them opportunities to make their own connections. To make meaning for themselves .
How do you write about something that’s obvious? Why do people hide inside when there is so much beauty around them? We talk about developing moral character, but what about ecological character (it doesn’t seem like anyone has written about that)? Hmm ecological character; connection and understanding with the world around you; an ethical or spiritual awareness of the vital importance of the world around us. [Deep ecology].
How do I feel in nature? I often struggle with describing how I feel in nature. It’s not that I take nature for granted; the beauty is immense. However, I always wished my feeling was a sense of awe. For me, that’s not it. For me, there is a sense of familiarity, comfort, contentment. I’ve never felt a sense of awe going home after a long trip, but I always knew that home is where I was meant to be. That’s what nature is to me; the quiet contentment of arriving home.
It doesn’t need to be anything more than that. -Hamish Thomson
Tree Identification Nature Walk
Even Young students can start to learn the basics of identifying trees. In this activity students will learn to identify different local trees The focus is not on memorizing the many types of trees, but recognizing the differences between leaves.
The Basics: Here are few things to start helping your kids understand before and during the game.
Conifers: These trees do not loose their leaves every fall. They are also referred to as evergreens because they stay green all year round. Use game to show your kids the shapes for needle-like and scale-like leaves of conifer trees.
Deciduous: These trees loose their leaves every fall. Their leaves are generally broad and thin. Check of these posts activities for teaching kids about trees in the fall and winter.
The Activity:
-Print out the worksheet on card stock or mount on cardboard.
- Cut along the dotted lines. Make sure cuts remain small.
- Get outside and collect leaves in your neighborhood, at the park, on a hike, or on your next camping trip. Slip collected leaves into the small cuts.
- Once all the leaves are collected you can secure them with a small piece of tape on the back and hang the game in your kids room.
Source:http://www.mommylovestrees.com/2014/06/tree-identification-nature-walk-for.html#sthash.no5ewWGl.dpuf
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZKaMmiIEAANUFf.jpg:large
Forest Bird Count
Goal:
In the activity Students will record the types for birds they’ve seen on a nature hike. Students can find ways to sort and categorize the different types of birds they have found.
Steps:
- Introduce local bird species to the students with pictures or flash cards.
- Give students a piece of paper so record the different types of birds that they’ve found.
- Take the group on a walk around a local park. All students time to write down what they’ve seen.
- When the walk is over discuss in a group the birds that were observed. Look for rare birds. Help students identify any rare birds.
Observation Space
You will need:
Circles of string (about 2 ft diameter) or hoops
The activity:
1. Give a string circle or hoop to a small group of children and tell them to take it
and place it in a special part of the wood. Look at what is growing in the circle,
are there any special objects like feathers, pine cones etc?
2. The children report back to the rest of the group what they have seen in their
circle
3. Next week, the children return to their circles and look for changes. (from http://www.wg.aegee.org/enwg/Environmental%20games%20and%20activities%20booklet.pdf)
Bugs ‘R Us
Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials Required: This activity is best done on a warm day between May and October. You’ll need 5-6 white sheets, blank paper and pencils, journals, and magnifying glasses. Optional: magnifying boxes, Petri dishes (with a top that can be closed), nets, margarine containers, etc.
Instructions: Take students outdoors to an area of low shrubs and short trees. Ask them if they think there might be any animals hiding in the shrubbery. Tell students that today’s activity will focus on trying to catch some of these animals - AND to release them back unharmed at the end of the day. Lay a white sheet below the bushes and have students rustle the bush so that anything clinging to the branches or leaves will fall out. If you find anything, carefully capture the mini beast, show how items like magnifying glasses can be used, and briefly model the observation skills you would like students to use. You may wish to start a drawing, showing students the level of detail you expect from them, and modelling how to draw things bigger than they actually are. Extension: Insects and other bugs can also be caught in long grass with a large-mouthed net. Swishing the net energetically in grass or shrubs will frequently turn up something interesting.