Local Lore
Creating a museum-style exhibit which displays local historical stories can provide upper elementary or middle school students with a deep-seated sense of place and foster motivation to learn about history and social science topics.
Posts from the ‘Activities’ Category
Apr 26
Apr 26
Climate Change Education in Worcestershire Schools
Schools in Worcestershire county, England have been some of the most successful in the world in integrating climate change education into their curriculum. They used a Learning for Sustainability framework, which emphasizes a combination of outdoor learning, critical thinking, and creative responses.
Apr 26
Participatory Eco-Drama
Unconventional dramatic forms that foster critical thinking and environmental learning in children 7 and up. Allows children to unpack environmental frustrations and to foster creative local solutions. Participants learn how to use alternative modes of decision-making that promote equal participation and respect.
Apr 26
Transformation is in Our Hands
A creative process for deepening teachers’ and students’ connection to nature through drawing, painting, and dialogue, called “Creative Nature Connection”. This process emphasizes the importance of observing both nature outside of ourselves and our inner feelings in creating nature artwork.
Apr 26
From Newcomer to Environmental Citizen
Demonstrates one method of incorporating environmental ethics into an English-as-a-second-language classroom, using the teachings of Albert Schweitzer as a vehicle.
Apr 26
Learn from My Mistakes
A “dialectical” approach for training educators on how to teach more effectively in outdoor settings. The trainer models a poorly taught lesson, works with the students to identify the mistakes made, and provides solutions for correcting those mistakes. Aims to help highlight some of the common mistakes that outdoor educators make, such as those related to group position, delivery, content, pace, and professionalism.
Apr 26
A Plastic Bottle Greenhouse
A middle school in rural India removes water bottle litter from a local forest picnic site, and uses the discarded bottles to construct a greenhouse. Saplings are grown in the greenhouse to help regenerate the same forest from which the plastic bottles came.
Apr 26
Step Outside For Learning
A description of how an elementary school made student-led outdoor learning part of their everyday curriculum, and how this has benefited student learning, collaboration between staff and students in different grades, overall morale in the school, and community collaborations.
Apr 26
Climate Change Treasure Hunt
An engaging, awareness-raising activity for grades 4-10 in which students learn about the positive and negative impacts on climate change of various things and places on school campuses and at nature centres and other sites. Young people are given the opportunity to think of ways of using or doing these things differently to reduce their environmental impact.
Apr 26
Creating Poetry with an Environmental Theme
A class activity for grades 4-6 in which students learn about basic elements of poetry, such as rhyme and meter. After reading several poems, the class creates an environmental poem by having each student write a line of the poem anonymously. Doing so allows students to overcome apprehension of peer judgment of their work.
