Planning a Long-Term Outdoor Study:
*I acknowledge that the Place-based, ecological practices align with practices that have been at the heart of Indigenous worldviews since time immemorial. I am actively working with my Indigenous colleagues to expand my understanding of Indigenous ideologies and to authentically interweave the imaginative ecological learning activities with First Peoples’ Principles of Learning.
Ways that you can engage in a long term study:
1. Complete an indepth investigation of a specific area. For Example, students could visit a site to collect different data. Students might look at the soil and environmental factors (such as sun/shade, moisture content and direction location (N, S, E, W). In subsequent trips could include: looking at plants, insects,, types of wildlife and discovering what the human impact of the area is. The class could also study other areas to compare.
2. Track seasonal changes by studying a single area during each of the seasons to compare seasonal changes. Tasks based seasonal observations and exploration.
Journey:
As an explorer, the students become the ones who set out to solve a mystery. A 'journeyer' finds themselves in the experience. A quest or adventure have goals and missions, and tasks, where as a journey is when the trip is more important than the destination. Students do seem to have an inherent thirst for exploration and discovery. A journey can captivate the students and propel them into deeper learning.
As David Sobel mentions in his book Childhood and Nature, "Real adventure provokes real writing. In fact, research indicates that writing that emerges from the field explorations of the nearby environment is consistently of higher quality than other writing". pg 23
Journeys that involve following a steam or forested area can lead to a deeper connection and understanding of a larger context. While studying our local wetland, my students became fascinated with mapping the area. Using a computer to look at maps through ARC GIS they added a waypoint and had the program calculate the flow of water from our wetland to the ocean. The discussions, questions, predictions and (general loudness) in the classroom exploded with this discovery. "How did the water go through the highway and houses?", "What happened to it?".
Visit different types of environment. This could include: pond, grasses, wildflowers, forest.
30 Day Walk Challenge:
https://aboriginalresourcesforteachers.weebly.com/walking-curriculum.html
Story:
As an educator my first line of focus has always been imparting knowledge of the curriculum to my students. Being the 'imparter'. And yet, HOW that knowledge is shared should be examined. From my attempts to walk a path of reciprocity and learning Indigenous Ways of Knowing, the realization that unless that knowledge is connected, it does not become lived, experienced, or valued. Connection to a story, place and people makes the knowledge come alive.
Stories can explain, engage, warn, and
Stories resinate in children's imaginations, creating visual images for complex concepts.
Animals:
Animals play a salient role in the development of connecting youth to an understanding of the environment. Students not only find a inherent empathy with animals, they have a curiosity and connection through them.
Plants:
Play and Games:
Journaling:
Nature journals are the earliest source of information that we have about our natural world. Holding a journal in one's hand evokes emotion and awe because we innately relate to the sensory details captured in the artists words and images. The added bonus to creating our own journals? We see and enjoy more deeply and that comes with calming health benefits!
Using all our senses to enhance our observations, we leave our traditional artist fears behind and enjoy exploring nature with the time to observe.
References:
Childhood and Nature: Design Principals for Educators by David Sobel
*I acknowledge that the Place-based, ecological practices align with practices that have been at the heart of Indigenous worldviews since time immemorial. I am actively working with my Indigenous colleagues to expand my understanding of Indigenous ideologies and to authentically interweave the imaginative ecological learning activities with First Peoples’ Principles of Learning.
Ways that you can engage in a long term study:
1. Complete an indepth investigation of a specific area. For Example, students could visit a site to collect different data. Students might look at the soil and environmental factors (such as sun/shade, moisture content and direction location (N, S, E, W). In subsequent trips could include: looking at plants, insects,, types of wildlife and discovering what the human impact of the area is. The class could also study other areas to compare.
2. Track seasonal changes by studying a single area during each of the seasons to compare seasonal changes. Tasks based seasonal observations and exploration.
Journey:
As an explorer, the students become the ones who set out to solve a mystery. A 'journeyer' finds themselves in the experience. A quest or adventure have goals and missions, and tasks, where as a journey is when the trip is more important than the destination. Students do seem to have an inherent thirst for exploration and discovery. A journey can captivate the students and propel them into deeper learning.
As David Sobel mentions in his book Childhood and Nature, "Real adventure provokes real writing. In fact, research indicates that writing that emerges from the field explorations of the nearby environment is consistently of higher quality than other writing". pg 23
Journeys that involve following a steam or forested area can lead to a deeper connection and understanding of a larger context. While studying our local wetland, my students became fascinated with mapping the area. Using a computer to look at maps through ARC GIS they added a waypoint and had the program calculate the flow of water from our wetland to the ocean. The discussions, questions, predictions and (general loudness) in the classroom exploded with this discovery. "How did the water go through the highway and houses?", "What happened to it?".
Visit different types of environment. This could include: pond, grasses, wildflowers, forest.
30 Day Walk Challenge:
https://aboriginalresourcesforteachers.weebly.com/walking-curriculum.html
Story:
As an educator my first line of focus has always been imparting knowledge of the curriculum to my students. Being the 'imparter'. And yet, HOW that knowledge is shared should be examined. From my attempts to walk a path of reciprocity and learning Indigenous Ways of Knowing, the realization that unless that knowledge is connected, it does not become lived, experienced, or valued. Connection to a story, place and people makes the knowledge come alive.
Stories can explain, engage, warn, and
Stories resinate in children's imaginations, creating visual images for complex concepts.
Animals:
Animals play a salient role in the development of connecting youth to an understanding of the environment. Students not only find a inherent empathy with animals, they have a curiosity and connection through them.
Plants:
Play and Games:
Journaling:
Nature journals are the earliest source of information that we have about our natural world. Holding a journal in one's hand evokes emotion and awe because we innately relate to the sensory details captured in the artists words and images. The added bonus to creating our own journals? We see and enjoy more deeply and that comes with calming health benefits!
Using all our senses to enhance our observations, we leave our traditional artist fears behind and enjoy exploring nature with the time to observe.
References:
Childhood and Nature: Design Principals for Educators by David Sobel