2011 CLEARING Compendium
Lessons for Teaching in the Community and Environment
This new, regular feature by CLEARING “master teacher” Jim Martin explores how teachers can gain the confidence to go into the world outside of their classrooms for a substantial piece of their curricula.
Read series hereTHE BEST OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Learn the secrets of successful environmental education programs! Read the perspectives and opinions of experienced teachers! Discover new ideas that can turn your classroom into an innovative and dynamic hub of place-based learning! The Best of Clearing is full of fresh ideas and old wisdom to help you create powerful learning experiences for your students.
Learn more and buy it today!ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY and the CLEARING COMPENDIUM
Attention: Clearing is currently compiling case studies that demonstrate what ideal school-based environmental literacy programs & activities can look like. These case studies will help teachers understand how to more effectively integrate environmental literacy into their classrooms, and will be featured in the 2011 Clearing Compendium published this fall!
Tell us about a model program that you think deserves recognition!
Read the 2010 edition here!
Guest Writers: Voices of the PNW
, Eckstein Middle School,
Jessica Levine
Seattle, Washington
Gregory Smith,
Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon
Harmony Roll,
Taiga Teacher, Anchorage, Alaska
Lindsay Huettman,
Wilderness Awareness SchoolINTERVIEWS WITH CONSERVATIONISTS
What is the link between conservation and environmental education? Chris Gertschen, founder and former director of the Sawtooth Science Institute, talks to the leaders of conservation in the west to get their perspectives on the issue.
Read the interviews here
K-12 Activity of the Day
Balancing Nature Science — Grades K-3
Objective: The students will learn and understand that a delicate balance exists within an ecosystem. If there are too many animals for the available resources, some will starve, others move, and some adapt.Materials: Role Cards, one per person. Plant, Soil, Hawk, Rabbit, etc. Cards are to be organized as follows: Group 1 - 4 soils, 3 plants, 2 animals, 1 Hawk; Group 2 - 2 soils, 4 plants, 3 animals, 1 Hawk; Group 3 - 4 soils, 2 plants, 4 animals.
1. Divide participants into equal sized groups and issue group role cards.
2. Announce that "we are going to build a balanced community on the basis of who eats whom."
3. The only catch is that the soil is the only member of the community to be in contact with the ground, everything else must be arranged by levels above the soil. "You could say we are building a pyramid of life."
4. It will soon become obvious that only one group can construct a truly balanced pyramid. Discuss the reasons for this with the other groups. "Why don't you think your community could achieve balance?" The students will realize that, in some cases, there were too many animals for the number of plants or too many animals and no hawks to reduce the numbers.
5. Discuss what solutions the group might have to solve this problem. Ask them to reconstruct their pyramid by making one or two adjustments.
6. After each pyramid has been successfully formed, ask each group how they solved their problem. "What happened to the extra members?"—Reprinted from a past issue of CLEARING
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