by editor | Feb 15, 2011 | K-12 Classroom Resources
The Mystery of Animal Migration
By Mariane Berkes
Published by Dawn Publications
Reviewed by Emily Baker-LaRouf
What pushes an animal to travel thousands of miles to places it has never seen or to reproduce in the same spot as its ancestors did? The mysteries of the animal world are many and scientists still don’t hold all the answers. Exploring these topics with children can be exciting and a little daunting. I recently had the pleasure of reading Going Home to my kids and the timing couldn’t have been better. With fall changing toward winter here in Minnesota we have watched the bird activity increase as the flocks head southward toward warmer climes. This book provided a great jumping off point to migration in general. (more…)
by editor | Feb 14, 2011 | K-12 Classroom Resources
Reviewed by Elizabeth Rinaldo
Study after study recommends integrating children into nature at a very young age. Little ones view with innocent and open eyes – they are curious and inquisitive and don’t yet know that it isn’t proper to get their hands dirty. Facilitating outdoor opportunities for children at a very young age can lead to a lifelong connection with nature.
Yet there are few pre-school or early elementary programs that offer any outdoor opportunities for children – beyond the daily excursion on the playground. Part of the problem is a lack of knowledge about such outdoor activities, lack of funding, or a lack of resources. (more…)
by editor | Feb 8, 2011 | Environmental Literacy
By Eric Shawn
The interdisciplinary study of food has emerged as a theme in sustainability education at Catlin Gabel School, an independent, co-educational school with 725 students in preschool through 12th grade in Portland, Oregon. The focus on food—a necessity for human life, and a subject of much recent thinking worldwide in terms of sustainability—touches many disciplines across the school and touches our learners from age 4 to 18. (more…)
by editor | Jan 15, 2011 | Outdoor education and Outdoor School, Place-based Education
by Lindsay Letitia Huettman
I am out in the foggy, wet Pacific Northwest winter with my 10-12 year-old homeschoolers’ program, heading to an amazing place we call Elk Meadows. As we cross the meadow, we stop for a word of thanksgiving about the day and send the kids to their Sit Spots. The instructors also head out into the landscape, finding a place to rest and watch the morning wake under the goliath presence of Mount Si. Life is revealed to all our senses in this temporary silence. As a mentor, it helps to model to my genuine excitement at the small birds in the willow thicket while enduring the cold, damp earth that I rest upon. This is a great time for instructors; a sacred time to breathe and connect to the elements, earth and its creatures. It is also the time I invite Coyote to come out and do his secret, stealthy duty as the ultimate mentor. During this peaceful space, Coyote brings me glimpses of the internal workings of my beloved students.
If any of the students were looking my way, they would see my attention on the meadow; my head turning to interpret bird calls. Perhaps they see my chest moving up and down, taking large gulps of the mist rolling off the Snoqualmie River, and observe my eyes scanning the horizon, searching for elk on the forest edges. What they wouldn’t see is a part of my awareness is also listening to Coyote. (more…)
by editor | Dec 31, 2010 | Place-based Education
by Becs Boyd
On 16 November I made a return visit to Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland, Oregon, the K-8 (kindergarten to age 14) which I first visited back in May. This time my conversations with the principal, Sarah Taylor, and with teachers and pupils, focused on what makes the school special, and on how best to help other schools keen to start along the path of Place Based Education. (more…)
