by editor | Sep 4, 2025 | Conservation & Sustainability, Environmental Literacy, Equity and Inclusion, Gardening, Farming, Food, & Permaculture, Indigenous Peoples & Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Place-based Education, STEM, Sustainability, Tribes & Traditional Ecological Knowledge
A Teaching Toolkit Connecting Students with Plants, Places, and Cultural Traditions
By Kim Gaffi, Mariana Harvey (Yakama) and Elise Krohn
Educating younger generations on the gifts of the land has always been a cornerstone of Indigenous teachings to strengthen mind, body, and spirit. As Skokomish Elder Bruce Miller said, “The Forest was once our Walmart.” The Pacific Northwest is teeming with wild edible berries, greens, roots, and seeds that are nutritionally superior to store-bought foods. Wild plants also provide medicine and materials for traditional technologies. Many common and accessible “weeds” are useful and can be found in our own backyards.
Tend, Gather and Grow (Tend) is a K-12 place-based curriculum dedicated to educating people about plants, local landscapes, and the rich cultural traditions that surround them. Tend focuses on native and naturalized plants of the Pacific Northwest region and includes Northwest Native knowledge, stories, and plant traditions. The curriculum toolkit consists of a teacher guide, six modules, videos, Coast Salish stories, plant identification cards, posters, games, recipes, and a garden guide. The 60+ lessons align with Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics (STEAM) education principles and Next Generation Science Standards. Here’s a glimpse at the main curriculum modules:
- Plant Guide – This module covers 20 northwest plants and includes 38 hands-on lessons. Teachers can choose lessons based on what plants are available, in season, and most relevant to students. Each plant overview contains information on identification, seasonality, where the plant grows, human uses, and ecological relationships. A K-12 lesson called Dandelion: The Useful Weed introduces students to the lifecycle of dandelion, how it improves soil quality, and how it benefits insects, grazing herbivores, and people. Two lessons for 6th to 12th graders dive deeper into making food and medicine from dandelions. Plants that are at risk for overharvest have not been included in the curriculum unless there is a specific emphasis on restoration
- Cultural Ecosystems Field Guide – This module is about reframing the settler/dominant narrative about Northwest Coast Native People. Typically, Native Communities in the Northwest have been characterized as hunter-gatherers. This is not an accurate representation, and erases the deep-time relationships and land cultivation practices of Native People. This module includes an overview lesson on cultural ecosystems and a field guide to camas prairies, saltwater beaches, food forests, wetlands, and urban landscapes. Students learn about reciprocity and explore how they might both receive the gifts of the land and give back to the land.
- The Herbal Apothecary – This module includes techniques for harvesting, processing, and preparing medicinal plants. Topics include herbal teas, infused vinegars, honeys, poultices, infused oils and salves, herbal baths, and aromatherapy.
Plant Technologies – This module investigates how plant qualities have been used for millennia to create human technologies. Students explore ways to gather, process, and make useful items including cordage, baskets, mats, tools, and dyes from plant materials. Lessons are rooted in STEAM concepts.
- Tree Communities – This module introduces common Northwest trees and how they are valued for food, medicine, and traditional technologies. Themes include tree identification, ecological relationships, and life skills that we can learn from trees including generosity, building community, willingness, adaptability, and resilience.
- Wild Food Traditions – This module engages students with native and wild foods from a Coast Salish perspective. Seasonal lessons include spring wild greens, summer berries, healthy snacks in fall, and traditional beverages in winter. Native American stories, cultivation practices, ethical harvest techniques, and recipes are woven throughout lessons.
Our Tend, Gather and Grow development team (photo left) includes twelve people sharing a common passion for connecting people with plants, the land, and cultural traditions. Several of our team members have worked together in tribal health and natural resources programs and half are Indigenous. Over the years we have heard consistent requests for educational resources designed for youth. The Tend curriculum is our effort to meet that need. Collectively, we have knowledge and skills in teaching, environmental education, Northwest Native culture and storytelling, ethnobotany, herbal medicine, traditional technologies, art, media, social justice, and youth advocacy. Our team met monthly for several years to study plants in the seasons and co-design lessons and activities. Co-developing the curriculum has been an opportunity for our team to be in community with each other, share our love of plants, deepen our knowledge, and support each other along the way. We also worked with Native Elders, cultural specialists, and other regional experts in developing lessons—especially regarding storytelling and plant technologies. The curriculum includes quotes and instructions from these individuals.
Tensions
There are inherent tensions in non-native people using this curriculum, including concerns of cultural appropriation and misuse of plants and cultural landscapes. The curriculum exists, as we all do, within a painful and persistent history of colonialism, white supremacy, and systematic oppression. Historic and ongoing colonial settler practices negatively impact Native People and their traditional lands. Plant communities have changed drastically and many important cultural foods and ecosystems are diminished and difficult to access. Cultural appropriation and a misuse of knowledge among settler communities has undermined tribal sovereignty in several ways, including researchers claiming copyright authority over Indigenous knowledge and the overharvest of plant communities. For instance, as the health benefits of mountain huckleberry are more broadly learned, huckleberry stands cultivated by Native Peoples for thousands of years have been damaged and overharvested by non-native foragers and commercial harvesters.
To address these tensions, the Tend team has collaborated with tribal Elders and cultural knowledge keepers to ensure that information in the curriculum is appropriate to share broadly. Some plants and plant knowledge have been purposefully left out. All stories and plant teachings are included with permission from the storyteller or plant knowledge keeper. We have also created a video called Honoring Plants, Places, and Cultural Traditions that features Indigenous educators offering tools and advice to teachers wanting to use the curriculum. The Tend, Gather and Grow Teacher Guide and trainings support educators in adopting the curriculum responsibly. The toolkit also encourages educators and young people to be advocates and allies for Northwest Native peoples, tribal sovereignty, and cultural ecosystems. Lastly, we are encouraging schools to integrate featured plants from the curriculum in schoolyards and have created an Ecosystem Garden Guide that includes plant lists and basic garden installation directions.
Ways People are Using the Curriculum
T
end is adaptable to multiple learning environments, cultures, languages, participant ages, and abilities. We encourage educators and students to explore and add specificity around local language, culture, stories, and places as appropriate. We believe that cultural diversity is part of our richness as people. Educators can create opportunities for immigrant students to share their knowledge and traditions as well, and plant uses from around the world are included in the curriculum to encourage this.
The Tend curriculum is being implemented in a variety of settings including tribal schools, non-tribal schools, health and wellness programs, behavioral health programs, youth camps, and informal educational settings. Educators are also using Tend in various ways that meet their learning goals, fit their environment, and follow their students’ interests. Some schools focus on a plant each month (Wild Rose in September, Cattail in October, Doug Fir in November, etc). Some teachers are integrating Tend lessons into other courses like agriculture, nutrition, biology, ecology, social studies and the Since Time Immemorial Tribal Sovereignty curriculum. Teachers can also choose lessons and modules to accompany existing nearby landscapes like camas prairies or saltwater beaches and/or gardens or to accompany the creation of an ethnobotanical garden. Tend can also be the centerpiece of a full year-long course and we’ve designed a 180-hour Career Technical Education framework called Tend, Gather and Grow – Ethnobotany & Natural Resources Management to support this.
Tend Tribal Educator Cohorts
The Tend team has facilitated year-long tribal community educator cohorts where 16–20 educators from Washington tribes gather monthly for full-day workshops. Our first two internships focused on serving Western Washington tribes and this year we are honored to work with tribes from the Plateau region.
The Plateau internship includes seventeen tribal food gatherers, teachers, community educators, birth justice advocates, Indigenous language teachers, Elders, and youth who represent Yakama Nation, Colville Confederated Tribes, Kalispel, Nez Perce, Spokane, and Coeur d’Alene Tribe. This internship is led by GRuB’s Wild Foods and Medicines Tribal Relations Lead, Mariana Harvey (Yakama) and Traditional Plants Educator and Tend development team member, Elizabeth Campbell (Spokane/Kalispel).
This internship meets regularly over the year to integrate the Tend curriculum into various communities, schools, and programs. Participants also build teaching and group facilitation skills, learn about how to identify, harvest, and prepare many local plants, attune to the seasons, deepen a connection to the land, practice storytelling skills, and more.
Often the most enriching outcome for these tribal internships is the community and relationship building among the participants. Our participants are leaders within the tribal food sovereignty movement and it is a lot of work to carry. We hear that our gatherings feel like a ‘retreat’ where people can learn together, share ideas, and deepen bonds to each other and the earth. Gatherings take place in each participating tribal community, allowing us all to gain a deeper understanding of each other’s tribal history, culture, and of course foods and medicines! While we were in Spokane, a common highlight among participants was hearing a traditional story about the tamarack tree. When we were in Yakima, many remarked that it had been a very long time since they had eaten many of the roots that were served that day, and others were eating them for the first time. There is joy that radiates from our participants after our gatherings and the beauty is they bring that joy and spark of knowledge back home to their communities. ❀
Learning about and from plants has been a wonderful foundation to connect with my students and colleagues, since it’s something everyone can relate to on some level. I have been especially moved hearing stories that have been shared by experts in the field, native teachers/elders, as well as unique family stories that have emerged from my students, colleagues, and friends.
–Charlie Sittingbull, North Thurstaon High School Science Teacher
Photos by Elise Krohn
by editor | Aug 26, 2025 | Outdoor education and Outdoor School, Place-based Education, Schoolyard Classroom
by Jane Tesner Kleiner
We know that for kids of all ages, play equals learning. And play comes in many forms, such as team sports, partner games and individual kids creating their own play. Play can also be active, passive or quiet. Learning also comes in many forms, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing. Kids love to explore, discover, question and dive into the world around them.
Many school campuses put the majority of focus on the building and what is happening inside and miss the opportunities to enhance the entire campus for learning, play and wellness.
What is there to gain by using the whole campus? A whole lot!
A Green Schoolyard looks at the entire property, from fence to fence, at the potential that could be across the whole property if money, time and energy were available. A majority of schools in our communities have landscape that is required by code, such as street or parking lot trees. But the majority of where people spend their time, is absent of nature and places to engage beyond active play and sports fields. When we consider adding nature and diverse features for all types of users and activities, we see a much greener campus.
As many of the articles, books and web pages in the Resource section will tell you, Green Schoolyards provide numerous benefits. There is also a role for every member of the school community to contribute to the on-going success of Green Schoolyard campuses. There can be a fine balance between meeting safety and security with diversifying features so that all can safely enjoy outdoors as well as feel welcome to enter and explore.
Here are just a few examples of benefits:
From the Children & Nature Network – Not only do Green Schoolyards promote learning through improved academic performance, increased attention span, and provide opportunities for diverse play, but also improving community cohesiveness, create activities for family engagement, improve health and wellness and enhance the environmental habitats.
Many research studies have indicated that:
- View of trees and natural settings outside of classroom windows can calm and reduce stress of students (and I can imagine staff, too)
- Diverse play features promote opportunities to increase social-emotional learning through working and playing with other students
- Working in gardens provides equitable access to nature for all students, regardless of age, academic capabilities or learning styles and provides mental health benefits
- Adding gardens and habitat features helps students feel ownership of their campus and can reflect the neighborhood needs for both in-school lessons and after school and breaks.
Other benefits that support implementing Green Schoolyard projects include:
- School districts tend to be significant land owners, providing opportunity to increase natural areas throughout urban and suburban communities.
- Projects can benefit mutual community goals, such as tree plantings and pollinator gardens to meet Climate Action Planning & Resiliency efforts, Urban Tree Canopy projects to reduce heat island effects, creating more public access to parks and green spaces with joint use agreements, etc.
- For middle and high schools, Career Education Technology (CTE) projects and programs can create on-site field stations and learning labs for horticulture, environmental science and natural resources. Green Schoolyards create equitable access for all students within walking distance of the building and provide an opportunity to have professional partners to support career-ready learning on-site.
- Stewardship and community service projects help nurture and care for the new spaces, features and plantings.
Accessible pathways provide equitable access to fitness on campuses, as well as walking loops for “walks and talks” or de-escalation walks.
- Green Schoolyards provide daily, weekly, monthly access to nature to familiarize students to nature, which is especially important for students who have little contact with nature. Learning about what to see, explore and understand at school will help build for successful trips away from campus, including Outdoor School trips are remote learning centers.
Campus improvements lend themselves to engaging community partnerships including donations of materials, expertise and activities.
The list of benefits vary, of course, by school, district and community. But each school has the opportunity to look at what their needs are for building success of students, staff and the community and finding projects that bring people and nature together.
by editor | Aug 26, 2025 | Gardening, Farming, Food, & Permaculture, Outdoor education and Outdoor School, Place-based Education, Schoolyard Classroom
Special Issue: Understanding Green Schoolyards
Picture a noisy elementary classroom, with bustling kids cleaning up from a morning of schoolwork. Then see the doors swing open and they head outside for some fresh air and play. Some students make a straight line right to their favorite equipment, like the swings. Some head for sports, like basketball or soccer. Still others may skip over to the play structure, start a game of tag or simply race around the equipment.
Does your vision stop there? Some, probably more than you think, need quiet space and decompression time, alone or with friends. Maybe they walk a loop path while chatting about a new pet, or maybe they give voice to their nervousness about an upcoming test. Given the chance, some would stroll over to a table under a tree, carrying a good book or some art supplies. If their school’s leadership is forward-thinking, some kids will head for a nature play area, where you may see them avoid the “lava” while traversing from log to boulder to log. Still others might roam the whole of the area, collecting leaves, twigs, flowers, and cones to craft something at the outdoor building tables.
If you have envisioned all of this, then in your mind’s eye you’ve built a Green Schoolyard. You might also hear terms such as Community Schoolyards and Living Schoolyards, as the concepts are similar – connect kids to nature in their neighborhoods.
“School” is about more than the indoor, classroom environment. A school’s entire campus creates an integrated experience for students, staff, and neighbors, both in terms of
activity and perception.
Green Schoolyards complement academic achievement. There is a significant body of research connecting children’s performance in school and the role that their environment plays. Views of nature, especially trees, from school windows, improve test scores for middle school students. 1
Green Schoolyards vary widely, but at their heart they offer natural elements that contribute to a diverse, safe, and welcoming setting for students and staff. (And, again, neighbors. Green Schoolyards enhance neighborhoods.) They may comprise any number of features, but you’ll mainly find that they promote hands-on learning, social-emotional connectivity, and a harnessing of the calming power of nature. Goodness knows, we need to reduce stress and anxiety while fostering confidence and creativity. Green Schoolyards tip that balance toward healthy development.
To learn more about bringing Green Schoolyard thinking to your campus, please keep reading. The contributing authors will showcase examples of projects, features, programs and ideas to transform any school. —JTK
by editor | Aug 9, 2024 | Data Collection, Environmental Literacy, Experiential Learning, Place-based Education
Sophie Diliberti, Justin Hougham, Brad Bessler, and Brooke Bellmar
ocusing on specific aspects of learners’ local context can increase their engagement in environmental education. One way for educators to pinpoint a community’s specific environmental circumstances is by adapting existing locally focused sustainability resources. After establishing the environmental issues that are relevant to the community, educators can maximize the geographic benefit of a local focus by incorporating geographic awareness and in-person exploration into their curriculum. This paper examines a case study in Milwaukee, Wisconsin: a lesson plan which adapts existing environmental education resources to pinpoint the local issue of stormwater management. The lesson also uses a StoryMap and walking tour to foster geographic awareness.
Community-specific issues: Strategies for educators to produce a more local focus.
Too often, environmental education focuses on issues that are removed from students’ lived experiences. Although melting icebergs and starving polar bears are compelling images, students must recognize that many types of environmental problems–and solutions–occur right in their backyards. Localized environmental education has been shown to be effective at increasing educational outcomes and sustainable behavior within communities (Ardoin, 2020, Fisman, 2010). Using specific community context ensures that the content of the lesson will be relevant to the lives of the students. While a field trip to a zoo or state park can certainly be interesting, knowledge about the environmental issues in places where students actually live provides a different kind of educational value.
Many communities have existing environmental outreach materials regarding specific local issues. Whether they come from university extension divisions, grassroots political organizations, or other local sources, these materials reveal issues that are important for community members to understand. Even if they are too young to understand those exact resources, students deserve this community knowledge, so the resources are worth adapting for them to consume.
Making the most of a place-specific focus by incorporating maps and in-person exploration.
Assuming a lesson plan centers around the specific context of the school and community, the next step is to maximize those benefits by explicitly focusing on geographic awareness and spatial reasoning in the lesson plan.
Using maps can increase spatial awareness and embodied learning for students, making maps a good starting point to accomplish this goal (Taylor, 2019). StoryMaps, a web-based Esri software which allows the user to incorporate maps, legends, text, photos, and videos into a spatial narrative, can provide a great resource for educators looking to incorporate maps into their curriculums. The interactive nature of a StoryMap allows students to engage with the geography of where they live and has been proven to increase geographic awareness (Purwanto et al., 2022).
Another way to harness the benefits of place-specific education is to provide opportunities for students to get outside and explore. In-person tours can be more productive if students have already learned the background of what they are exploring through a StoryMap or similar resource. Their questions will likely be less superficial after learning the basic context in the classroom.
Case study background: Milwaukee and green infrastructure.
Milwaukee is a city lucky to be situated at the confluence of three rivers and Lake Michigan. The city relies heavily on these bodies of water for drinking water, industry, transportation, and recreation, and they must be stewarded carefully to ensure long-term health. The city’s combined sewer system, which cleans wastewater and stormwater at the same time, is the foundation of many of its stormwater management challenges. The combined sewer system is useful most of the time: it filters pollutants out of runoff before releasing the stormwater into the lake. However, during some major storm events, the treatment plant receives too much water and experiences an overflow. During an overflow, the plant is forced to release unfiltered wastewater and stormwater into the lake. To avoid sewer overflows during storms, the city must minimize the amount of water that reaches the sewer system in the first place.
Milwaukee’s water-rich environment comes with essential benefits and difficult challenges.
A Milwaukee sewer overflow in 2010.
Green infrastructure (GI) is any modification to a built environment that mimics natural systems to provide some type of ecosystem service. GI is often applied to stormwater management, where it harnesses natural systems to filter and slow down water right where it falls instead of funneling it directly into sewer systems. Native plants with deep roots, rain gardens, bioswales, and rain barrels are all examples of GI used for stormwater management. The Village of Shorewood, a Milwaukee suburb that lies between the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan, has implemented many beneficial GI projects as a response to its uniquely water-rich location and subsequent stormwater management issues.
Creating a map and walking tour for the Village of Shorewood.
In August of 2023, UW-Madison Extension worked with the Village to create a StoryMap that listed all the GI in the village (called “Shorewood’s Water Walk”). “Shorewood’s Water Walk” was useful in many ways but lacked a clear audience or use-case. This map is still linked on the village website, but has no designated users or associated events. You can find this this map here: https://arcg.is/15rmf90
In the summer of 2024, I redesigned “Shorewood’s Water Walk” so it could be used by local elementary schools. The new lesson plan, titled “Where Does My Water Go? Exploring the Shorewood Watershed,” includes a more targeted StoryMap and two walking tours, one that starts from each elementary school in the district. Instead of living on the village website, the new StoryMap and walking tours would go into the curriculum of local teachers to educate students about a very specific sustainability issue in their community. You can find this 2024 map here: https://arcg.is/10HvTX
The lesson’s StoryMap begins with a section called Shorewood’s Water History. This section uses pictures and diagrams to explain some key ways Indigenous water and land management differed from the city’s current stormwater management and combined sewer system. This section includes the interactive slider displayed below, which can be moved side-to-side to allow students to visualize temporal differences in state geography and Indigenous land.
An interactive sliding map to visualize Indigenous land before European colonizers arrived compared to in the present day.
Shorewood’s Water History also introduces the significance of the city’s combined sewer system and explains the concept of a watershed, which may be new to students using the map,
The map at the end of the StoryMap gives the students the opportunity to practice identifying GI before they leave the classroom to explore examples in the real world.
In the next section–Types of Green Infrastructure–the map provides picture-heavy identification and categorization tools for GI, using, when possible, pictures directly from examples in the village. This system of categorization is designed to give students the tools to identify and understand GI in the village. It uses categories designed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology. The image below captures an example of one of the types of GI included in the StoryMap.
Permeable pavement is one of nine types of GI that students will learn to identify from the StoryMap.
The StoryMap ends with a section called Identifying GI in Shorewood: an interactive map which shows different types of GI throughout the village. This adds geographic literacy in an interactive form, as students can zoom and click around the map. It also incorporates an application of the lesson’s content by asking students to identify what type of GI is located at each spot based on a picture and short description.
This one-mile walking tour demonstrates different types of GI located close to the elementary school.
The second part of the lesson plan is a walking tour designed to be led by the teacher after the students have spent time interacting with the StoryMap. The walking tour helps contextualize the StoryMap’s information in the real world, cementing it more firmly in the students’ understanding. The StoryMap, completed before the walking tour, should give the students enough context to ask more insightful questions, allowing the tour to focus on curious investigation rather than basic concepts.
Conclusion
Every community has climate and sustainability-related problems, needs, and solutions. From tree cover to invasive species to food sovereignty to public transportation, community awareness of these issues has the potential to create and manage environmental solutions. Toomey (2016) frames conservation as “…a social process that engages science, not a scientific process that engages society,” (p. 623) highlighting the importance of community outreach and education.
“Where Does My Water Go?” was initially a response to this need–an attempt to clarify and improve the engagement of the old StoryMap, “Shorewood’s Water Walk,” by narrowing its intended audience to elementary-aged students. During this process, it became apparent that adapting existing community resources can also be useful for environmental educators. It ensures relevance and contextual engagement for students, as well as provoking community engagement around important issues.
This lesson plan demonstrates two useful practices for creating environmental education lesson plans. First, it creates specificity and place-based relevance in district education by focusing on an environmental issue that is uniquely important to the area. Second, it maximizes that local focus by incorporating a map-based narrative (the StoryMap) and in-person exploration (the walking tour). These practices aim to spark student inquiry and curiosity.
In order to encourage even more active participation in the lesson, the ideal extension of this project would ask students to help create the StoryMap themselves. The co-generation of knowledge that this process could provide would keep students engaged and provide a unique opportunity to synthesize their lived experiences with information they learn from other sources.
Sources
Ardoin, N.M., Bowers, A.W., Gaillard, E. (2020). Environmental education outcomes for conservation: A systematic review. Biological Conservation, Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108224
Bodzin, Alec M. “Integrating Instructional Technologies in a local watershed investigation with Urban Elementary Learners.” The Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 39, no. 2, Jan. 2010, pp. 47–58, https://doi.org/10.3200/joee.39.2.47-58.
Fisman, Lianne. “The effects of local learning on environmental awareness in children: An empirical investigation.” The Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 36, no. 3, Apr. 2005, pp. 39–50, https://doi.org/10.3200/joee.36.3.39-50.
Niemiec, R. M., N. M. Ardoin, C. B. Wharton, and G. P. Asner. 2016. Motivating residents to combat invasive species on private lands: social norms and community reciprocity. Ecology and Society 21(2):30. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08362-210230
Taylor, K. H. (2017). Learning Along Lines: Locative Literacies for Reading and Writing the City. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 26(4), 533–574. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48541101
Toomey, A.H., Knight, A.T. (2016). Navigating the Space between Research and Implementation in Conservation. Conservation letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12315
Purwanto, P., Astuti, I. S., Hartono, R., & Oraby, G. A. (2022). ArcGIS story maps in improving teachers’ geography awareness. Jurnal Pendidikan Geografi, 27(2), 206–218. https://doi.org/10.17977/um017v27i22022p206-218
Images
[Digital Map] Milwaukee Estuary AOC Boundary. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, City of Milwaukee, WI, Milwaukee County Land Info, Esri, HERE, Garmin, SafeGraph, METI/NASA, USGS, EPA, NPS, USDA. https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/GreatLakes/Milwaukee.html
Was, M. (2010). [Photograph]. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. https://archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/getting-milwaukees-rivers-to-meet-state-water-quality-standards-wont-be-easy-b9948758z1-262245161.html
[Digital Map]. Milwaukee Public Museum. https://www.mpm.edu/educators/wirp/nations
[Digital Map]. Wisconsin Tribal Nations. Travel Wisconsin. https://www.travelwisconsin.com/article/native-culture/native-american-tribes-in-wisconsin
[Digital Image]. Earth.com. https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/what-is-a-watershed-am-i-in-one/
Prostak, C. Charted Territory [basemap]. Esri. July 9, 2024. (July 2, 2024).
Author bio
Sophie Diliberti is an undergraduate at Macalester College. She is working in watershed education and outreach with the UW-Madison Division of Extension.
by editor | Jun 19, 2024 | Critical Thinking, Environmental Literacy, Experiential Learning, Features on Outstanding Programs, Marine/Aquatic Education, Outdoor education and Outdoor School, Outstanding Programs in EE, Place-based Education, Teaching Science
How to Design Field-based Research Experiences
By Molly L. Sultany, msultany@nwacademy.org
High School Teacher, Northwest Academy, Portland, Oregon
Navigating Unchartered Waters
How can educators help students feel more connected to the outdoors while engaging with the work of research scientists? Scientific research may feel elusive to high school students, an unknown world hidden behind a technical paper, a puzzling chi-square analysis, or a p-value waiting to be deciphered. Yet, participating in field-based research may improve students’ intrinsic motivation, build resiliency, and enhance their sense of personal agency and responsibility (Marley et. al, 2022). I believe that teaching students outdoors introduces novelty and authentic learning opportunities into an existing science curriculum (Behrendt & Franklin, 2014). In addition, field-based research experiences provide a compelling alternative to a digitally dominated learning environment, often inundated with electronic media. Benefits to students’ well-being may include a longer attention span, multi-sensory experiences, deeper context for learning, a sense of comradery and feelings of community belonging, as well as reduced stress and fewer signs of ADHD (Grimshaw et. al, 2016). Overall, introducing a fieldwork component to existing curriculum may enhance student engagement, improve critical thinking, and foster positive interpersonal skills.
At our field site in Cannon Beach, Ofregon, students measured 3,807 ochre sea stars with 54 total search hours.
How to Engage Students in Field-based Research Projects?
· Build Your Professional Network: Connect with other educators at your school, district, or area interested in developing student-led research projects. Attend professional development opportunities for science education.
· Partner with Local Non-Profit Organizations: Become a member of regional and national non-profit groups dedicated to environmental conservation. This may provide opportunities for volunteering where you can meet like-minded individuals and build lasting community connections to enhance your understanding of local environmental issues.
· Lead with Student Interests: Brainstorm ideas for research projects with students. Start with a field trip to a nearby park, green space, or natural habitat. Find ways to discuss local conservation issues as part of your curriculum. Be inspired by students’ own personal interests, curiosity, and inquiry.
· Create a Science Lunch & Learn Program: Invite STEM professionals from your school community or region to give a presentation during the lunch hour for students about science career pathways, current research, or ways to become involved with the larger scientific community.
· Video Chat with a Scientist: Get inspired by programs offered through NASA, NOAA, and the Nautilus Live: Ocean Exploration Trust to connect students virtually to scientists to learn more about their research.
Wearing hip waders and waterproof gloves, Northwest Academy students measured ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) size classes, and observed signs of sea star wasting syndrome.
Local Spotlight: Diack Ecology Education Program
After attending an Oregon Science Teachers’ Association (OSTA) meeting, I learned about the inspiring work of the Diack Ecology Education Program. This unique program provides Oregon educators with financial support and pedagogical resources through grants, workshops, and programming. Their goal is to provide guidance for teachers to develop effective student-centered, field-based science inquiry experiences. I admire the program’s values: commitment to local stewardship, opportunities for student leadership and decision-making, and an emphasis on outdoor experiential learning. Through their website (https://www.diackecology.org/), teachers can apply to attend bi-annual workshops taught by experienced science educators, where they learn how to construct a science inquiry project centered on local field work. The Diack program strives to help teachers develop greater scientific literacy and build civic engagement on themes related to local ecology, natural history, and environmental science.
Over the past ten years, the Diack Ecology Education Program has funded multiple student research projects at Northwest Academy, an independent high school in Portland, Oregon. Participation in this program has connected my high school students to the larger scientific community, including The Johnson Creek Watershed Council, Portland State University, U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize Conference, and the Oregon Environmental Science Summit where students had the opportunity to present their research in person to Dr. Jane Goodall. These experiences have transformed our high school science research program, and introduced students to the wonder, joy, and complexity of the natural world. Past projects have included a study of local stream health (2014), the role of diatoms as indicators of water quality (2015), and microplastics in beach sand (2017). Our most recent project (2022) had a dual focus on how marine biota respond to environmental change by studying the prevalence of sea-star wasting syndrome in ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) and documenting nesting success of cormorants during the summer breeding season.
Benefits to Students
After our field research at the Oregon Coast in 2022, I learned that participating in field research has many direct benefits to adolescents, with transformative effects on socio-emotional learning, scientific literacy, and the development of a civic identity. By taking part in challenging field tasks in an unpredictable outdoor environment, students may develop an improved positive self-concept and increased self-esteem, seeing themselves as capable learners. One of my students reflected: “I learned that I have much more patience that I give myself credit for, and that I am also good at paying attention to details when I am observing.” In addition to these changes in self-perception, I believe there is value in helping students see science in action beyond textbook learning. This may, in turn, deepen students’ respect for the natural world. The student leader of our field team shared: “I learned about the shocking effects of sea star wasting syndrome, and what this damage for the sea star population could mean for the rocky intertidal ecosystem. With little prior knowledge of the effects of climate change or any practical interactions with climate change, seeing the effects of sea star wasting syndrome on the sea stars was immediately eye-opening.”
Lastly, participating in a science project with relevance to a region may strengthen students’ civic identity and build meaningful connections with their local community. It may also help students cultivate a personal connection with the natural world. While exploring the tidepools, each field day brought novel discoveries, keen observations, and many more scientific questions. By the end of our project, my students had become fiercely protective of our beach field site, which hosted incredibly diverse rocky intertidal habitat home to invertebrates, from crabs to chitons. One of my students shared: “walking through the sea cave at the tidepools and seeing all the biodiversity, from sea stars to isopods, was my favorite part of fieldwork. I want people to treat the world around us with respect. Interacting with the public and teaching them about this small part of marine conservation was meaningful and important to me.” This newfound sense of stewardship for the natural world was accompanied by their desire to teach others, share what they had learned, and reinforce proper tidepool etiquette at the beach.
Fostering Teacher Professional Learning Goals
Immersing students in dynamic environmental field research may also benefit educators in terms of curriculum design, pedagogy, and improved content knowledge. Inspired by field experiences with my students, I decided to incorporate themes related to marine biodiversity, ocean conservation, and anthropogenic global climate change into my high school science classes. Fieldwork reinforced the value of fostering creative and critical thinking with a flexible mindset in my approach to science teaching. It emphasized an inquiry model of the scientific method, fostering science process skills from observation to questioning. For many students who participated in fieldwork, this experience led to other opportunities to share their research findings at local science fairs, conferences, and school events. All in all, I believe that participating in field-based research projects will remain a valued tradition for our science program at Northwest Academy.
Acknowledgments
A special thank you to Mike Weddle, from the Diack Ecology Education Program, & Jesse Jones, CoastWatch Program Manager.
Works Cited
• Behrendt M & Franklin T. A review of research on school field trips and their value in education. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education. 2014 9 (10).
• Grimshaw M, Curwen L, Morgan J, Shallcross N, Franklin S, Shallcross D. The benefits of outdoor learning on science teaching. Journal of Emergent Science 2019, 16 (40).
• Marley SA, Siani A, Sims S. Real-life research projects improve student engagement and provide reliable data for academics. Ecol Evol. 2022, 8 (12).
by editor | Mar 17, 2024 | At-risk Youth, Critical Thinking, Data Collection, Environmental Literacy, Equity and Inclusion, IslandWood, Learning Theory, Outdoor education and Outdoor School, Place-based Education, Questioning strategies, Schoolyard Classroom, Teaching Science
At-risk students are exposed to their local environment to gain an appreciation for their community, developing environmental awareness built on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors applied through actions.
Lindsay Casper and Brant G. Miller
University of Idaho
Moscow, Idaho
Photos by Jessie Farr
n the last day of class, I walked with my students along a local river trail shaded by cottonwood trees and surrounded by diverse plants and animals. The shaded areas provided spots for us to stop, where students assessed the condition of the local river system and the surrounding environment. The class had spent the previous week by the river’s mouth, and the students had grown a connection to the local environment and to each other. This was evident in their sense of ownership of the environment and their lasting relationships, which were expressed as the students discussed what they had learned during the class.
A month earlier, the class began differently. The students were focused on themselves and their own needs. They stood alone and unwilling to participate. Many expressed feelings of annoyance by being outside, forced to walk and unsure about what to expect in the class. My students were disengaged in their community, education, and the environment. Most had spent little time outside and lacked environmental knowledge and displayed an uncaring attitude toward their local community.
The class included a group of Youth-in-Custody (YIC) students, those who were in the custody of the State (the Division of Child and Family Services, DCFS; and the Division of Juvenile Justice, DJJS), as well as students who are “at-risk” for educational failure, meaning they have not succeeded in other school programs.
Most of my students came from challenging circumstances, with little support for formal educational opportunities, and live in urban areas below the poverty level. Students below the poverty level have fewer opportunities to access nature reserves safely (Larson et al., 2010), and children who live in neighborhoods where they do not feel safe are less likely to readily apply environmental knowledge and awareness to their community (Fisman, 2005).
Despite these setbacks, I wanted to expose my students to their local environment and help them gain an appreciation for their community. I wanted to increase their environmental awareness, built on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors applied through actions.
The summer education program approached the environmental curriculum via an action-oriented strategy, which takes learning to a level where the class and the outside world integrate with actual practices and address environmental problems (Mongar et al., 2023). The students began to show an understanding of how knowledge can affect their environment and exhibited purpose behind their action. The steps in an action-oriented approach involves students identifying public policy problems, then selecting a problem for study, followed by researching the problem, and developing an explanation, and then finally communicating their findings to others (Fisman, 2005).
Students explored science content, studied sustainable issues, read relevant scientific literature, developed and carried out research, and analyzed data. This multi-step program enabled students to stay active and engaged in environmental science practices and processes, increased their environmental awareness, encouraged them to implement these practices in a real-world environment, and allowed them to immerse in the learning experience. The program developed a connection with environmental restoration, crossed cultural borders and demographic diversity, created a sense of ownership and attachment, and developed a sense of belonging.
Week 1: Invasive Species in Mount Timpanogos Wildlife Management Area
The first week, students monitored a local problem of invasive plants by conducting a field project on vegetation sampling at a wildlife management area. Students researched the area and the issues with the invasive species of cheatgrass. They examined the characteristics that make cheatgrass invasive and used skills to identify local native plants and introduced species in the wilderness. Students determined the problem and used a transect line and percent canopy cover to determine the area’s overall percent cover of cheatgrass. Students used the results of the survey to evaluate the cheatgrass invasion in the area. They compiled their research and presented the issue to local community members to educate and inform them about the possible environmental problems in the area.
Students working in the national forest studying the role of trees in carbon cycling.
Week 2: Carbon Cycling in Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
During week two, the program evaluated forest carbon cycling within a wilderness area, part of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The students’ projects involved carbon cycling models and forest carbon sinks to build a comprehensive summary of all the structures and processes involved in trees to help reduce the impact of human activity on the climate. Students identified problems in their local forests by researching the role of forests in carbon sequestration and evaluating climate change. They then selected a problem for the class to study involving the effects of deforestation. Additional research included students discovering how trees sequester carbon and researching how much carbon trees and forests can hold over a given time. Students used their results and data collection to determine how effective trees are for carbon sequestration, compiled their research, and presented the issue to local community members to educate and inform them of the possible environmental problems in deforestation and the need for forested area protection.
Week 3: Jordan River Watershed Management
Week three focused on watershed management, during which students investigated a local river and evaluated its watershed and continued pollution. Students identified problems in their community by reading articles and examining data concerning a local river’s environmental issues, proposed solutions, as well as the progress that has been achieved. Students then made qualitative statements about the river’s current condition based on abiotic and biotic measurements. Students used the information gathered and discussed issues concerning the current quality of the river and discussed why water quality is essential. Students researched the issue by conducting river water quality experiments using flow rate measurements and collected macroinvertebrates. Based on their experimental results, students developed a portfolio with a problem explanation, alternative policies, and a public statement concerning the current Jordan River water quality. Students then presented their findings to community members to help inform and educate them about the river contamination and improvements.
Student collecting water samples.
Week 4: Provo River Delta Restoration Project
During the last week, students examined a river delta restoration project for its effectiveness in restoring a wetland and recovering an endangered fish species. Students investigated the role and importance of river systems and wetland areas, monitored the status of the wetlands, and evaluated the current project’s future effectiveness. Students identified problems in their community by reading articles and examining historical data concerning the lakes environmental issues and made qualitative statements about the lake’s current condition. Students used the information gathered and discussed matters concerning the delta project to protect the local endangered species of June Sucker (Chasmistes liorus). In addition, students toured the construction site and participated in a stewardship activity planting new trees and helping to disperse cottonwood seeds around the area. Based on their stewardship project, a site tour, and experimental results, students developed a portfolio with a problem explanation, alternative policies, and a public statement concerning the current delta restoration project. Students presented their findings to others with the intent to inform and educate them about the project.
Student Impact
This program placed students as critical participants in sustainability and gave them ownership of their education, and knowledge of local environmental issues to give students a deeper appreciation and increased environmental awareness. This curriculum could be adapted for various populations although it is especially essential for those with disadvantaged backgrounds and those underrepresented in science. Creating an opportunity for my students to access nature and build environmental knowledge is important for them to build awareness and an increased ownership of their community. After completing the course, students wrote a reflection on their experience and a summary of what they learned concerning environmental awareness and feelings regarding their connection to nature.
“At first, I hated being outside, but it grew on me, and I had a lot of fun learning about the different invasive species and how they negatively affect the land.”
“I really enjoyed being outside for school. I liked the shaded and natural environments. It was enjoyable and easier to understand because I was learning about everything I could feel and touch.”
“I liked seeing the things we were learning about. It was easier to focus outside.”
Student working on writing assignments during the last day of class.
“I have had a lot of issues with school my whole life. I have never felt like what I was learning was useful. I felt like I was repeating work from former years over and over again and never getting anything out of it. After this experience, I began thinking that maybe the problem wasn’t what we were learning but where we were learning it. It was enjoyable being outside and seeing how what we were learning applied to the world around us. I got to see what we were being taught in action. We did tests with the world and not in a classroom. For the first time, I was really interested in what was being taught, and I realized that the problem wasn’t me.”
The importance of connecting at-risk youth to the outdoors is evident in their reflections. Their reflections indicate an appreciation for being outdoors, a more remarkable ability to focus their attention, and an advantage of learning in the world instead of the classroom. Students’ perception of environmental issues impacts their ability to make educated decisions. The increase in students place identity resulted in a deeper connection to the environment. Their knowledge, attitudes, and actions had changed.
Conclusion
On the last day of class, walking along the river trail with my students, I listened to their conversations, questioned their learning, and gathered their insights. I recognized how the connections made in class developed over time by building relationships, collaboration, trust, and teamwork. My students developed empathy for each other and their environment. As a class, we visited four distinct settings in our local area. My students could grasp the larger perspective by recognizing the cumulative effect of those areas as a whole. They identified the invasive species of cheatgrass studied in week one had made its way downriver and recognized the importance of carbon cycling studied during week two in the cottonwood trees flanking the banks of the river in addition to the value in wetlands studies in week three shown in the progress made on the restoration project. The sequence of each week was purposely built on the following week with a cumulative effort at the river delta restoration project, put in place to help solve many of the environmental issues identified in the previous week’s lessons. This program focuses on increasing student connection and ownership of the environment and identifying how isolated environmental concerns significantly impact the whole ecosystem. Additionally, I wanted my students to notice how environmental restoration and protection alleviate some of these issues. These connections came naturally to the students after the time spent outdoors and investigating environmental issues. Exposing them to new areas and increasing their knowledge and skills affects their awareness.
The environmental science program provided environmental concepts, fostering a deeper appreciation for nature and the outdoors. It engaged all senses, made learning more interactive and memorable, and encouraged more profound connections with the natural world, building ownership of the local area. This program initiated an attachment of students to the local area. It engaged students in environmental issues through science by participating in experiential outdoor education. It kept students engaged with relevant current topics, formed a connection to the natural world, and involved them in direct, focused experiences to increase knowledge, skills, and values.
Lindsay Casper is a graduate student in Environmental Science at the University of Idaho, in Moscow Idaho and teaches Environmental Science to at-risk youth at Summit High School in Utah.
Brant G. Miller, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Science Education at the University of Idaho. His research interests include Adventure Learning, culturally responsive approaches to STEM education, science teacher education, and technology integration within educational contexts.
Tend, Gather and Grow (Tend) is a K-12 place-based curriculum dedicated to educating people about plants, local landscapes, and the rich cultural traditions that surround them. Tend focuses on native and naturalized plants of the Pacific Northwest region and includes Northwest Native knowledge, stories, and plant traditions. The curriculum toolkit consists of a teacher guide, six modules, videos, Coast Salish stories, plant identification cards, posters, games, recipes, and a garden guide. The 60+ lessons align with Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics (STEAM) education principles and Next Generation Science Standards. Here’s a glimpse at the main curriculum modules:
Our Tend, Gather and Grow development team (photo left) includes twelve people sharing a common passion for connecting people with plants, the land, and cultural traditions. Several of our team members have worked together in tribal health and natural resources programs and half are Indigenous. Over the years we have heard consistent requests for educational resources designed for youth. The Tend curriculum is our effort to meet that need. Collectively, we have knowledge and skills in teaching, environmental education, Northwest Native culture and storytelling, ethnobotany, herbal medicine, traditional technologies, art, media, social justice, and youth advocacy. Our team met monthly for several years to study plants in the seasons and co-design lessons and activities. Co-developing the curriculum has been an opportunity for our team to be in community with each other, share our love of plants, deepen our knowledge, and support each other along the way. We also worked with Native Elders, cultural specialists, and other regional experts in developing lessons—especially regarding storytelling and plant technologies. The curriculum includes quotes and instructions from these individuals.
There are inherent tensions in non-native people using this curriculum, including concerns of cultural appropriation and misuse of plants and cultural landscapes. The curriculum exists, as we all do, within a painful and persistent history of colonialism, white supremacy, and systematic oppression. Historic and ongoing colonial settler practices negatively impact Native People and their traditional lands. Plant communities have changed drastically and many important cultural foods and ecosystems are diminished and difficult to access. Cultural appropriation and a misuse of knowledge among settler communities has undermined tribal sovereignty in several ways, including researchers claiming copyright authority over Indigenous knowledge and the overharvest of plant communities. For instance, as the health benefits of mountain huckleberry are more broadly learned, huckleberry stands cultivated by Native Peoples for thousands of years have been damaged and overharvested by non-native foragers and commercial harvesters.
end is adaptable to multiple learning environments, cultures, languages, participant ages, and abilities. We encourage educators and students to explore and add specificity around local language, culture, stories, and places as appropriate. We believe that cultural diversity is part of our richness as people. Educators can create opportunities for immigrant students to share their knowledge and traditions as well, and plant uses from around the world are included in the curriculum to encourage this.
The Tend team has facilitated year-long tribal community educator cohorts where 16–20 educators from Washington tribes gather monthly for full-day workshops. Our first two internships focused on serving Western Washington tribes and this year we are honored to work with tribes from the Plateau region.