Connection to Place
One of my goals as an educator is to connect youth to place and community through experiential learning. This connection then serves as the foundation for development of fundamental knowledg... See More
One of my goals as an educator is to connect youth to place and community through experiential learning. This connection then serves as the foundation for development of fundamental knowledge and core skills, such as collaborative problem solving, systems thinking, design process, research, entrepreneurship skills, and more. Today’s students are facing highly complex problems when they graduate from school and the solutions will require a transdisciplinary approach—economists, scientists, sociologists, engineers, educators, politicians all working together to solve climate change, peak oil, water shortages, food insecurity, biodiversity collapse and beyond.
Nature journals can be an effective tool for developing a connection to natural world around them, as well as an excellent way to integrate science, art, writing and history. By keeping a copy of student nature journals each year teachers can provide students with a rich record of the local history while introducing them to the study of phenology. There are multiple applications of nature journals and this article does a nice job of discussing the why and how of them.
Connection to Place
One of my goals as an educator is to connect youth to place and community through experiential learning. This connection then serves as the foundation for development of fundamental knowledg... See More
One of my goals as an educator is to connect youth to place and community through experiential learning. This connection then serves as the foundation for development of fundamental knowledge and core skills, such as collaborative problem solving, systems thinking, design process, research, entrepreneurship skills, and more. Today’s students are facing highly complex problems when they graduate from school and the solutions will require a transdisciplinary approach—economists, scientists, sociologists, engineers, educators, politicians all working together to solve climate change, peak oil, water shortages, food insecurity, biodiversity collapse and beyond.
Nature journals can be an effective tool for developing a connection to natural world around them, as well as an excellent way to integrate science, art, writing and history. By keeping a copy of student nature journals each year teachers can provide students with a rich record of the local history while introducing them to the study of phenology. There are multiple applications of nature journals and this article does a nice job of discussing the why and how of them.