Connecting Learners to Outdoor Learning Spaces
"In the same way that caring deeply about our homes and our families leads us to want to take care of them, caring deeply about the Earth leads us to want to take good care of it. As we all know, children are our future leaders, and laying a solid foundation for their future commitment to Earth stewardship is vital" (Selly, 2012, p.5). Exemplars are provided below of how students can investigate outdoor learning spaces, plan for the betterment of them and collaborate as a team to reach their goals and at the same time, foster a love for the outdoors and environment.
Outdoor environments are an important and often overlooked extension of student learning. Extending the learning environment to include outdoor spaces that encourage play, activity and exploration has been shown to release stress (Chawla, Keena, Pevec & Stanley, 2014), foster cooperation and problem solving and decrease peer-to-peer conflict (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor & Schellinger, 2011).
Exposure to nature has positive effects on brain functioning as well. Logan and Selhub (2012) found evidence that exposure to nature, nature scenes and images improved memory recall, restored mental fatigue, reduced hyperactivity and increased concentration.
In order to inspire learners to care for their environment and community, they first need to fall in love with nature through meaningful connections and experiences. They develop environmental stewardship through appreciation. (Charles, Louv, Bodner & Guns, 2008).
Investigate Current Outdoor Learning Spaces
As an initial exposure to our outdoor learning space, learners will be tasked with sketching the outdoor space and encouraged to figure out the percentage of trees and shrubs they find evidence of. Next, they will take pictures of their current outdoor space, like the ones below, to use for further investigation and find the areas that are lacking:
Use Technology to Search for Ideas for Bettering The Space
After figuring out the percentage of what their school yard has for canopy cover, learners will begin to investigate how they would like to improve their outdoor space by searching for images online. Some examples of images of outdoor learning areas are below.
Learners will be encouraged to take the time to celebrate and collect photos of the areas they do have for outdoor learning:
Learners will be encouraged to solve how they could improve their outdoor learning space without much of a budget, as the images they will find online will likely be a bit out of reach of the budget! As a class they can decide how to improve the areas that they do have, such as using empty plant boxes in the schoolyard to create a "rock garden" and then plant shrubs in it to increase the green space. "Children's interest in and commitment to environmental issues will ultimately be more solid when they have an abundance of authentic, joyful experiences in the environment." (Selly, 2012, p.5)
Page contributor: Cristy Leonard-Glaspey
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