1 / 20

Nature as Teacher: Creating Learning Experiences in Nature

Nature as Teacher: Creating Learning Experiences in Nature. BackYard Nature Center. Four Core Areas of BYNC. Nature as Teacher ( NaT ). Using natural resources to supplement classroom learning.

larged
Download Presentation

Nature as Teacher: Creating Learning Experiences in Nature

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Nature as Teacher: Creating Learning Experiences in Nature

  2. BackYard Nature Center

  3. Four Core Areas of BYNC

  4. Nature as Teacher (NaT) Using natural resources to supplement classroom learning The collaboration of teachers and naturalists designing academic learning experiences where students learn outdoors in a nature environment. The learning can include any subject matter taught in grades K-12. BYNC provides the naturalists and facilitates most of the logistics.

  5. Collaboration to Transform Learning

  6. Customized Programs to Meet Goals and Learning Standards • Individual Subjects • Integrated Learning • K-12

  7. Subject Applications

  8. How it Works

  9. Impact • 60 programs • 1000+ students • 9 different schools

  10. Why it Matters • Creates more enthusiastic students • Builds critical thinking skills • Improves focus and cognitive abilities • Stimulates creativity • Kindles a sense of exploration and discovery • Forges a connection with the natural world

  11. Benefits for you – the Teacher

  12. Sample NaT Lessons

  13. Organization: After-school Outdoor Adventures class sponsored in conjunction with the Winnetka Park District Goal: Teach concepts of Structure and Function (1-LS1-1) in mammals Program: Small groups of students participated in a woodland hike looking for evidence of wildlife tracks, scat, nesting sites, and food remains. Afterwards, they examined various mammal skulls and teeth. Discussion focused on classification into herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Results: Approximately 200 children, age five to ten, have participated in the Outdoors Adventures Programs over the last three years. Many have returned multiple times to experience a variety of activities correlated to different seasons of the year. First Grade: Life Science

  14. School: Third grade students from four different Winnetka schools who attended Pioneer Day at Crow Island Woods Goal: Teach Change, Continuity and Context concepts found in Native American and Early American Settlers Communities in the Chicagoland area during the mid-1800s. Program: Third grade classes from multiple Winnetka schools met at Crow Island Woods to explore the Red Oak Savanna, a model of typical early 1800 habitat. They looked for resources settlers of the Skokie Marsh could have used for their daily survival. Results: BackYard Nature Center joined forces with the Winnetka Park District, the Winnetka Library, and the Winnetka Historical Society in order to provide over 300 students the opportunity to apply their classroom studies to real life during Pioneer Days. Students were led through activities designed to mimic the life of settler’s during the 1800’s: maple tree tapping to produce syrup, and a hike to search for items that might be used by early pioneers. Third Grade: Social Science

  15. Fourth Grade: English Language Arts School: St. Phillip Elementary School Goal: Using nature as inspiration, write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences (W.4.3) Program: Students were taken on a hike around West Ridge Nature Preserve in order to locate and identify some local plants and animals. They were given the opportunity to use binoculars, field guides, animal call devices, and fishing rods and reels. Result: Thirty students returned to their classrooms after the hike where their teachers asked them to write and draw about their experiences in nature. Student work was then displayed at the preserve.

  16. School: Glencoe Junior High School Goal: Understand the use of random sampling to draw inferences about a population (CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.A.1) Program: Students collected and analyzed water samples, counting and identifying macroinvertebrates present. After identifying and counting taxa found in their samples, they applied weight factors to the different groups of invertebrates to calculate group scores and calculated a Pollution Tolerance Index. Results: Approximately 150 students from Glencoe JHS have been returning to Skokie Lagoons each year since 2012 in order to maintain a data bank regarding its water quality. Their results have shown a constant average PTI of 2.9, indicating the water quality of Lagoon #1is in the Fair range. Seventh Grade: Math

  17. Eighth Grade: Interdisciplinary Learning School: Wilmette Junior High School Goal: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems (LS2.A) Program: Wilmette students spend three days each fall at Skokie Lagoons. While their classroom teachers lead them through water quality testing, BYNC introduces various other lessons: invasive species impact on the lagoons, history of the lagoons, sea level factors, reversal of the Chicago River, plant identification, animal tracking, resident mammals, bird watching, and macroinvertebrate identification. Results: Between 450 and 500 students return to Skokie Lagoons each year where they are schooled in a variety of subject matter. The trip is so popular that we will be expanding into the seventh grade class this year.

  18. School: New Trier Township High School Goal: Analyze complex real-world problems by specifying criteria and constraints for successful solutions. (HS-ETS1-1) Program: Following a discussion about the concept of nature play, architecture students designed and presented a proposal for the Winnetka Park District to install a Nature Play Area for young children. Results: Students practiced their presentations and received feedback from BackYard Nature Center members before taking their park designs to the Park District for approval. High School Sophomores: Engineering

  19. Proposed Nature Play Area Zone 1—sand becomes raised stage Zone 2—weeds become balance beams/cookies Zone 3—weeds become tree stump/tunnel Zone 4—weed becomes sand/rock camp kitchen Zone 5—train becomes digging area Zone 6—weeds become construction area Music Zone—grass becomes musical instruments Shed: Add gutter/down spout/rain barrel Tree play Camp Kitchen Sand/Rock Play Music Zone Construction Digging Stage N

  20. Thank You! “A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available, has enormous implications for human health and child development.” - Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods www.BackYardNatureCenter.org

More Related