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Nature education, or ''environmental education'', refers to curricula that seek to inform students about the natural world and its processes. “Nature Education” is a broad category under which several subtopics and foci fall. Nature Education may simply be represented in the study of an isolated topic in nature, or occupy a wide scope of concepts and themes. Often, Nature Education includes goals of making connections between small, concrete phenomena and larger more abstract ideas. A major ambition in many Nature Education programs is to heighten awareness of the interrelations and cause-and-effect exchanges between the natural environment and humans. In 1978, the Tbilisi declaration, which was adopted during the first world-wide conference on environmental education, stated three general goals for environmental education. The aims outlined by the declaration were adopted by the North American Association for Environmental Education {Link without Title} ; a significant portion of nature education that has taken place over the past two and a half decades has sought to satisfy these goals: 1.To foster clear awareness of, and concern about, economic, social, political and ecological interdependence in urban and rural areas; 2.To provide every person with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, values, attitudes, commitment and skills needed to protect and improve the environment; 3.To create new patterns of behavior of individuals, groups and society as a whole towards the environment. Clearly, these broad guidelines leave significant room for interpretation of the definition of Nature Education and goals for learning. It is often at the discretion of educators and curriculum designers to decide the depth and direction of nature education. Nature educators may veer down a path of more Earth-Science and Biology-based education, and guide the study of local plant species, animal communities, as well as local habitat types such as lakes, streams, prairies, wetlands, and forests. Other environmental curricula may seek to view nature through anthropological, historical, sociological, or economic lenses. An understanding of nature in relation to the aforementioned concepts may be reached by exploring human impact on the environment, ethical issues concerning use of land and natural resources, the cultural significance of nature, and the relationship between the environment and global economy. HOW IS NATURE EDUCATION USED IN THE CLASSROOM? One very specific guideline for Nature Education, regardless of the ultimate aim, is the ''regular incorporation of tangible or observable components of nature'', rather than learning experiences that are wholly reliant on worksheets or textbooks. Because the natural environment and its components provide highly sensory experiences—sight, sound, smell, touch—nature is an ideal vehicle for firsthand learning experiences. Classroom activities should include as many opportunities for ''direct observation'' as possible. Current issues surrounding the environment may be used to facilitate critical thinking in the classroom. Exploring human uses (and exploitations) of nature allows students to think critically about ethical situations. Environmental ethics issues are unique because students are frequently able to witness real-life examples of environmental issues in their own community. Topics that present opportunities for higher-order thinking, such as inquiry, evaluation, critical thinking, and creative problem solving might include:
Further suggestions for comprehensive, effective Nature Education are:
IS NATURE EDUCATION AN EFFECTIVE TOOL? Certainly, the quality, value, and depth of any educational program are often reliant on the relevance of the curriculum material as well as the effectiveness of the educator. If carried out in keeping with the guidelines mentioned above, Nature Education has the potential to fulfill a significant number of educational goals. Listed below are recommendations often made in several national curriculum reports as suggestions for the enrichment of student learning. Many of these common goals can be accomplished—in whole or part—by a thorough and comprehensive Nature Education program. Commonly Recommended Curriculum Changes: Less student passivity: sitting, listening, receiving, and absorbing information Less whole class, teacher directed instruction (e.g. lecturing) Less “seatwork”: fill-in-the-blank, dittos, workbooks Less rote memorization of facts and details Less presentational, one-way transmission of information from teacher to student More experiential, inductive, hands-on learning More active learning in the classroom, with all the attendant noise and movement of students doing, talking, and collaborating More emphasis on higher-order thinking; learning a field’s key concepts and principles More attention to affective needs and the varying cognitive styles of individual students More responsibility transferred to students: goal setting, sharing, exhibiting, and evaluating More cooperative, collaborative activity; developing the classroom as an interdependent community More deep study of a smaller number of topics, so that students internalize a field’s way of inquiry CAN NATURE EDUCATION BE INTEGRATED INTO OTHER SUBJECTS? Nature Education provides many avenues for exploration of cross-disciplinary subjects. For example, a 7th grade class visit to a local stream could incorporate:
ARE THERE OTHER BENEFITS OF STUDENT CONTACT WITH NATURE? Educators, researchers, and therapists are talking about what anyone who has engaged with nature (whether a national forest or a backyard) has known for years: contact with nature promotes psychological health. Some “official talk” about nature centers around evidence that contact with the natural world provides a multitude of pyschologically, intellectually, and developmentally healthy situations. Such benefits include:
Because of its calming properties, nature has been explored as a way to minimize the symptoms of Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). {Link without Title} Some psychology professionals suggest that ADHD isn’t new, or “invented”; rather, the symptoms of the disorder are only now becoming prevalent in children. Until the 1950’s children’s activities often centered around nature and the outdoors. Only in the last few decades has society made a rapid change from rural to urban and suburban settings. Previously, a child’s energy, focus, and physicality was directed to activities in abundant natural surroundings—farm chores, hay baling, hunting, climbing trees, swimming, outdoor games, etc. But as the physical landscape has changed from rural to urban, the social landscape has shifted from highly physical outdoor play and exploration to indoor, dual-sensory activities. As a result, activities that may have minimized ADHD symptoms are being replaced by practices (over-stimulating television, video-games, and lack of significant physical activity) that may actually exacerbate the disorder's effects. In fact, studies conducted on nature's effects on children affected by ADHD report:
WHAT ARE SOME CRITICISMS OF NATURE EDUCATION? Because Nature Education encompasses a broad spectrum of approaches, foci, and goals for learning, criticism and reccomendations for inprovement may vary. Listed below, however, are a few of the most common suggestions:
WHAT DO PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH NATURE EDUCATION? Below is a compilation of personal stories and testimonials about firsthand experiences with Nature Education: Personal Testimony: Eve Drueke Before leaving my school district to pursue a master's degree as a full-time student, I taught in a 6th grade Special Education classroom. Among several students in my class who had special learning needs was an 11 year-old boy, Daniel, who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. {Link without Title} Daniel had a great deal of difficulty concentrating on a single task, and quickly grew too restless or unfocused to perform many classroom activities. His behavior included difficulty starting work on in-class worksheets and assignments, completing quizzes or tests, listening while other children read aloud, and writing coherent paragraphs. Daniel often grew quickly frustrated or extremely distracted; his responses to frustration were often exaggerated and included crying and erratic physical movement. Daniel would regularly have such difficulty focusing that he would often twist and turn in his chair until he was sitting upside-down or sideways. Seemingly small changes in classroom routine or schedule (such as a surprise assembly, change in seating arrangements, or a substitute teacher during my absences) were extremely disruptive to Daniel and would affect his mood, behavior, focus, and productivity throughout the school day. He had very limited internal mechanisms for modifying his own behavior and required more attention than what I was able to devote to one student in a classroom full of children with special needs. After speaking with Daniel's former teachers in hopes of finding effective behavior-modification strategies, I found I had the same experience they had: strategies to help Daniel control his behavior were moderately effective for only short periods of time. However, one afternoon halfway through the school year, Daniel made a suggestion to ''me'' about a new behavior-modification strategy. Our Science class had been germinating pinto beans while studying plant growth. I had a bag of several hundred pinto beans sitting on my desk; a few days before, my students had wrapped a few beans in moistened paper towels and placed them inside plastic bags. The beans were just beginning to germinate, and the class--especially Daniel--was fascinated by the process. That afternoon, we were about to begin Social Studies, a subject in which Daniel often had an extremely difficult time concentrating. Daniel asked if he could earn a pinto bean to grow for himself if he tried his best to focus through the Social Studies lesson. I quickly agreed; it was obvious throughout the Social Studies lesson that Daniel was trying his hardest to remain focused and calm. At the end of the lesson, I rewarded Daniel with the requested pinto bean. The bean-for-focus exhange quickly became a habit, and a reward Daniel considered worthwhile. Daniel grew more fascinated with the beans as they sprouted into leafy plants. He enjoyed spending time examining the leaves, measuring the daily growth, and was deeply engaged in the routine of watering the plants and rotating them in the window. Daniel and I both noticed that after he spent time watching and tending to his ever-expanding bean garden, he was calmer and happier and more able to focus on other subjects. Soon, spending time with his plants became an automatic mechanism for Daniel when he felt stressed, upset, or unfocused. He would go through the routine of watering, rotating, touching, measuring, and examining until he felt relaxed and calm again. This wonderful discovery helped Daniel gain more emotionally positive experiences in the classroom, a self-directed method of behavior modification, and allowed me to divide my own focus more equally among my students. Upon researching Asperger's Syndrome further, I discovered a variety of "hallmark" behaviors of children with Asperger's. I believe that Daniel's regular contact with an element of nature alleviated some of the effects of the syndrome that impeded learning and emotional coping strategies, as well as catered to the interests and cognitive style of many children with Asperger's. Below is a list of common behavioral styles of children with Asperger's Syndrome, which I believe are, as exemplified by Daniel's case, complimented by contact with nature:
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
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