I am exploring the need of time in nature in young children, ant the effects of lack of time in nature for my Capstone Project. While researching this subject, I found several national organizations with the same goal of ensuring that children are provided with time to explore the natural world.
National Environmental Education Foundation
http://www.neefusa.org/health/children_nature.htm
The NEEF has specific goals for creating environmental education programs for all children:
Environmental education in our schools: Core environmental knowledge for America's children while improving their overall academic success. Program includes: Classroom Earth and EE Week.
Environmental education for the adult public: Baseline environmental knowledge for America's adults to make more informed decisions. Program includes: Earth Gauge (Weather) and National Public Lands Day.
Environmental education for health professionals: A stronger public health safety net through environmentally educated healthcare providers. Program: Health & Environment initiative.
Environmental education for business managers: Training and information to help business managers align corporate environmental values and day-to-day operations through employee education. Program: Business & Environment initiative.
Their website describes the many great Environmental Education programs they offer. The most interesting of these, for me, is the prescription for playing outdoors program, in which they are asking pediatricians to prescribe daily time in nature over medication for many childhood ailments.
The website also offers many activities, ideas and publications regarding creating environmental education programs both inside of and outside of schools.
National Environmental Education Week
http://eeweek.org/
The National Environmental Education Week Foundation is a group dedicated to raising the awareness of the importance of environmental education. They organize a week each year in April where they ask educators and schools to pledge to include environmental education activities into their curriculum. They also offer a great deal of information on the importance of time in nature for development, as well as ideas off lesson plans, activities, and making connections with families and local environmental agencies.
National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/index.htm
The United States National Park Service also offers wonderful resources for teachers and students. They provide curriculum aides, loan learning materials, and offer distance learning opportunities via the Internet for students all over the world. For instance, if you live hundreds of miles from the grand canyon, you can still provide grand canyon experiences to students via the long distance learning programs they offer. Additionally, they provide lesson plans for discovering nature in your own neighborhood, regardless of where you live. It is truly a great resource.
I think the information in these resources will really help me to organize my capstone project and to add environmental education experiences into my own classrooms.
Great post Kristina!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of outdoor classroom curriculum. It allows the learners to have hands-on experiences with nature. I played outside until dark when I was a child. Unfortunately, because of neighbor safety and parents working, many children do not have that opportunity. And if they do, it is often without the open air of greenery. I really appreciate this post!