|
"Earth and sky, wood
and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are
excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can
ever learn from books."
- Sir John Lubbock
Nature Activities and Education for
Children and Teens
On March 14, 2010 the Eastern Native Tree
Society and Western Native Tree Society switched from
discussion lists on Google Groups to a new discussion
list in a Bulletin Board format at:
http://www.ents-bbs.org/index.php
Posts made since the inception of the BBS on march 14,
2010 will be sorted and archived on the BBS. Click on
the link to go to the equivalent section on the new BBS.
This website will continue to serve as a front end for
the ENTS and WNTS groups. It will continue to serve as a
repository of older posts, and will serve as the host
site for special projects and features that are not well
suited for a BBS format. Please visit the BBS for the
latest information and trip reports.
Post by Edward Frank, July 17, 2006 to the ENTSTrees List:
It is clear to me that a critical aspect of the
future of our forests and of the environment in general is
dependant on our children's appreciation and understanding of
the natural world. "A Nature Conservancy-funded study
to be published in August found that per capita visits to U.S.
national parks have been declining since 1987, after having
risen for the previous 50 years. The drop occurs as the use of
electronic media is on the rise – something that researchers
call “evidence of a fundamental shift away from people’s
appreciation of nature.”
http://www.nature.org/success/art18259.html
I believe, and so do other members of ENTS that various activities must be designed to introduce children to the wonders and
mystery of the natural world. This section of the website
is devoted to that goal. There
are several categories to be considered. Some may be appropriate
for classroom activities. Some may be appropriate for family
activates. Others might be something that could be done as an
afternoon activity - such as one of the presentations Dale does
at Cook Forest Park. Obvious long term activities might include
leaf collections. In this time of digital cameras children could
collect photos of trees. There are crafty type activities (I
am not personally really keen on doing things like making pine
cone wreaths, but they are a valid activity type). There
are activities such as making leaf rubbings or bark rubbings from
trees. Leaf prints can be made and transferred to tee-shirts. I
have found a few links below. It would be nice to synthesize the
best of these examples and rewrite them to meet out purposes.
The more detailed ones can be referenced by a hyperlink to the
appropriate website. Do you have other links you
want to add or could you volunteer to write-up an activity.
One
thing very impressive at Craters of the Moon National Park was a
series of outside displays at the visitors center.
The displays
consisted of a series of drawing by children who had
participated in park activities on themes ranging from the
volcanoes to how animals survived in the basalt expanses of the
park... Neat stuff.
-
Make of game of leaf identification The cover for Games Magazine
(April 2010) was a puzzle called "Case Study". Someone had mixed
up the leaves in the display case and your task was to get the
labels back where they belong. The cover isn't available online,
unfortunately. These were the leaves in the case: oak, redgum,
mulberry, pin oak, holly, catalpa, magnolia, sweet gum,...
more » Feb 3, 2010.
-
TALK L8R! 2 MUCH TXT-ING, GOING OUTSIDE http://networkedblogs.com/p25137936
-
Children Need Outdoor Time - Nature Aids Healthy Mental and
Physical Development
http://kids-outdoor-activities.suite101.com/article.cfm/children_need_outdoor_time
-
Ecosense for Living January 3,
2010
-
Educating the Next Generation Jan 9, 2010
-
Allowing and encouraging the current generation
to appreciate forests November 30, 2009
-
Family Activity: The Disneyification of
Nature The Disneyification of
Nature Andrew Joslin recently commented on the
Disneyification of nature: Yep nature metaphors are a double
edged sword, you want to be able to communicate to a wide
audience. At the same time the power of the metaphor can be
diluted or co-opted/redirected by commercial/marketing...
more » November 19, 2009
-
http://www.beoutthere.org/ Be Out There™ - the National
Wildlife Federation's initiative to inspire families across
America to open the door and get outside! A daily dose of
the outdoors improves children’s physical, mental and
emotional well-being. Join the Be Out There movement to get
children outside, connecting to nature.
- Get Outside and Explore Nature More!
http://www.change.org/nwf/actions/view/get_outside_and_explore_nature_more
- For The New Year, Pledge A Different Kind of TIME OUT
http://networkedblogs.com/p22607135
- Nature Rocks
http://www.naturerocks.org/ The Nature Conservancy
http://www.nature.org/activities/features/ writes: We're
pleased to announce the launch of Nature Rocks, a national
program to inspire and empower families to play and explore
in nature. Working with Nature Rocks as an anchor partner,
we hope to encourage parents to find fun and affordable
activities in nature that will increase family bonding and
nurture happier, healthier and smarter children.
- The Germans are doing
something right
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/39e54dd94a507641?hl=en
April 02, 2009
- No Child Left Inside Act
Oct 2008
- Discussion thread
- Nature Deficit
Disorder Jan 2007
- "Planting the Seed: Perspectives from
a Project Learning Tree Pioneer " by Rudy Schafer
http://www.foresthistory.org/Publications/FHT/FHTSpringFall2007/FHT_2007_PLT.pdf
- Project Learning Tree
http://www.plt.org/
General Activities and Comments
Keeping a Nature Journal
http://www.sierraclub.org/education/nature_journal.asp
Butterfly Flower Gardening
http://www.kremp.com/Butterfly-Flower-Gardening-articles.htm
Teaching Through Nature
http://runningriver.org/philosophy/guiding-principles/teaching-through-nature/
Nature Activities for Children
http://www.naturepark.com/act.htm
Nature
Conservancy Study Finds Today's Kids Are Choosing TV Over Trees
http://www.nature.org/success/art18259.html
Cooperative Learning Activity - Students will work as a group to
demonstrate their understanding of all four seasons, differences
between them, and how these differences effect people, animals,
or plants.
http://www.lehigh.edu/~infolios/jeanne/Cooperative_Learning.html
Project Learning Tree
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/pltwild/plt.htm
Children's Outdoor Play & Learning Environments:
Returning to Nature
http://www.whitehutchinson.com/children/articles/outdoor.shtml
Bringing the northern forest to your classroom http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/13558
In recent years the Forest Service has reemphasized the need for
increased environmental literacy among the Nation's citizens and
has recognized the benefits of addressing that need among
school-age children. This publication is a product of an
Adirondack Curriculum Project workshop sponsored by the USDA
Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, and Paul Smith's
College. The workshop was held at Great Camp Sagamore in
Raquette Lake, NY, in June 2005. Great Camp Sagamore is operated
by the Sagamore Institute, which is dedicated to the stewardship
of the camp and to its use for educational and interpretive
purposes. For 2 days, 22 teachers met with resource
professionals with expertise in either the Northern Forest or in
teaching methods and techniques, or both, and developed the
lesson plans in this publication.
Trees and leaves
Trees
http://sherik.tripod.com/activities/trees.htm
Leaves
http://sherik.tripod.com/activities/leaves.htm
National Arbor Day Foundation
Teaching Older Children and Youth About Trees
http://www.arborday.org/kids/teachingyouth.cfm
http://www.arborday.org/kids/
Trees Craft, Learn Shapes
National Arbor Day, Earth Day and Word Environment Day
Preschool Lesson Plan Printable Activities
http://www.first-school.ws/activities/shapes/easyshapestrees.htm
Trees Are Terrific...Travels with Pierre, is designed to help
young children (5-8 years of age) gain an appreciation of trees,
observe trees in their every day lives and develop an interest
in learning more about trees. It is intended for adults to work
with children to explore the wonders of trees.
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees1/guide/index.html
Just for Kids from University of Illinois Extension
Dr. Arbor Talks Trees ? Great Corn Adventure ? Great Plant
Escape ? Let's Talk about Insects ? Out on a Limb ? Secret Life
of Trees?
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/kids/
Little Park Project
http://www.project-approach.com/examples/park/Park_project.htm
Project Learning Tree - Learning about forests
http://www.leaf-international.org/Leaf/elibrary.html
Forest Gallery Kit. Part 2, Learning activity ideas - Learning
to to know
Learning in order to know, to make sense of the world around, to
become informed about contemporary issues, to make connections
between past, present and future, to understand complex systems
which act npredictably at times.
http://melbourne.museum.vic.gov.au/pdf/learning_3.pdf
Trees and Insects - A Rotten Place to Live Lesson Plan
Unit Abstract. Academic Areas: Science, Social Studies, Math and
Computers. ... occupations where learning about insects and
trees will come in ... activity: This activity was developed
for...
http://www.coorisd.k12.mi.us/cte/school2wk/lessonplans/2001/boikk_rotten.html
Tree Climbing
"I've done training to facilitate tree climbing activities for
child (and teens and adults).
Getting kids on ropes and climbing into trees is a direct way to
help them become more
aware of trees. Kids love it! The youngest I've brought into a
tree is 5 years old. For
teens it is most gratifying to see them (sometimes with their
classic listless pose) come
out of the tree with eyes sparkling. All thoughts of television
and cellphones go away
during the climb, the connection with trees and nature is
inevitable." Andrew Joslin
Jamaica Plain, Ma
"Genevieve Summers is the premier teacher and practitioner of
this type of climbing activity in
the U.S., there is excellent info on her web site:
http://www.dancingwithtrees.com/
There's good info here as well in the Tree Climbers
International web site (Peter Jenkins)
which addresses questions about children and tree climbing:
http://www.treeclimbing.com/tci/tci-02.html
There is an organization in England that has come up with some
novel ways to get people
interacting with trees, more equipment intensive but cool
activities nonetheless:
http://www.monkey-do.net/
Andrew Joslin
Jamaica Plain, Ma
Leaf Collecting
Making a Tree Leaf Collection:
The thrill of correctly identifying trees can be enhanced by properly collecting leaves to make a collection and then mounting them in an exhibit. Some properly prepared collections have survived for over a century in botanical sections of museums.
http://forestry.about.com/od/treeidentification/a/leaf_collection.htm
Leaf Collection
Leaf collecting is a good way to learn the trees native to your area. Collecting leaves will also help you to learn leaf margins, shapes, and venations and how to use different taxonomic keys to identify trees.
http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/leaf.htm
Fasmily Fun Crafts - Saving your child's Leaf collection
http://theparentsite.com/family/leafcollection.asp
Frugal Crafts and Gifts - Preserving Autumn Leaves
Many children have completed a leaf collection for a school project, it can be a lot of fun for their siblings, parents and grandparents too. And it's practically free! So, here's a great idea for Fall - just think how pretty an Autumn array of red, orange and yellow leaves arranged in a leaf collection album would be, simply beautiful!
http://www.betterbudgeting.com/frugalcrafts/perservingleaves.htm
Cleared Leaf Collection
Cleared leaves are modern leaves that have been bleached and stained to make their venation patterns more visible. Leaf shape, venation, and features of the margin, base and apex constitute important taxonomic and physiognomic characters.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/collections/plants/clearedleaf.html
Leaf Rubbings
How to Make a Leaf Rubbing
http://gonewengland.about.com/c/ht/00/10/How_Leaf_Rubbing0970752908.htm
Leaf Rubbings
http://cela.albany.edu/literacycorner/activities/LeafRubbings.htm
Tissue Leaf Rubbings
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pages/444.shtml
Bark and Leaf Rubbings
http://www.21stcenturyadventures.com/AdventureKids/naturecraft.html
eHow: How to do a leaf rubbing
http://www.ehow.com/how_18468_leaf-rubbing.html
How to Wax Leaves for Arrangements
http://www.ehow.com/how_8068_wax-leaves-arrangements.html
Leaf Prints
Family Crafts - Leaf Craft Project
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/leafcrafts/
Figerpaint Leaf Prints Ages 3-4 Classroom Activity
http://www.betterbudgeting.com/frugalcrafts/perservingleaves.htm
Family Crafts - Leaf Prints
Try your hand at printmaking by making pictures and other items using leaves
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/printmaking/a/blprintleaf.htm
Fall Leaf Print
This is a great project for any age. The colors come from the chlorophyll in the leaves.
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/fallleaf.html
Tempra Leaf Prints - Lesson A, Level 18 Printmaking
http://svam.org/Education/Education_Content/Lesson_161718_pdf/18A.pdf
The Naturalist's Apprentice: Maing Leaf Prints
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports/fall-2000/leaf.html
Leaf Print Tablecloth
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel1362&catid=cat362&navLevel=4
Collage Techniques: Creating Background Paper with Leaf Prints
http://b-muse.com/Techniques-Leaf-prints.HTM
Crayola® Arts & Crafts - Harvest of Leaf Prints
Crayola.com craft project: "Harvest of Leaf Prints" - Capture details in natural objects with a
monoprint.
http://www.crayola.com/ideas/idea_display.cfm?id=138
Flower Presses
How to press your own flowers - simple flower pressing instructions.
Simple instructions for pressing flowers. Learn how to produce your own professional looking arrangements.
http://www.infowest.com/life/pressflowers.htm
How to make a flower press
learn how to make flower presses with these simple instructions.
http://ok.essortment.com/howtomakeaf_raqg.htm
How To Press Flowers, Leaves and Herbs
Instructions and techniques for pressing flowers and foliage, including information on preparation and types of presses.
http://www.preservedgardens.com/how-to-press.htm
Preserved Gardens Pressed Flowers
Pressed flowers and foliage information, flower presses and pressing techniques, projects, forums and searchable reference database
http://www.preservedgardens.com/
Dried & Pressed Flowers - GardenWeb
A forum for the discussion of topics relating to drying and pressing flowers. ... Best sealant for pressed flower greeting cards
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/dried/
All About Pressed Flower Art.
About Myself and My Pressed Flower Art. My name is Kate Chu and I am the artist and teacher behind this web site.
http://www.pressed-flowers.info/English/About.html
Collecting Plants and Plant Presses
Collecting Plants: A Pressing Project
Making Herbaria, Field Guides, Gifts
http://www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/projects/june03/pg1.html
Preparation of Plant Specimens for Deposit as Herbarium Vouchers
A voucher herbarium specimen is a pressed plant sample deposited for future reference. It supports research work and may be examined to verify the identity of the specific plant used....
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herbarium/voucher.htm
How to Collect, Press and Mount Plants
A properly dried, pressed and mounted plant is attractive, easily displayed and ... the specimens are properly pressed and mounted with..
http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt8359.html
Build and Use a Tree Leaf and Plant Press
Make a tree leaf press for preparing exhibits in a foliage collection.
http://forestry.about.com/od/treeidentification/ht/build_leaf_pres.htm
Pressed-Plant Cards
Press with an iron set at a medium temperature until the plant cuttings turn slightly paler, about 2 minutes. 3. Attach dried cuttings to card stock with ..
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel191898&catid=cat268&navLevel=3
Student Activity 3a: Making a Plant Press
When scientists preserve a specimen of a plant (or part of a plant) they ... Plants that have been collected need to be pressed as soon s possible.
http://biology.arizona.edu/sciconn/lessons2/Barber/Activity3a.htm
Activity 4: Information to Record When Collecting Plants
Teaching People Plant Collecting. Activity #4. Information to Record when Collecting Plants. OBJECTIVE: Students will learn the information that needs to be recorded when plants are collected
http://biology.arizona.edu/sciconn/lessons2/Barber/Activity4.htm
~Plant Collecting Guidelines~
Botanical voucher specimens should be collected for any scientific research or survey studies involving plants. Plant material should be prepared in the following way for submission.
http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmnh/botany/collecting.htm
how to make a mounted plant collection
How to make a mounted plant collection in 10 easy steps. By Anita Merritt. Plant collecting is an interesting hobby, and a fun way to learn about plants.
http://calstaging.bemidjistate.edu/students/amerritt/howto.html
Kids and Photography
Children's Use of New Technology for Picture-Taking by Ruth
Garner, Yong Zhao and Mark Gillingham
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/983/904
YouthLearn Learning: Teaching Digital Photography
Showing Kids How to See With the Camera's Eye Photography is not just about pointing and pressing a button; it's a decision-making process. One of the best reasons for working photography into your activities and projects is that it helps kids better understand the media images they're bombarded with every day.
http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/activities/multimedia/photo1.asp
A Native Son Gives Back To His Community
LeRoy DeJolie volunteers his time teaching children photography on the Navajo reservation.
http://www.photoworkshop.com/double_exposure/publish/printer_DeJolieComm.shtml
Photography for Kids
Photographer Wendy Ewald calls photography "the most democratic visual art" - accessible to everyone with the means to buy a ten-dollar camera and some film. Compared to other visual arts such, as painting and sculpture, photography depends least on manual dexterity, making it ideal for kids of all ages.
http://www.biglearning.com/treasure-photography-for-kids.htm
Photography info - Teaching Black And White Photography To Kids
Everything you need to do with Teaching Black And White Photography To Kids
http://photography-info.com/Teaching-Black-And-White-Photography-To-Kids.htm
Dennis Curtin's journal of natural events in and around Marblehead,
Massachusetts http://www.shortcourses.com/naturelog/
Photography for Kids- Luminous Landscape Forum
http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t11462.html
1 Let?s Make a Better Picture: Teaching Photography as Science and ...
teaching photography to young children reveals the multiple relationships I ... My original idea for teaching photography to elementary school children was ..
http://www.lesley.edu/journals/jppp/8/Sensiper.pdf
Kid's Photo Fun - Digital Camera Projects, Basics, Tips & How Tos
Teaching Digital Photography: Showing Kids How to See With the Camera's Eye - In-depth online teaching course from YouthLearn on how to introduce ...
http://www.chiff.com/art/photo/kids.htm
Reading, Writing, & Digital Photography: By APTE Professional Education Development Group
Literacy and technology are at the forefront of educational agendas worldwide. As reading teachers are looking for innovative ways to get students excited about literacy, developers are making it easier to integrate new forms of technology into reading and writing curriculums. Digital photography is one technology that can easily be used to motivate, extend, and transform literacy instruction.
http://www.apte.com/dp/dped/reading.cfm
Children's Use of New Technology for Picture-Taking by Ruth
Garner, Yong Zhao and Mark Gillingham
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_9/garner/index.html
IDEO’s Ten Tips For Creating a 21st–Century Classroom Experience
http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20090218/ideos-ten-tips-for-creating-a-21st-century-classroom-experience
|
