Wide-Open Spaces: Curricular Options for Using a Technology-Enabled Outdoor Classroom
Session Information
Adding an outdoor classroom to an existing school provides students and educators with ample opportunity and reason to spend class time outside. However, developing appropriate and technologically enabled lesson plans for these excursions is incredibly important to the development of the space and to providing engaging learning opportunities for students.
Slides
From Amazon: “Research shows that environment-centered education improves student achievement. Whatever your school’ s setting— urban, suburban, or rural— you can create stimulating outdoor classrooms for your students, with a little help from Outdoor Science. Author and state science specialist Steve Rich shows teachers how to create outdoor learning spaces that can be used from year to year— with little extra effort or resources.
These practical suggestions for creating, maintaining, and using outdoor classrooms work for both elementary and middle school students. The simple and inexpensive lessons satisfy national standards and curriculum objectives in the areas of life, Earth, and environmental sciences— without a field trip permission slip in sight! Math, social studies, and language arts activities that can be easily integrated into the curriculum are also included. Additionally, Rich offers ideas for increasing community involvement and funding to help teachers develop their outdoor classrooms.
Get your students thinking outside the traditional classroom walls. Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide can help you make it happen.”
How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature by Scott D. Samson
From Amazon: “ By the beloved and wildly popular host of the PBS Kids show Dinosaur Train, here is the book every parent needs: a rousing call to connect our kids to the natural world, filled with tips and advice.
The average North American child now spends about seven hours a day staring at screens and mere minutes engaged in unstructured play outdoors. Yet recent research indicates that experiences in nature are essential for healthy growth.
Regular exposure to nature can help relieve stress, depression, and attention deficits. It can reduce bullying, combat obesity, and boost academic scores. Most critical of all, abundant time in natural settings seems to yield long-term benefits in kids’ cognitive, emotional, and social development.
How to Raise a Wild Child is a timely and engaging antidote, offering teachers, parents, and other caregivers the necessary tools to engender a meaningful, lasting connection between children and the natural world.
Distilling the latest research in multiple disciplines, Sampson reveals how adults can help kids fall in love with nature—enlisting technology as an ally, taking advantage of urban nature, and instilling a sense of place along the way.
“In a time when the connection between humans and the rest of nature is most vulnerable, Scott offers parents and teachers a book of encouragement and knowledge, and to children, the priceless gift of wonder.”—Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle”
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
From Amazon: ““I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are,” reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.
As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.
Vitamin N by Richard Louv
From Amazon: “From the author of the New York Times bestseller that defined nature-deficit disorder and launched the international children-and-nature movement, Vitamin N (for “nature”) is a complete prescription for connecting with the power and joy of the natural world right now, with
500 activities for children and adults
Dozens of inspiring and thought-provoking essays
Scores of informational websites
Down-to-earth advice
In his landmark work Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv was the first to bring widespread attention to the alienation of children from the natural world, coining the term nature-deficit disorder and outlining the benefits of a strong nature connection--from boosting mental acuity and creativity to reducing obesity and depression, from promoting health and wellness to simply having fun. That book “rivaled Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring” (the Cincinnati Enquirer), was “an absolute must-read for parents” (the Boston Globe), and “an inch-thick caution against raising the fully automated child” (the New York Times). His follow-up book, The Nature Principle, addressed the needs of adults and outlined a “new nature movement and its potential to improve the lives of all people no matter where they live” (McClatchy Newspapers).Vitamin N is a one-of-a-kind, comprehensive, and practical guidebook for the whole family and the wider community, including tips not only for parents eager to share nature with their kids but also for those seeking nature-smart schools, medical professionals, and even careers. It is a dose of pure inspiration, reminding us that looking up at the stars or taking a walk in the woods is as exhilarating as it is essential, at any age.”
Websites
Native Land Digital - Free map of indigenous lands to share with students. From their website: “We strive to map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see history and the present day. We hope to strengthen the spiritual bonds that people have with the land, its people, and its meaning.”
Utah Division of Indian Affairs - Great resource for Native American culture and resources in Utah and the Intermountain-West.
Natural Curiosity - Sharing lessons and ideas for environmental education with indigenous perspectives.
Green Schoolyards America - Resource for educators who would like to transform their schoolyards into natural spaces.
Children & Nature Network - A resource hub for educators and parents who want to encourage their students to learn about natural spaces.
Utah Society for Environmental Education - Utah’s resource hub for outdoor education with students. You also might find resources through your local NAAEE Affiliate.
iNaturalist - A joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society to help record observations and share findings with other naturalists.
Bald Eagles Live - A Google Earth tour of locations with live Bald Eagles nest cameras that students can watch and learn from.
Online Voice Recorder - No login required audio recorder that works on a variety of devices.
Contact / Bios
Dr. David Joy Resources / Contact
I have been a public school teacher in various roles and locations in order to better understand the way education works at different levels and in different places. This has helped me to become a much better teacher and become more adept at handling a variety of situations and adapting to new environments.
I have also completed a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Utah State University. The focus of my research was on social justice in the field of outdoor education. It is my goal to make outdoor educational experiences better, more accessible, and more equitable for everyone. I am always open to collaborating with others on research related to these topics and hoping to move into an academic position soon, while still teaching in a junior high classroom.
Email - dajoy@wsd.net
Twitter - @Dr_DJoy
Matthew Winters Resources / Contact
Matthew Winters is a Utah Education Network trainer specializing in Google Workspaces for Edu. He is also GEGUtah co-leader and Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) President for 2022-2023, our Utah ISTE affiliate. He is also one of ISTE’s 20 to Watch award winners for 2023. He is a former English Language Arts teacher at the secondary and college level. He has presented at ISTE (2019, 2021), UCET (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), ACIS (2011, 2012, 2014), and many local and national conferences.
Emails - matt@teacherwinters.net, mwinters@pd.uen.org
Twitter - @TeacherWinters
Website - TeacherWinters.net
