By Pam Murray
Along the Cowichan River, surrounded by the smell of cottonwood resin, an elementary school student discovers that dragonfly larvae look like aliens. In a quiet wetland, a middle school teacher marvels as a guest expert shows his class how to fold cat-tails into duck shaped toys and send them downstream with wishes. In [...]
Place-based Education's archives
Lessons of Discovery: Teaching and learning along with your students
Posted by author in May 19th 2010
Innovative tools allow a teacher to extend class activities on stream ecology and forest history
by Charles Graham
I have made an interesting observation about teaching recently. Some of the best lessons are not necessarily the carefully planned and orchestrated units, but rather the ones that grew and took shape as the project progressed. I have found [...]
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Learning from nature
Posted by author in May 6th 2010
By Mark Costigan
reprinted from The Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s sad that it takes a threat of crude oil reaching American beachfront property for people to wake up.
It seems the only way people unite around fighting environmental degradation is when the effects become visible and personal. If only there were [...]
Community Building through Education and Restoration
Posted by author in May 4th 2010
By Greg Fizzell, Tiffany Cooper, and Aly Bean
The education program at the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute (PCEI) gives local school groups and community members an opportunity to learn about the natural world while participating in community service. PCEI programs are unique in nature because of their ability to connect state-of-the-art watershed restoration projects with community education. [...]
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K-12 Activities: Monitoring Biological Diversity
Posted by editor in April 2nd 2010
by Roxine Hameister
Developing a biodiversity monitoring project at your school can help students develop many skills in an integrated manner. Here are some simple ideas that you can use to get your students started.
Children and teachers are being pulled in many directions. Children want to “learn by doing/’ but because of societal fears for children’s [...]
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Can technology connect us to place?
Posted by author in April 2nd 2010
Homewaters Project, an educational nonprofit in Seattle, successfully uses Geographic Information System (GIS) technology as one of its methods of connecting students to their natural and social communities.
By Todd Burley, Homewaters Project
As place-based educators, we often shudder at the notion that technology can connect people to the world around them. The very idea of sitting [...]
Q and A: Michael Becker Talks About Hood River Middle School Outdoor Classroom
Posted by author in February 25th 2010
CLEARING: What have been the most difficult issues in getting this project started?
Michael Becker: One of the Permaculture Design Method principles is to start small, and I highly advocate for starting with small projects that you can have initial success with. Trying to get space is often a hurdle, and if you can show [...]
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Engaging Students in their Community: Hood River Middle School Outdoor Classroom Project
Posted by author in February 25th 2010
Hood River Middle School Outdoor Classroom Project
The Outdoor Classroom Project is a work in progress where students are the researchers, engineers, designers, architects, builders, and users of a multidisciplinary, multi-sensory learning experience.
What you see when you approach the schoolgrounds at Hood River Middle School is nothing short of remarkable. From solar panels on [...]
Connecting students and salmon in their watershed
Posted by author in February 24th 2010
How rearing salmon in an elementary classroom can foster powerful teaching and learning in the content areas, environmental awareness, and good stewardship of the Earth
By Daniel S. King, PhD
My transition in January of last year to a new position teaching science, math, and technology to 5th graders at STARBASE ATLANTIS on Navy Base [...]
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Learning Through Place
Posted by author in February 1st 2010
Using the local community as a starting point for teaching interdisciplinary concepts and connecting students to the real world.
By Kim Stokely
Sixteen years ago, after attending a workshop on science teaching, I was driving home over a mountain pass when I stopped and looked out over the mountain valley. I thought, “Look at this science classroom! [...]
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Voices of the PNW
- Megan McGinty, North Cascades Institute
Michael Becker,
Hood River Middle School
Gregory Smith,
Lewis and Clark College
David Greenwood, Washington State University
Tony Deis,
Trackers NW
Lindsay Huettman,
Wilderness Awareness School
