by Brian “Fox” Ellis
I learned early on that storytelling is one of the most important tools for teaching science. If you think about it . . . what is science? Science is an attempt to understand the universe.
A well-told science story does three important jobs: It brings facts to life; it makes abstract concepts concrete; [...]
Science'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 [...]
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 [...]
Winging Northward—A Shorebird’s Journey
Posted by author in March 11th 2010
by Sandy Frost and Ben Swecker
For many people, a trip to Alaska is the dream of a lifetime. Yet cost and logistics keep many people away. In 2002, a group of dedicated educators joined forces to make such a visit— if only a ‘virtual’ visit—a reality for thousands of children across the Western Hemisphere. Blending [...]
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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 [...]
Preparing Teachers for Environmental Education
Posted by author in January 11th 2010
by Louise Conn Fleming
Abstract: Our teacher education team at our university teaches the junior year methods and assessment to preservice middle grades teachers. Starting Spring 2003 we began using “The Projects” as part of methods instruction. In this paper I will review what educators say about how middle grades students should be taught, why environmental [...]
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Restoration Planting: What’s the Rush?
Posted by author in June 22nd 2009
Couple some basic curriculum organizers with focused questioning strategies to make your restoration projects coherent and effective environmental education experiences.
by Jim Martin
Environmental education should be a journey, one which captures our interest and imagination and leaves us with the tools to become effective stewards of the place where we live and work. Does it? Perhaps. [...]
Lasting Change: Teacher Driven Place-based Education on the Colorado Plateau
Posted by author in June 22nd 2009
by Deanna Erickson
Learning from the Land
Anyone who has traveled through the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States will remember it distinctly as a place like no other. Towns are scarce, rivers are legendary and rocks seem to bend and twist toward a sky filled with harsh clear light. This is the Colorado Plateau, [...]
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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, Lakehead University,
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Tony Deis,
Trackers NW
Lindsay Huettman,
Wilderness Awareness School
