Wachstumshormone

Oct

7

Filed Under Activities, Carol Malnor, Children's Literature, Environmental Literacy, Language arts, Outdoor education, Programs, Questioning strategies, Schoolyard Classroom | Leave a Comment

naturetrail-w-title

One of my favorite nature quotations comes from the Japanese conservationist Tanaka Shozu who said, “The question of rivers is not a question of rivers, but of the human heart.”

I wanted to touch the hearts of my middle school students with the beauty of nature as well as inspire them to take care of the local environment. I found the perfect spot for a nature experience less than an hour away from our school campus in the Sierra Nevada. Read more

Mar

11

Teaching Stewardship Through Native Legend

Filed Under Justice and Equity, Language arts, Non-formal, Perspectives, Resources, Social studies | Leave a Comment

Abstract: This article provides the reader with a general background of Alaska Native education and resource conservation, focusing on southeast Alaska cultures. European contact severed these education models by creating government schools. Since then Alaska Natives have worked to balance Native culture with western education. A synopsis of several legends which speak to natural resource conservation is presented with the conservation ethic discussed. The use of these types of legends in the classroom is encouraged as a means of bringing Native values and lessons into the classroom as one means of making education relevant to Native students. The lesson from this discussion can be applied to other indigenous groups.

by Dolly Garza

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Dolores “Dolly” Garza is a full-time Professor for the University of Alaska Marine Advisory Program. She has worked in Kotzebue and Sitka and now works in Ketchikan as a Marine Advisory agent, interfacing European science with Alaska’s marine resource users in the areas of subsistence management, marine mammal management and marine safety. This article reprinted from proceedings of the 2006 North American Association for Environmental Education annual conference in Anchorage, Alaska.

Dec

17

Grades K-2: Sustainability

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“The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives” -  Indian Proverb

Science – How do Plants Help Soil?
Take two large baking pans (about 12 x 6 in.).  Place bare soil in one pan and line the other with grass sod.  Place the pans at a 20 – 25 degree slant in front of the class.  Have a hand-held hair dryer and a watering can or spray bottle ready.  First take the hair dryer and blow air from the hair dryer on the dry soil and then on the soil with grass.  Discuss the reasons for what is happening.  Using the same pans, pour/spray  water on the soil and grass.  Have students look for differences in the two pans.  Ask what would happen if it rained hard all day on the two pans.  again, discuss the reasons for what is happening.  Do other types of plants help soil? Is it important to have plants growing on soil.

Have the class walk around the school grounds looking for evidence of erosion and plant soil relationships.  What happens outside in areas where there is dirt with no plants growing on it?  Where does the dirt go when it is carried away by wind and water?  LIFE

Mathematics (& Science) – Sun Heat and Drink
You need several, clean, empty pop cans, 5-6 kitchen thermometers, some aluminum foil and a few different colored acrylic paints.  Paint the cans a variety of colors (black, white, red, green . . .).  Leave one unpainted and cover another with aluminum foil.  Fill the cans with equal amounts of cold water and set in full sun, either in a window, or in a sheltered place outside.  Take the temperature of water and record on a chart as a class, or individually.  Read more