The possibilities are literally endless when it comes to nature study. All ages are fascinated by their natural world, and all subject matters can be implemented into such a curriculum. Don't feel confined to just earth science or environmental awareness. Don't limit your nature study only to special occasions like Earth Day. Take advantage of all the seasons, wherever you live. Use your imagination to blend the natural world with traditional subjects like literature, mathematics, history, art, health, and music, as well as skills in manual dexterity, cooperation, observation and analysis, ethics, social responsibility, and the like. And once you've begun a unit of study, don't be afraid to color outside the lines. In other words, your predefined lesson plans needn't be etched in stone. Improvise! Let the kids lead some of the lessons! Let the lessons lead themselves! You'll discover additional learning opportunities you never anticipated.
Gardening, for example, is two-fold (at least!) in its teaching potential. As its most basic purpose, it allows children to work with nature, to take part in the act of creation and to nurture plants until they are rewarded with harvests of colorful beauty or delicious nourishment. Too many of today's children are so removed from their food supply, they don't realize the importance of the natural life cycle. But if you let a child's learning experience with gardening end there, you miss out an incredible opportunity to teach then even more. Why? Because you're guaranteed their undivided attention if you take the time to explain how soil, water, and sunlight work together; how seeds germinate; how roots, stems, and leaves feed and stabilize plants; how photosynthesis occurs; how different plants receive pollination; how birds, insects, and animals help and/or hinder the plants' survival . . . the list goes on and on. That's why I'm not exaggerating when I say the possibilities are literally endless.
Throughout this site you'll find numerous suggestions and inspiration for activities and lesson plans. Additionally, I thought I'd make note of a few other specific topics that you might want to pursue. Have fun!
 | RACHEL
CARSON (1907-1964)---Considered one of the most influential 20th
century Americans, she was a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service who alerted the world to the dangers of pollution and pesticides in
her book Silent Spring. Critics portrayed her as a hysterical woman,
but over the years her science was validated. For more information, contact: |
| THEODORE ROOSEVELT
(1858-1919)---The 26th President of the United States of America was also an
expert naturalist and active conservationist. According to the National
Geographic, approximately 230,000,000 acres in the U.S. are now under
protection due to Theodore Roosevelt's actions, including 150 national
forests, 51 federal bird reservations, 4 national game preserves, 5 national
parks, 18 national monuments, 24 reclamation projects, and 7 conservation
conferences and commissions. For more information, contact: |
| THORNTON WALDO BURGESS
(1874-1965)---An internationally recognized author/naturalist who penned
more than 170 children's books and 15,000 stories for newspaper columns.
Burgess used imaginative fiction to teach children about wildlife and
conservation. His most popular works involved Peter Rabbit and his animal
friends, in which the author playfully combined his own observations in the
natural world with a fictitious cast of talking animals. For more
information, contact: |