Table 1.
Nature-Based Education Intervention's In-Class Curriculum, Learning Objectives, and Field Trip Schedule for 2018–2019 School Year
| |
Semester 1 |
Semester 2 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | In-class lesson | Learning objectives | In-class lesson | Learning objectives |
| 1 | Introductions and Planting | Introducing the Nature-Based Education intervention. Students will then meet in their mentoring group and play fun ice-breaker activities. Each mentoring group will plant vegetable seeds that they will grow and harvest throughout the semester. | Natural Disasters | Students will learn about various natural disasters and will discuss the ways natural disasters have affected their community and the world. |
| 2 | DO NOT TRASH IT: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle! | Students will learn about the difference between recycling and trash. They will explore the different ways people reuse “trash” creatively through an art project and create recycling programs at their schools if the schools do not currently have. Older students will learn about the science behind reducing our waste and efforts being made toward zero-waste products. | Pollution | Students will investigate the different forms of pollution and dive deeper into studying water pollution. |
| 3 | LNT | Students will learn about the camping LNT principals. | Weather vs. Climate | Students will understand the difference between weather and climate. Then they will begin to discuss climate change and apply prior knowledge from the past week's lesson on pollution. |
| 4 | Green City | Students will explore the different ways that their communities and the world can be more “green” or environmentally friendly. | Renewable Energy vs. Nonrenewable Energy | Students will compare and contrast renewable energy and nonrenewable energy. |
| 5 | Scientists | Students will learn about different important Scientists, focusing on scientists of color. Students will choose an environmental issue to think scientifically about and invent a product or service to try and solve the issue. | Energy Audit | Students will explore the ways that we all use energy and will investigate their energy choices and see how much energy they use per day doing an energy audit. |
| 6 | Art in Nature | Students will learn about sustainability in art and explore the works of artists such as Andy Goldsworthy. | Your Environmental Impact | Students will apply their knowledge on energy and their audits to the world and explore the ways their energy choices affect the planet. |
| 7 | Ecology | Students will learn ecological relationships through various activities such as making soil and making a large food web as a class. | Eat Well! | Students will learn about nutrition through the MyPlate nutrition tool and will understand how their food breaks down into fats, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and water. They will also understand how to read nutrition labels. |
| 8 | Evolution | Students will take what they have learned about ecological relationships and build on this with activities surrounding adaptations, natural selection, and evolution. | Healthy Earth, Active People | Students will learn why time outdoor playing is important and will explore new activities that they can do outside. |
| 9 | Habitats Around the World | Students will learn about the different habitats around the world and cover a basic overview of the main habitats and biomes. | Healthy Communities | Students will learn ways that communities come together to practice healthy habits. Students will also apply knowledge about LNT and pollution to talk about what a healthy community might look like. |
| 10 | What is Your Habitat? | Students will select one specific habitat to learn about more in depth. The activities will range depending on the habitat that the group is delving into. Students will present what they learned to the class. | Camping basics | Students will learn the basics of camping and explore different camping and outdoor skills. |
| 11 | Food Production | Students will apply knowledge of food webs to modern-day farming. They will follow the journey of a hamburger and go back to the source of each component that makes up a hamburger. | Map reading and Orienteering | Students will try their hand at Map reading and Orienteering. |
| 12 | Water Cycle | Students will interactively explore the water cycle. Younger students will cover the basics, while older students will delve into topics such as water scarcity. | Project (Week 1) | Students begin working on month-long projects. In groups, they will pick an environmental issue or a topic of interest, and work in their teams throughout the remaining weeks to create a product or service that will solve or bring awareness to this issue. |
| 13 | Weathering and Erosion | Students will understand how the water cycle and different natural forces change the make-up of land. | Project (Week 2) | Work in teams on projects + team-building activities. |
| 14 | Rock Cycle | Students will explore the rock cycle. Younger students will cover the basics, while older students will explore Fossils and Oxidation weathering. | Project (Week 3) | Work in teams on projects + team-building activities. |
| 15 | Plate Tectonics | Students will understand plate tectonics and learn how scientists are able to see how Earth has changed over time. | Project Presentations and Closing Activities | Final day of GGO programming—project presentations with a day of fun outdoor activities and a close-out reflection of fun memories that were had throughout the semester. |
| Month | Field trip | Augmented in-class lessons | Field trip | Augmented in-class lessons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urban Hike in Forest Park (St. Louis, MO) | (1) LNT, (2) Green City, (3) Habitats Around the World (4) Healthy Earth, Active People | Rock Climbing (St. Louis, MO) | (1) Rock Cycle, (2) Healthy Earth, Active People |
| 2 | Overnight Camping Trip (Giant City State Park, IL) | (1) LNT, (2) Art in Nature, (3) Ecology, (4) Habitats Around the World, (5) Healthy Earth, Active People | Science Museum (St. Louis, MO) | (1) Scientists (2) Ecology (3) Rock Cycle, (4) Plate Tectonics, (5) Weather vs. Climate |
| 3 | Volunteering at Urban Farm (St. Louis, MO) | (1) Ecology (2) Food Production (3) Eat Well! | Canoe Trip Down the Mississippi River | (1) LNT, (2) Water Cycle, (3) Weathering and Erosion, (4) Pollution, and (5) Healthy Earth, Active People |
| 4 | Cave Trip (Sullivan, MO) | (1) LNT, (2) Habitats Around the World, (3) Weathering and Erosion, (4) Rock Cycle | Overnight Camping Trip (Giant City State Park, IL) | (1) LNT, (2) Art in Nature, (3) Ecology, (4) Habitats Around the World, (5) Healthy Earth, Active People |
GGO, Gateway to the Great Outdoors; LNT, Leave No Trace.