Workshop shows teachers how to incorporate outdoor education into curriculum

Trying to combat the paper-and-pencil mentality some associate with No Child Left Behind, a countermovement has formed.

"Kids haven't been getting outside and are becoming more and more disconnected from nature. We're trying to show teachers how they can use conservation in the classroom and still do well on the test," said Carol Mahan, an education consultant with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

So on Friday about 15 teachers molded Play-Doh, bent pipe cleaners and glued feathers or tissue paper to their model insects-- demonstrating adaptations the critters have made.

"This one doesn't have big wings, so it probably doesn't fly. He's camouflaged, with small eyes. He must not have a lot of vision," said one teacher, correctly guessing that her neighbor's insect had adapted to live underground.

The teachers became students for the day, practicing lessons they will take back to their classes. All of the activities showed how state standards could be incorporated into hands-on science lessons intended to lead children to discover the outdoors.

"Outdoor or nature lessons are usually hands-on, which engages students. A student that is engaged is going to retain more and will then do well on those tests," Mahan said.

Joyce Bock is a computer and music teacher at Oak Ridge Elementary School. She plans on sharing workshop information and supplies with colleagues. Based on an idea from an earlier seminar she attended, some classes already plan on coating pine cones with peanut butter and using binoculars to observe animals the food attracts. Earlier this year, students watched a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, documenting its changes.

Oak Ridge is one of the few local districts that has an outdoor classroom, complete with a butterfly garden, a sun dial, a compost unit and a short walking trail. Jackson Junior High also has an outdoor classroom in the courtyard of the school.

Teachers from as far as Columbia, Mo., and St. Louis attended the Cape Girardeau workshop, which concluded Saturday. No teacher from Cape Girardeau or Jackson was present.

However, Franklin Elementary School in Cape Girardeau has been conducting outdoor lessons of its own this year. Using a district foundation grant, art teacher Beth Thomas has been taking third graders on an "archaeology dig." In the yard of the school, students discovered a plate, a golf tee, a bead and part of a brick. They also took a field trip to the Crisp Museum at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus. Rain has prevented another dig for the past three weeks.

Nationally, some are pushing for the passage of a new act called the "No Child Left Inside Act," which would provide funding for environmental instruction. "Funds would support outdoor learning activities both at school and in non-formal environmental education centers, teacher training, and the creation of state environmental literacy plans," according to the No Child Left Inside Coalition's webpage.

Bridget Jackson, a conservation education consultant with the Missouri Department of Conservation, sees the need. She said children with disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder typically do better in nontraditional settings such as outdoor classrooms.

"By teachers incorporating nature into their classrooms, students get a sense of nature and a sense of space that generations used to have that we're losing," she said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

388-3627

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