Back to the Environment...

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I had initially wanted to bring my experience back to my classroom in the form of environmental education. However, because most of the trip so far has focused on cultural identity, I had scrapped that idea for awhile. Today we went up to University of Calgary's Kananaskis Field Station. The Field Station focuses on environmental research and education. At the end of the day, I found myself back on track with an environmental ed project.

We spoke with several of the teachers at the Field Station on work they've done with their students. They've started recycling programs, taught outdoor ed., and have really taught kids to appreciate nature. I found myself wishing that some of my students could see what I was experiencing. So many of our kids rarely see trees, let alone a forest full of them, accompanied by mountains, rivers, and wildlife. Yet experiencing nature and the science associated with it would be a huge inspiration for some of our "hands-on" or reluctant learners.

A few quick notes on how I'm going to bring my project back to the classroom:

Focus:
Community, cooperation, friendship, and activism established through environmental education.

Activities:
Learning about our own environment (the city and the beach)
Heal the Bay speaker (How our water is connected)
Heal the Bay Beach Clean-up
Learning about our community (what can we do to be environmentalists?)
Creation of the ecology club
Service learning project chosen by students (schoolwide recycling?)

Hopefully my project will continue to take shape as the trip progresses.

The most exciting thing about going to the Kananaskis Field Station was the hike following the presentation. Jenn, Jennifer, Julieanne, Renato, Jacques, Roger, and I went for a hike up the mountain. First of all, you all are going to need to see pictures, because no one is ever going to believe that I actually made this hike. Jenn and Jennifer were running about mountain trails like it was nothing. Roger and I hung behind, but eventually caught up to the group. I thought when we saw the sign "End of Trail", we might turn around. But that didnt stopp Jenn or Jennifer. We continued scaling up a rocky mountain. Once we got to the top, it was completely worth it. We were above the level of the snow (it was hot but their were still snow patches), surrounded by a creek, mountains, and wild flowers. The highlight: having a snow ball fight while wearing shorts. 😊

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