Beyond the Walls

1. Beyond the Walls Extending Learning Beyond the Walls of a Classroom

3. We can teach from our experience, but we can’t teach experience. - Sasha Azevedo • Denver Museum of Natural History • Park Hill Elementary, Denver, CO • 1999 – Moved to Bend • Lava Ridge Elementary, Bend, OR • 2008 - Ponderosa Elementary, Bend, OR

4. Why take kids outside? • Nature as Therapy • Obesity Prevention • Nurturing the Eighth Intelligence • Future Stewards • Improved Performance on Standardized Tests • The Hook

5. “Time in nature is not leisure time, it’s an essential investment in our children’s health.” – Richard Louv Depression Rate of prescribed anti-depressants prescribed to children doubled in a 5 yr. period 1998-2002 From 1997-2003 50% decline in proportion of children ages 9-12 who spent time outside hiking, walking, fishing, gardening ADHD/ADD Many studies suggest spending time in nature is a useful therapy for ADHD/ADD 13 years of classroom anecdotal evidence confirms Stress/Anxiety Reduction 2/26 students had diagnosed anxiety disorders Over 100 studies show spending time in nature reduces stress

6. Why take kids outside? • Nature as Therapy • Obesity Prevention • Nurturing the Eighth Intelligence • Future Stewards • Improved Performance on Standardized Tests • The Hook

7. The Skinny on Fat • Childhood Obesity has TRIPLED in last 30 yrs. Ages 6-11 1980 – 6.5% 2008 – 19.6% Ages 12-19 1980 – 5.0 2008 – 18.1 • In U.S. – Children ages 6-11 spend ~ 30 hours/week watching TV or on a computer • Counterintuitive – also the greatest increase in participation in organized sports • Study in Norway/Sweden – preschoolers who played in uneven natural VS flat playgrounds tested higher for motor fitness

8. Why take kids outside? • Nature as Therapy • Obesity Prevention • Nurturing the Eighth Intelligence • Future Stewards • Improved Performance on Standardized Tests • The Hook

9. I know if you’re very good in music, I can predict with zero accuracy whether you’re going to be good or bad in other things. - Howard Gardner • 1983 – 7 intelligences included linguistic, logical, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal • 2003 – Added Naturalist Intelligence “Ability to recognize plants, animals, and other parts of the natural environment, like clouds and rocks.” • Leslie Owen Williams – University of Wisconsin List of 10 Descriptors

10. Why take kids outside? • Nature as Therapy • Obesity Prevention • Nurturing the Eighth Intelligence • Future Stewards • Improved Performance on Standardized Tests • The Hook

11. Why take kids outside? • Nature as Therapy • Obesity Prevention • Nurturing the Eighth Intelligence • Future Stewards • Improved Performance on Standardized Tests • The Hook

12. Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” - Albert Einstein • State Education and Environmental Roundtable 150 schools in 16 states with environmental based Gains in science, language arts, social studies and math • Hotchkiss Elementary School Dallas, TX Passing rates of 4th graders in environment based program vs traditional class = 13% higher • Sunnyside Environmental K-8 Portland, OR Consistently scores higher than state average in reading, math, writing, science • My class outperforms district and state averages

13. Why take kids outside? • Nature as Therapy • Obesity Prevention • Nurturing the Eighth Intelligence • Future Stewards • Improved Performance on Standardized Tests • The Hook

14. What’s Preventing YOU?

15. What’s Preventing You? • Fear – safety, legal, behavior • The 3 Rs From the Black Lagoon • Cost • Investment of Time • Proximity to Nature • Unsupportive Administrators/District Policy

16. By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.- Benjamin Franklin Visit the Site First Parent Volunteers /Background checks Permission Slips/Medical Release Forms First Aid Kit/Epi-Pen “Worst” behaved are often the “Best” behaved

17. What’s Preventing You? • Fear • The 3 Rs From the Black Lagoon • Cost • Investment of Time • Proximity to Nature • Unsupportive Administrators/District Policy

18. In school you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life you’re given a test and then taught a lesson. - Tom Bodett • What’s tested is taught! • Since No Child Left Behind: 46% Increase in Language Arts 37% Increase in Math • The Solution? INTEGRATE INTEGRATE INTEGRATE

19. What’s Preventing You? • Fear • The 3 Rs From the Black Lagoon • Cost • Investment of Time • Proximity to Nature – Can you identify • Unsupportive Administrators/District Policy

20. A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don’t need it.- Bob Hope • Go Local - Walking Trips • Ask for Free/Reduced Entrance Fees • Field Trip Grants • Don’t Go it Alone

21. What’s Preventing You? • Fear – stranger danger, kids • The 3 Rs From the Black Lagoon • Cost • Investment of Time • Proximity to Nature • Unsupportive Administrators/District Policy

22. “Come together, right now, over me.” - John Lennon/Paul McCartney

23. What’s Preventing You? • Fear – stranger danger, kids • The 3 Rs From the Black Lagoon • Cost • Investment of Time • Proximity to Nature • Unsupportive Administrators/District Policy

24. To get out of the box, you have to think outside of the box!

25. What’s Preventing You? • Fear – stranger danger, kids • The 3 Rs From the Black Lagoon • Cost • Investment of Time • Proximity to Nature – Can you identify • Unsupportive Administrators/District Policy

26. “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” - Mark Twain • Arm Yourself With Statistics • Bring Them Along • Enlist Parent Support • Focus on What you Can Do, Not What You Can’t