Marilyn FensterElementary Teacher

Gail HanssElementary Teacher

Robin Long7-12 Biology Teacher

Kids Afield Team

With support from Dr. S

mith,

Lower School Division Head

Kids AfieldKids Afield

Robin Longearthwalkertoo@gmail.com

Kids AfieldKids Afield Na ture & Te chno lo g yNa ture & Te chno lo g y•What•Why origins origins researchresearch

• How inside outside

•Learning children's teachers’ sharing

Resources

& Extensions

Which applies most to your current work situation?

a) Teacher: students, ages 4 - 9

b) Teacher: students, ages 10 - 13

c) Teacher: students, ages 14 – 18

d) Administrator, Program Director, etc.

Familiarity with the tool

a) Familiar - use

b) Familiar - never used

c) Unfamiliar

Familiarity with the tool

a) Familiar - use

b) Familiar- never used

c) Unfamiliar

Kids AfieldKids Afield Na ture & Te chno lo g yNa ture & Te chno lo g y•What•Why origins origins researchresearch

• How inside outside

•Learning children's teachers’ sharing

Resources

& Extensions

Cameras & K

ids = Citiz

en Naturalis

t

User Camera Studyempathy

…seeing world through another’s eyes…understand environments in new way

bootleg@dschool.stanford.edu

Citizen Naturalists

OR

• limits field of focus • archives experiences

• employs “hybrid thinking”

• high intrinsic motivator

• empowers students

.

I believe that a central goal of modern education should be to encourage such flexible thinking, to nurture the hybrid mind — to stimulate both ways of knowing in the world: digital and direct experience.

Richard Louv

The ideal scientist thinks like a poet and works like a

bookkeeper.

E.O. Wilson

When I get my images home from a day of shooting, I’m nearly always amazed at the details that I hadn’t

noticed in the field.Charles J. Smith

3 Key ResourcesTime outdoorsAdult respect for outdoors

for children’s ideas, activities

1. Kid-Cameras 2. Introduce w/focus 3. Agency

• fit kids’ hands• tough!• easy to use• $ 30 – 35

• require batteries

2. Introduce w/focus

3. Agency

Cameras as valued toolsCare of equipmentCare of one anotherCare of spaceCare of life sharing space

How Birds became a Class Focus

Valuing students’ interests

Authentic Assessment: StudentsExplain why they took the picture…pre-writers put the starting letterof the word – later a teacher helps transcribe

Birds – the kid-connection that stuck!

BENEFITS

Present all yearGlobal Connections via migrationInquiry Learning arises naturallyArt, Music, WritingStrong intrinsic attraction

Great Free online Resources

Jay Stetzer

..John Burroughs, “Knowledge without love will not stick. But if love comes first, knowledge is sure to follow.” It’s our responsibility as parents and teachers to make sure that love comes first. David Sobel, Orion Magazine, July/August 2012

Imagination & Play The Discovery of Mouse Town

Resource materials for Kids Afield are archivedAt :

http://storify.com/earthwalker/kids-afield

woodswalkertoo@gmail.com

twitter.com/earthwalkertoo

connectchildrenntonature.wikispaces.com

PHOTOGRAPH CHANGES OVER TIME PLANTS or areas of plants

SIGNS OF LIFE: leaf being consumed, animals prints, decaying log, leaf litter, emerging buds, etc.

EROSION TRACES of water flow

PATTERNS left by mud SKY

MATERIALS left out for animals (bird food, fruit, etc) A PUDDLE

SIGNS of human movement in and out of an areaSNOW melting

DATA - INQUIRY DRIVENShadows - Plant growth - Leaf drop -Color changes – Bird nest materials –

Bird feeder experiments – Trash –Spider webs – Plant damage – Melting-Visual changes with temperature or light

Photo scavenger hunt- Identifying plants & ” bugs” –

Camouflage challenges – Story or poetry starters – ‘favorites’-

Kid-generated Games/Activities

Photos from Student Generated Nest Material Experiment

Grades 7 & 8

Nature Photo

Elective