Much of the educational day is spent inside, working at desks or walking through hallways to different destinations. Rarely do we see teachers utilize the outdoors. I personally am a naturalistic learner. Being outside soaking up the fresh air and greenery around me is my forte. As a student I was hardly ever taught in a naturalistic manner, but from it I would have greatly benefited. Each classroom has students that would light up even at the idea of nature. In a thinkTALK12 blog by Ashley MacQuarrie she lays out several ways to use the beauty and circumstances of Spring in the classroom. She begins with planting a garden. Not only may it add a little ‘umph’ to the school landscape, a garden can provide a unique learning experience for students. With this one idea students can use math to count seeds, learn about photosyntheis, plant life cycles, different kinds or seeds, or they can even keep an observation journal to track growth. Some other ideas she presented are observing wildlife, flying kites, going on a scavenger hunt, or keeping a nature journal. Nature should not be a resource that is overlooked, there are plenty of ways to use nature to learn.
