by Marsha Rakestraw
Children tend to have an inherent affinity for the natural world. That connection can fade if it’s not nurtured regularly.
And we know from numerous studies like this one, that spending time in nature has numerous and significant positive benefits.
But even with young people who’d rather play video games than step outside, the love of nature can be rekindled, using activities such as Natural Value.
In this activity (recommended for grades 8-12), created by IHE M.Ed. graduate Christopher Greenslate, students reflect on an image that captures natural beauty — and the intrinsic value that nature has — in order to consider their own roles in protecting nature and to help nurture their sense of wonder.
For the activity, students bring to class a photo or picture of a place of natural beauty or part of the environment that is important to them or that they see as having a unique value (a value that is beyond what economic interest humans may see).
They can choose to bring in a photo of a place they have been to, or a picture from another source. It might be a beach, forest, state or national park, etc.
Here’s how it works:
1. Have students fold a piece of paper into four equal squares.
2. Ask them to take a good look at the photo/picture they’ve brought in and imagine that they are there (give them at least a minute to do so in silence).
3. Let students know you’re going to give them a prompt to write about in each square on their paper; they’ll have two minutes for each prompt. Let them know that in between prompts they’ll have a total of two minutes to share what they wrote with someone next to them and to hear what their partner wrote (so, a minute for each). (Give students a moment to find a partner, or assign them partners, if preferred.)
Sample prompts:
a) How did you come to know and care about this particular place?
b) If this place could speak to you, what do you think it would say?
c) Putting yourself in the role of someone who sees this place as a point of resource extraction, or some other purpose of development, what explanation would you give for the need to use this particular place for your own purposes?
d) What would you be willing to do to defend or protect this place? Why?
4. After students have written their responses to the four prompts and shared with partners about each one, ask them to get up and move around the room, sharing their picture/photo with other students.
5. Gather them back together as an entire class. Invite them to share as a class about this process.
Which prompt was most challenging to respond to? Be sure to invite them to share their responses to the final prompt about what they would and wouldn’t be willing to do.
Ask students to reflect on whether this process has altered their view in any way about their own roles in defending what they care about. Invite them to talk about how and why these places of natural beauty are so important to us.
6. Have students write their names on the back of their photo and collect the photos.
Surprise them for next class by putting the photos/pictures up on the wall in a prominent place in the classroom. (You may wish to create a bulletin board or collage devoted to these photos and perhaps even pull samples from students’ writing about why they care about these places and what they would do to defend them.)
Leave the photos up so that students are reminded daily of the power of natural beauty in the world.
This activity can also be modified using a photo/picture of animal whom students care about and/or believe has intrinsic individual value, and there are additional suggested extension activities.
Download the complete activity.
For more ideas and resources to help (re)connect kids and adults with the natural world, check out our curated Pinterest board.
Find more lesson plans/activities nurturing care for the nature world in our Resource Center. (Filter the “Types” for “Activities/Lesson Plans” and the “Subjects/Issues” for “Environmental Protection.”
Be sure to forward this to at least ONE person who would benefit from these resources.
Subscribe to This Blog Become a Humane Educator Support Our Work
The post Rekindle Students’ Love of Nature with “Natural Value” (lesson plan) appeared first on Institute for Humane Education.
