Learning is a life-long activity, and we want to instill that drive in all students. If you can engage students by making learning relevant and fun—as environment-based learning does—then they will not only perform better in school, but they will want to become learners for their whole life. In thinking about this holiday season, I […]
It’s that time of year. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and hopefully you will be happily surrounded by family and friends, enjoying a delicious meal, participating in rich conversation and thinking about what you are most thankful for. As I prepare for one of my favorite holidays, I can’t help but give some thought to how […]
What do kids these days care about? Information, opportunity, seeking knowledge and truth are now literally at their fingertips. The Internet provides networks and connection like never seen before. Empowered youth have always played a role in the large movements of our history. The movement to care for our planet is no different. At the […]
I spent the third week of October with my 6th grade students in the Santa Cruz Mountains, learning about poison oak and banana slugs, compost and food waste, gardening and invasive plant species, and how ecosystems change as one moves higher in elevation. We ate Redwood Sorrel (tastes like green apples), munched on Douglas Fir […]
I was in class three times last week learning about land and water. The first was Laura Honda’s 4th grade class at Manor Elementary School in Fairfax, California. Laura is a Teacher Ambassador for the Education and Environment Initiative Curriculum (EEI) and uses the EEI extensively with her students. Laura was teaching Lesson 5 from […]
In fall of 2013, California’s State Board of Education (SBE) adopted a slightly modified version of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)* intended to reinvent science education in the state. This adoption triggered a series of events that can lead California into the forefront of science education for the 21st Century. Released in early 2013 […]
Recently, Ten Strands hosted its first event at the Brower Center in Berkeley—a great venue for networking, building community and viewing a documentary, where our special guest David Gelber introduced his Emmy Award winning series Years of Living Dangerously. Photos from the event can be viewed on the Ten Strands Facebook Page. People involved in […]
UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science recently released “A Field at Risk: The Impact of COVID-19 on Environmental and Outdoor Science Education.”