Education – Cambridge Outdoors

Adult Pro-Environment Behaviors Shaped by…Harvesting?

David Sobel’s piece “Look, Don’t Touch” in Orion Magazine has shaken up the small world of my little nature club and the big world of the Get Outdoors movement. I’ve just discovered Living On Earth‘s interview with Sobel, here. If you haven’t had a chance to read the Orion essay, here’s the kernel of Sobel’s argument:Continue reading “Adult Pro-Environment Behaviors Shaped by…Harvesting?”

Windows on Environmental Education

Today’s post is a series of links that offer a glimpse into the face of environmental (early) education across the globe: Green Flag and Montessori Schools in Sweden Special Places for Children, via the BGCI Community-Based School Environmental Education (David Sobel’s Antioch home base).

Touch, Pick, Play…..Learn

Here’s something I’ve been considering a lot lately. How does environmental stewardship develop, exactly? Where is that sweet spot between the lure of science as a discipline and the pleasures, and love, of the outdoors? David Sobel’s take: Most environmentalists attributed their commitment to a combination of two sources, “many hours spent outdoors in aContinue reading “Touch, Pick, Play…..Learn”

“Clean the owl …

“Clean the owl cage.” Those who ponder the variants, whys, and wherefores of outdoor education will want to read this terrific post by Sean Musselman on what’s become a buzz phrase—”authentic learning experience.” Meanwhile, as I write this, I’m cleaning my own metaphorical owl cage by taking two disparate generations of family members on a coastalContinue reading ““Clean the owl …”

Summer Reading & The “I Wonder Circle”

I’ve been catching up with Sean Musselman’s blog about science education. (Clicking “follow” is so easy. Actually reading content, not so much. I’m repeatedly rediscovering bloggers in my network that are overdue for the harvest. Musselman’s blog is a case in point.) His recent post about the use of texts in science classes is useful, includingContinue reading “Summer Reading & The “I Wonder Circle””

Fire Up Your Engines: Screen-Free Week Starts April 29th

Screen-Free Week (April 29–May 5, 2013) gets a lot of flak, not to mention wolf-crying from some parties. Is it a slippery slope towards the denial of digital citizenship if we suggest kids should spend less time on computers, tablets, and e-readers? There are many good arguments for children to be educated in technology andContinue reading “Fire Up Your Engines: Screen-Free Week Starts April 29th”

Breaking News: Cambridge Young Women Quilt for Sustainability

Sprouts of Hope, an offshoot of Jane Goodall‘s Roots and Shoots comprised of a handful of girls who are now at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, is presenting their “Imagine a Sustainable Life Quilt” to the City of Cambridge today at City Hall, making Mayor Davis and all of us here in the people’sContinue reading “Breaking News: Cambridge Young Women Quilt for Sustainability”

November/December Events

Coming up at the Harvard Museum of Natural History on Thursday evenings, (11/15, 11/29, and 12/13)…I’ll be there! Woodlands and Waters, Forests and Faucets: A Look at Massachusetts’ Woods, Water Bodies, and Water Supplies for the Boston Metro Area Lecture by Betsy Colburn, Harvard Forest THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 6:00 PM Betsy Colburn, Aquatic Ecologist atContinue reading “November/December Events”

Fun with Science Blogs

I’m a non-scientist who has has cobbled together a very partial understanding of science from whatever training I had in high school or college, whatever I read touching on science thereafter, and whatever PBS and BBC documentaries I’ve managed to watch (before I had kids and after they came of documentary-watching age, more recently). WeContinue reading “Fun with Science Blogs”