Bear Beach Camping Trip An overnight trip in September helps grade 8 city kids connect with the natural world
By Alan Barwin
“Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth.” —Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
I
T IS LATE SEPTEMBER, a week before the Bear Beach trip, my annual overnight camping trip on the west coast of Vancouver Island with my grade 8 Social
Studies classes. I’m stressed, thinking about the weather and parent drivers and paperwork. A colleague asks me, “Is it worth it?” I pause and consider the question. Jump forward a week. The class is gathered around the
campfire. “Civilization” groups are dressed in seaweed and carry artifacts and food that they have spent the afternoon discussing and creating. We pass a feather and share what we appreciate about the day: Exploring the river. The sea-cave. Making the sundial. Seeing the whale. Getting to know my group better. Taking off the backpack after the hike down. Listening to the waves. Seeing the beach change as the tide goes out. Making our own supper on the stove. Looking up right now, and seeing millions of stars and the Milky Way. I have never seen so many stars.
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This from a group of urban kids most of whom have
never backpacked or camped our on a beach. For four years I have started the first term of my grade 8
Social Studies classes with an integrated unit on Environ- ment and Culture, with the Bear Beach trip as a summative experience. The premise of the unit is that, across time and place, natural environments affect cultures and cultures affect their environments. Throughout September, students learn about worldviews, geography, examine what is a civi- lization and create a timeline from the Big Bang to today. To consolidate and bring this learning to life, for two days students are immersed in a wild coastal environment, not always in the friendliest weather, and have to create a civili- zation that could exist there sustainably (see the assignment instructions at the end of this article). Their culture must include dwellings, a social structure and government, arts, technology, language, commerce, agriculture and a world- view. All of these must be based on the coastal environment, and students must consider the impact of this culture on the ecosystem. The trip has three goals. First, students will better under-
stand the interplay between environment and culture. This theme is reinforced throughout the year as we look at a variety of civilizations, from the Vikings to medieval Japan to Renaissance Europe. Second, students and staff will bond as a group through the experience. Weeks before we head out, I put together “civilization” groups of 5 or 6 students comprising boys and girls who come from different grade
GREEN TEACHER 93
Photographs: Alan Barwin
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