How-to 1. Prior to your field-trip, have the kids do some library research on frogs.


2. When you are on your fieldtrip, before your explora- tion starts, have an interactive discussion with the kids about what they learned about frogs during their library research.


3. Clarify rules: if kids are not aware of how to handle frogs without harming them, make it an “eyes only” activity. Talk to the kids about walking gently and leav- ing no trace. Talk to the kids about safety around water and give them boundaries.


4. Get your camera ready – take photos of what the kids find during their tasks.


5. First task: find the things a frog needs to survive (marsh, air, mud, water, mosquitoes, flies, etc)


6. Second task: Find the different stages of a frog’s life- cycle: eggs, tadpole, tadpole with back legs only, tadpole with front and back legs, and frog.


7. End the activity with an interactive conversation on the kids’ observations.


8. The next day, print your photos and have the kids make a collage of a frog’s life cycle. Put the photos in groups organized into this order: 1) eggs, 2) tadpole, 3) tadpole with back legs only, 4) tadpole with front and back legs, 5) frog


Snowball Lanterns Snowball lanterns are fun additions in and around snow


caves, igloos, and snow forts. While you build, have kids ponder: the type of snow needed for snowballs; the num- ber of snowballs needed for each layer; the snowball angles needed for the layers to hold together; and other possible causes in the snowballs sticking together.


What you need • Sticky snow • Small candle (tea-lights are perfect) and matches


How-to 1. Make snowballs 2. Choose where you would like your lantern to be (they cannot be moved).


3. Flatten the snow: pack it down hard, to create a hard flat surface to build on.


4. Place a circle of snowballs on your packed-down surface (about 30 cm in diameter). Now, place another smaller circle of snowballs on top of the first circle. Then con- tinue to place smaller circles of snowballs, until you have a gap big enough for only one or two more snowballs. Place your candle on the ground in the middle of your lantern. Do not fill the natural gaps that form between the snowballs.


5. Light the candle with a long match or lighter. 6. Place your last snowball on top.


Whether exploring between the rocks in a schoolyard, investigating rotten tree stumps in a neighbourhood woods, or sifting through weeds and mud in a local marsh, envi- ronmentally conscious nature explorations are invaluable opportunities for the development of happy, educated, and


inspired children who practice environmentally sustainable values and habits. Even more so than personal expertise in the natural sciences, opportunities for nature exploration that are fuelled by an educator’s or parent’s motivation and passion are the inspirational nourishment that help children thrive. As ethical adventures into the natural world unfold, and sparks of curiosity ignite more scientific investigations, the children who participate in these habitual adventures are encouraged to evolve into community leaders who will pri- oritise the environment.


Jane Frances Powell is both a freelance environmental educator and a Program Coordinator/Instructor at The Col- lege of the Rockies, in Golden, British Columbia. She cre- ated 20 EE Activity Cards that can be used during outdoor adventures with young children, and freely downloaded from: www.inaboutandfor.blogspot.ca


Notes


1. During their introduction to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization document “The Contribution of Early Childhood Educa- tion to a Sustainable Society”, Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson and Yoshie Kaga write “There was a strong consensus that educating for sustainability should begin very early in life. It is in the early childhood period that children develop their basic values, attitudes, skills, behaviours and habits which may be long lasting. Studies have shown that racial stereotypes are learned early and that young children are able to pick up cultural messages about wealth and inequal- ity. As early childhood education is about laying a sound intellectual, psycho- logical, emotional, social and physical foundation for development and lifelong learning, it has an enormous potential in fostering values, attitudes, skills and behaviours that support sustainable development – e.g. wise use of resources, cultural diversity, gender equality and democracy.” (UNESCO 2008)


2. For an excellent exploration of the importance of environmental education in early childhood education, read “Young Children and the Environment – Early Education for Sustainability” (2010), Edited by Julie M. Davis.


GREEN TEACHER 109 Page 11


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