CLEARING


Environmental literacy education in the Pacific Northwest and Cascadia bioregion


Published by


Creative Educational Networks PO Box 82954


Portland OR 97282 Clearing Board of Directors


Don Atwell, Pamplin Media Group Tim DeLano, Forest and Water Educator Sami Springs, Portland Public Schools Joe Tursi, Ecoliteracy Collaborative Anna Wilde, Honoring Our Rivers


2018 Regional Advisory Council


Rose High Bear—Wisdom of the Elders OR Jonas Cox—Gonzaga University WA Denise Dumouchel—IslandWood WA


Karla Eitel—University of Idaho, MOSS Outdoor Science School ID


Ciarra Greene—Nez Perce Sally Hanft—US EPA Region 10


Linda Hilligoss—Southern Oregon University OR Rick Kool—Royal Roads University BC Jim Martin—Retired science educator


Karen Matsumoto—Suquamish Tribal School WA David Zandvliet—Simon Fraser University BC


Clearing Production Staff


Editor/Publisher/Layout and Design: Larry Beutler


E-Mail: editor@clearingmagazine.org Sign up for the   


CLEARING: 20 Great Activities to Develop Eco-Literacy


 How can learning be fun and interesting? How can we rekindle appreciation of nature?


by Chris Helander


educators are asking how do you reach young people who seem apathetic and unmotivated to learn. In old cultures before schools, books, and grades; people learned by being mentored. Using sto- ries, ceremony, games, and survival skills everyone and everything was a teacher. In the modern model of education learn- ing is force fed, sitting in chairs, listening to an adult spouting out information to be memorized. Modern children learning this way are trained to get their knowl- edge by memorization of someone elseís knowledge. They do not learn how to develop the questioning mind or follow their hearts to learn from their own experiences.


T We have all heard about the stud-


ies done on the modern human brain which show we only use 10% of our brains. Recent studies show an alarm-


here are many people who say our current model for learning is ineffectual. Parents and


For the questioning mind learning never concludes because it is an endless journey with an infinite number of destinations.


ing further decrease to between 5% and 7% thinking power. Could it be due to getting our information almost entirely through visually focused stimulation? These same studies done on people liv- ing in aboriginal cultures demonstrated brain use at 60% and up to 70% in the healers and trackers. Could it be due to using all their senses to get information about their world, which means using all of their brain to learn? These people





have never sat in a classroom, they donít read or write yet they use far more of their brain than the modern educated person. In aboriginal cultures not only the parents and extended family of the community are the mentors but nature itself is understood as a powerful and infinitely wise teacher. By observing nature we learn from the tress, from the animals, and from the birds. In our modern culture we learn almost exclu- sively from books, and lecture, while our young people are more inclined to learn from T.V.


At Coyote’s


Path Wilderness School one of the skills we mentor to others is the art


of survival skills. When I first began to teach, I taught as I had been taught in school. This was the “show and tell” what I knew about survival skills method. One of my mentors, Jon Young of Wilderness Awareness School, in his Art of Mentoring workshop, calls it the “drag and brag” style of teaching. After I had taken his workshop I asked Jon to come to Portland to teach a weekend of nature skills at Oxbow Park. I was at my teaching station telling my students


everything I knew about the Cedar Tree. Jon walked by, stopped and listened for awhile and then asked me “Are you asking them lots of questions?” I answered yes, but after he smiled and walked away I realized I had only asked a few questions of my students. I was deep in teacher “show and tell” mode. Giving answers even before I was asked a question. How much more meaning- ful would the experience have been if I had them find the answers by saying the following:


Everyone come over to this tree and smell the branches.


Now smell the bark. Which one smells stronger?


Has anyone ever smelled this tree before?


Why do people put it in their closets?


Do you think that works in the woods too?


So what could you use this for in the woods?


How could you use it in a shelter? Could you put it on your skin?


Go ahead rub a little bit of it between your fingers?





monthly E-newsletter from CLEARING. Stay in touch with the latest stories, resources, and ideas in environmental education!


Printed by


Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME) 2018 Conference Portland, July 29-August 2, 2018


Planning is underway for the 2018 NAME Conference. A regional rotation brings the conference back to Oregon in 2018. The theme at Portland State University is “Confluence,” with strands of education, science and culture. Oregon NAME members are hard at work devel- oping the program, concurrent sessions, and field trips that will make this confer- ence one to remember!


On the cover: Photo from Screens in the Forest article by IslandWood graduate student Greta Righter. See page 21 of this issue.


Page 4 www.clearingmagazine.org


Conference Themes: Science Topics elaborating the most up-to-date scientific knowledge/discoveries giv- ing educators the background and tools needed to fulfill STEM and NGSS.


Culture


This includes topics with a keen focus on the traditional, indigenous knowledge, and/or the role of art in environmental education, STEAM, (includes artistic in- novation).


Education Topics with a focus on prepared materials for educators fulfilling the Next Genera- tion Science Standards (NGSS) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) opportunities. Go to www.pacname.org for registration and other information.


CLEARING Spring 2018


Rick Reynolds of Engaging Every Student, and past co-chair of the Environmental Education Association of Oregon (EEAO), leads a breakout session at the recent Idaho Environmental Education Association (IdEEA) conference in Lewiston ID. Photo courtesy of IdEEA.


EE News and Events


Some of what’s happening in environmental education in and around the Pacific Northwest


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60