FIND YOURSELF IN THE DIVERSITY OF NATURE


AGES: 5–18 years old


CONTRIBUTED BY OUT There Adventures Seattle, Washington outthereadventures.org


Sometimes it can feel like we are “different” from our friends, family, and community. However, if we look, we can see things “like us” all around, especially in the natural world. By taking time to look closely, reflect, and make connections, we can find replications of our identities in our backyards, our parks, and beyond. That difference is not only good, but necessary for healthy and thriving ecosystems! In this activity students will explore the diversity of forms, relationships, and processes in nature, while drawing parallels to their own unique identities and lived experiences.


MATERIALS • Walk Cards


• Paper and pencils (if you want the students to record the experience) DIRECTIONS


Create Walk Cards. (See box for examples.) Explain to the students that much of the diversity we find in


nature, we can also find in our human-created spaces, communities, and in ourselves. Provide a brief explanation of the various facets of identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, class, etc. (The leader can dig deeper for older youth.) Select an outdoor area large enough for students to walk slowly around it and have some space between them. A quiet path is ideal. Place cards along the path (or in a line, creating a path) with about 30 ft (9 m) between them. One at a time, send the students out to walk along path,


stopping to read the cards as they go. Wait a few minutes between students to give them each time with the cards. Remind them to go slowly and respect the space of other participants. When all students complete the walk, gather as a group for the debrief.


DEBRIEF


Depending on the age group and your goals, the debrief can be facilitated as a large group, in smaller groups, or individually through journal keeping or silent self-ref lection. Example questions include: “What was your favorite card and why? Which was your least favorite and why? How did we learn more about our own identities? Where did you see yourself ref lected most in the natural world? How did that feel? What did it make you think about yourself and how you relate to the world?” Facilitators may consider providing a personal example to spur


conversation, for example, “As an LGBTQ person, it was amazing for me to learn about the ways in which a clam’s sex is fluid over the course of its life.” or “As a person whose family migrated to this area from another country, it was empowering for me to learn about the Arctic Tern and their global migration, because it reminded me of the experiences my family had traveling far from where I was born.”


Page 40


Social Studies Travel Log


Design a travel log to show


the travelling you do for two weeks. Include the date, where you went, how you travelled, who went with you, how long it took and how many kilometres you travelled round trip. After two weeks, add up how many trips you took by car, transit, bi- cycle, foot, taxi or other modes. How many kilometres did you travel all together? Which trans- portation mode is the fastest? The cheapest? Which is you preferred transportation mode for each type of trip? Why? Now analyze your information and make suggestions as to how you could have reduced the number of trips you made. How many times could you have used transportation other than a car? Compare your results with those of your friends. —LCA


Mathematics Alive with Bugs


Forest soils are alive with


tiny soil animals such as mites and earthworms. Studies in mountain country indicate that as many as 9,936 may be found in one square foot of forest litter 2 inches in depth). How many per square inch? Yard? Acre? Discussion: What do they do


➪ Walk Card themes:


Community: Symbiotic relationships LGBTQ Identities:


Certain species have more than two sexes and some organisms can alter their state of being or have identities that are fluid.


Colonialism: Impact of invasive organisms Immigration: Species migrate across continents


Environmental Refugees: Migration as a result of environmental change


www.clearingmagazine.org CLEARING Spring 2018


there? Are they necessary an valuable?


Water Watching


The purpose of this activity is for students to realize that people use huge amounts of water every day an to appreciate more fully the problems associated with providing adequate water supply to large metropolitan areas. Involve students in calculating the amount of water used daily in their 1) home, b) community, c) state and d) the US or Canada. Selected individuals or small groups might investigate through interviews with key personnel the availability (present and future) of water in the community. Finally discuss the findings with the entire class to determine what they might mean to individuals, industry, government or other groups.


Language Arts What’s the Idea?


Encourage students to be on the lookout for environmental articles in their magazine. Once they begin coming in, select one and duplicate as many as needed.


Distribute copies to students. Instruct the students to read the selection very carefully. On a clean sheet of paper, or index card, they are to write the following:


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