This introduction is to the sections of the enviroed4all website, where you will find information and activities for people of all ages for learning about environmental education.
There are several sections to this:
- terms and features in the environment
- quarterly environmental articles in Otherways
- the Read4Nature resources
- projects with schools
- papers given at meetings and conferences
Terms and Features for understanding the environment
“Whats in an environment?“This page introduces the four spheres, with detailed features and examples for each. My logo drawing is used for an example. There is a drawing activity for applying these ideas.
The Biodiversity on our Farm section which includes the terms biodiversity and sustainability.
“sustainability in farming” This page looks at defining ‘sustainability’ as it relates to agriculture and provides several links for consideration. There is also an interview activity with a sample script to investigate these definitions and their applications directly with farmers.
“Salinity” this page provides two timelines- one for the land history of the Wimmera Catchment explaining where the salt in the ground came from; and the other for the history of the development on Salinity Science, with land and water. There is an activity based on both of these timelines.
Quarterly environmental articles section
I began writing environmental education activities for Otherways ( the Victorian Home Education Networks’ quarterly magazine) in 2010 for the International Year of Biodiversity. When the United Nations Decade of Biodiversity began in 2011, I challenged myself to keep going and to integrate other yearly programs into the quartlery series:
In 2010, for articles on activities for the International Year of Biodiversity go here
In 2011 the key focus was the International Year of Forests and of Chemistry. go here
In 2012 – National Year of Reading and the Australian Year of the Farmer.go here
In 2013 – the Maths of Planet Earth and the International Year of Statistics go here
In 2014 – the International Years of Small Island Developing States and of Family Farming go here
The Read4Nature Resources
This now has its own part of the website go to Read4Nature . There are sheets you can use to assess your own selection of books for learning about Nature or you can read reports about what particular books have to offer about Nature, many of which include ideas for activities to link to them.
While this section focusses on reading, there is another skill that can be used for learning about Nature and it is drawing.
Drawing for Recording Science shows how to use of drawings for recording Science. It uses landscape features as an example and suggests a method that covers observation, line drawing with/out labels and with/out a key and a statement about what is observed.
Projects with Schools
2010 Jeparit Primary School – International Year of Biodiversity program included
Dream Rocket project with Jeparit Primary School Senior Class click here
The Murray Darling Basin Water Education Project “Special Forever—Source to the Sea—a virtual river journey” in which we provided a website snapshot of what our Wimmera River was like in the Spring of 2010 and what was special about it. here
2011 Yappeet Primary School – International Year of Forests program included
Science Talent Search entries for Science Photography, Creative Writing (Science-based Picture Story Books) – awarded bursary- and Science DVD are here
Photographic entries in World Wetlands Day Photogrpahy Competition- one merit here.
2011 “pH, salinity and the Trees” a regional project for some Lower Wimmera Primary Schools and the community focussing on the IYF mainly
2012 St Joseph’s PS. Hopetoun – Wimmera HUB Strategic Partnership Project “Sustainability and our Farmland Environment” – Australian Year of the Farmer and National Year of Reading , included Science Talent Search entries for Creative Writing (Science-based Picture Story Books) on the theme ‘Yes we can farm sustainably’ – two major bursaries. Their books and resources are here.
2012 Jeparit Primary School Finding and Sharing Science in the MARC mobile library van’s picture books project,- a National Science Week project, with some funding from the Australian Science Teachers Association. This is a part of the Read4Nature resources here.
2012 Wimmera HUB, ‘Sustainability and our Wimmera Farmlands” for National Science Week , a regional project for some Wimmera Primary Schools , based on the St Joseph’s PS books.
Papers from meetings, conferences and media
“Looking for green in Marrakesh” is an article I wrote reflecting on the 2013 World Environmental Educators Congress about the many and varied ways in which ‘green’ ideas were found in this old city.
“Outdoor spaces in EEs” is an article I wrote for NENA about the open spaces in some school models made by Eco-Ecoles (schools) in Marocco for the World Envirnmental Educators Congress.
“Children interconnecting with Nature” is the paper for the presentation I gave to the Australian Association of Environmental Educators 2012 Creating our next courageous steps Conference in Melbourne. It is based on work at Yaapeet Primary School in 2011, primarily linked with the International Year of Forests. It has many examples of activities to encourage children to develop relationships with and to wonder at Nature.
“Eeducation based on a River Red Gum Woodland Environment” at Jeparit Primary School 2010 paper for my round table discussion at the Brisbane 2011 World Environmental Education Congress . It encouraged participants to think about the effect on children of the types of things we share with them in environmental education, especially when they live in a ‘damaged’ environment, as was the case in Jeparit with the ‘long time dry’ and the many colours of the River.
This is the Wimmera Catchment Management Authority article reporting when the French TV program “L’oeil sur la planete” came here in 2010 to see what was happening to the Wimmera River here
This section will be added over time, so please return to check it out.
I hope you can apply these resources and ideas to have fun learning more about your environment!
