2005 Education & Outreach Newsletter

Teaching Tools for the Outdoor- Education Toolbox

by Lesa Johnston

Teaching an outdoor skill and promoting environmental awareness to youth can be a challenging endeavor for outdoor educators. Computer games, video games, and all kinds of other sedentary entertainment rule, and it can be downright difficult for educators to compete with modern technology. And it is not only modern technology that we are facing; it is also the evolution of a society that is increasingly becoming more urbanized, fast-paced, and outdoor-challenged!

In spite of these challenges, I still believe if a child is given the choice of spending time outdoors as opposed to indoors, the child will choose the outdoor activity. This is where holistic outdoor education comes in.

Outdoor educators should consider presenting the whole, complete outdoor picture. This includes offering meaningful information intended to lead participating youth in consideration of a set of outdoor principles or outdoor ethics. And it applies no matter what outdoor activity they choose. As a result, the outdoor educator is teaching for two outcomes -- an outdoor skill and the appropriate behaviors that accompany the skill while utilizing the outdoors.

We want to get kids outdoors, but we also want to steer them onto the right path of recreating responsibly and minimizing the impact that recreation has on the environment. Outdoor ethics apply to all outdoor users: hunters, anglers, hikers, backpackers, kayakers, archers, etc. and include urban park use as well.

If you teach outdoor education and you are looking at ways to implement outdoor ethics into your outing or class, you might consider integrating elements of the Leave No Trace program (LNT), supported and used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. The program outlines seven basic outdoor principles that apply to all outdoor users and can be tailored to fit your specific program needs. Activities have been developed to make learning fun and memorable and kids seem to really connect with the program. Leave No Trace training is also available to educators. To learn more about the LNT program you can visit www.lnt.org.

Another great program is the PEAK (Promoting Environment Awareness in Kids) program, developed by REI outdoor stores and the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. The PEAK program offers a condensed program that can be delivered in 30-60 minutes and the activities are for youth between the ages of 4-12. Teaching kits called PEAK Day Packs are available for purchase and educators can sign up for a clinic on how to teach the program at local REI stores. Kits are also available by loan through the LNT organization or can be purchased at the online store at the LNT website www.lnt.org. These activities are engaging and designed to be entertaining as well as educational.

Finally, the gold standard of environmental awareness programs is the Project WILD Program, founded in the 1980s, administered internationally by the Council for Environmental Education, cosponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The WILD materials will assist youth educators, formal and non-formal, in guiding young people to develop critical thinking skills - - skills that will help them evaluate behavior and actions that may benefit or harm the wildlife and environment.

In California the WILD program is sponsored by the California Department of Fish and Game and activity guides are available without charge through workshop attendance. Workshops provide educators with hands-on training and the K-12 curriculum and activity guide are correlated to California education content standards. More information is available online at www.dfg.ca.gov/projectwild. If you would like to attend a Project WILD workshop in California call: Bobbie Winn at: 1.888.945.3334.

Have fun out there and remember to recreate responsibly!