Learning in Nature by EUN Partnership aisbl

Maria,Portugal

ajt59 — 2022-06-06 11:11:52 UTC

Classes in nature can be planned and organized in numerous ways, but some actions are important:

Theme: delimiting and knowing well the subject that will be studied and researching it in advance.

Objectives: Choose a primary and secondary learning goals that meet learning needs

Content: be clear about what children know and do not know about the topic and content of the work.

Estimated time: build a schedule with deadlines for each activity, delimiting the total duration of the work.

Material Required: Pre-select resources and materials that will be used, such as websites and reference books.

Presentation of the proposal: make clear to the room the social objectives of the work and the next steps.

Stage planning: relating one stage to another, in increasing complexity.

Forwarding: Anticipate what questions you will ask to forward the activity.

Groupings: predict which moments will be in groups, in pairs and individuals.

Provisional versions: review what the kids have done and ask for new versions of the work.

End product: choose a strong end product to give visibility to the learning processes and content learned.

Evaluation: predict the evaluation criteria and record the participation of each one throughout the work.

Cristina Frigo (from Italy)

2022-06-06 12:40:48 UTC

During the pandemic, school trips were not allowed, so my colleague and I decided to go for walks around the school. These walks made it possible to better discover the surrounding area and at the same time maintained the well-being of the pupils in a difficult moment such as that of the pandemic. Parents enjoyed the activity very much. We have worked for a whole year on the environmental heritage that surrounds us and which is not highly valued.

Ksenija, Croatia

Ksenija — 2022-06-06 12:57:56 UTC

Recently I organised Easter Egg Hunt in the school garden and added some environmental activities to it. It proved to be a very exciting exercise and I am planning to develop a real lesson plan based on that activitz which happened rather spontaneously.

Alina, Romania

u_alina81 — 2022-06-06 15:17:25 UTC

We do a lot of activities in nature. The last one I did was a plastic activity "Leaf and flower prints". The children chose for themselves the materials they worked with in their immediate environment

Tanja, Croatia

tanja_paris010 — 2022-06-06 15:43:50 UTC

The last outdoor lesson was in Mathematics. Determining the extent and area of a football, handball and tennis school playground. Students were first required to estimate the length and width of the listed playgrounds, and then to measure and calculate. Using a mobile device or tablet, they had to find out the actual dimensions of these playgrounds and compare how much the area of our school playground differs from the actual sports playgrounds.

SÜMEYYE YEŞİLTEPE - İSTANBUL/KÜÇÜKÇEKMECE

dindersi5258 — 2022-06-06 18:14:00 UTC

Their learning takes place with a good memory, which means that they get good results.

Sema OĞUZER / TÜRKİYE

sematopcu81 — 2022-06-06 18:34:10 UTC

I work in nature. I try to do nature activities at least once a week. One of the difficulties I encountered was that I went alone with a large group, and later a friend accompanied us. When I went out alone with more than 8 students, the event was not efficient because I had difficulties with some of my students.

Aileen, Croatia

osvezica1 — 2022-06-06 18:52:53 UTC

I used learning in nature for the purpose of learning on Earth Day where we learned how the Earth breathes and grows so we planted various seeds and learned how to take care of the earth and the fruits that the earth gives us.

Serap Dolgunyürek/ Türkiye

serapdolgunyurek — 2022-06-06 21:20:14 UTC

We had our last math lesson outdoors. Our topic was length measurements. First, they did a comparison-comparison. They then took measurements. They made these measurements sometimes individually and sometimes with small group work.

Duca Ludmila

ducala2020 — 2022-06-07 09:11:06 UTC

I did activities in the school yard. With the students I observed nature and created on sheets, on the ground. I consider it a challenge to monitor the students' activity, in order to overcome it, the students worked in groups. The most important thing in working in nature is the preparation. Students should know the objectives, the algorithm of the work.

Tamara, Croatia

2022-06-07 09:15:00 UTC

I've been taking children in the nature for walks since we have a nice lake near the school. We mostly talk, but sometimes they get worksheets so they do them while sitting and we discuss the topic that is covered in the sheets. I usually take smaller classes so there aren't really any challenges.

Joaquim, Portugal

2022-06-07 10:23:36 UTC

With 7th grade students, we observed and recorded the movement of the shadow (with objects found in space such as small sticks, stones, acorns, etc.). Previously, in the classroom, students learned that the sun apparently moves from east to west. Based on this previous information and on the records made, with the materials found, the students build a compass rose on the floor. Photographic records of the entire activity are worked on in the next class in the classroom.

Seda Göçhan- Türkiye

sedagochan75 — 2022-06-07 17:00:15 UTC

I did a project about insects. With my project team, we first observed the school garden and soil. Then we planted plants in the garden and continued to observe. In this process, we found that while plants grew in the school garden, insect diversity increased. They gathered information about the insects in our garden and drew their pictures. My students, who were afraid of insects at the beginning of the project, built an insect hotel at the end of the project and fed them. It was a great experience.

Seçil Uçum /Turkey

lovelytutor39 — 2022-06-07 18:53:15 UTC

I and my students established a green club in our school and we prepared a vegetable garden in the school garden. First of all, we found various natural vegetable seeds. Students did research on these vegetables and studied the details of gardening. They dug the soil in the garden and ventilated it. They planted the seeds. They also built an insect house to mark the importance of insects in sustainable life. Again, they prepared birdhouses and placed them on various trees

Klavdija, Slovenija

2022-06-07 18:57:05 UTC

We were pouring liquids outside today. The students worked in groups. Each group was given a bucket of water and different containers. They performed the tasks by pouring the liquid. How many smaller containers are poured into a larger container.

Bianca

2022-06-08 05:40:24 UTC

The last activity I did outdoors was a data collection Math lesson. The students collected different types of leaves and then they had to draw a graph to share the information about the leaves they had collected. It was enjoyable.

Seher ŞEREF/TURKEY

2022-06-08 09:51:40 UTC

We planned the “SEED BOMB” event to emphasize the importance of trees and forests, which are natural resources for a livable and sustainable world, produce oxygen that allows living things to breathe, and are ecosystems for many living things. Forest Week.
A month ago, we asked our students to collect seeds from the fruits they eat, the trees they visit, the trees around them, and collect waste paper.
During the Forest Week, we collected all the seeds of different shapes in one container, shredded the waste paper, melted it with water,
We brought some soil from the garden.
By blending all of them, we obtained a mixture, namely mud.
We broke the pieces and gave them to the students.
They went first, they were nauseous.
The activity, which started with one student, gradually began to shape the mud with the participation of all students.
We roll it and put it on the tray.
We leave the seeds and bombs to dry. After 2 days, we brought them together with the soil in the open area.

Kristina, Croatia

kiki_baska — 2022-06-08 09:59:03 UTC

I organized a walk of first grade students to the monument of our local poet on the occasion of his birthday. Next to the monument we recited the poet's verses. The walk lasted a total of about 40 minutes (back and forth), and that was too much for the students. When we got back to school, they were breathing hard, they were tired, they needed time to recover. Before leaving school, the students learned the verses by heart, we made videos next to the monument, and when we returned to school we illustrated the verses. We exhibited illustrations. The difficulty was due to the rain so we postponed this lesson. The problem was that not all students were ready (they did not memorize their part of the verses). Despite all the difficulties, the students enjoyed leaving the classroom

Ana Correia, Guarda, Portugal

2022-06-08 12:25:46 UTC

I have never worked in nature before, but I’m willing to. I recognize the benefits and have the adequate surroundings to do that. I understand the only way I can address the challenges I face (Class time, number of students, paperwork) is to work with other teachers, share the problems and the benefits and have the students take the most out of the experience.

Alessandra ITALY

2022-06-08 12:55:48 UTC

I simulated with the children of the fifth grade the distance between the planets by building the planets in proportion (not the sun because it would have been too big). They were thus able to get an idea of the enormous dimensions of the space.

Magdalena, Bulgaria

2022-06-08 19:48:53 UTC

In April we plant flowers and a tree in the kindergarten yard. Every day we water them. We observe how the flowers feel in our yard.How many blossoms they have. Which are the favorite bees' flowers. We collect rain water to use it in the garden in sunny days.

Györgyi, Hungary

2022-06-09 11:27:12 UTC

We went on a school trip in May with 12-year-olds which included two short walks in a forest. One was an evening walk (with a trained leader) the other one was a walk during the morning.
We experienced different animals, sounds, plants. We were informed about dangers (kids were extremely interested) in the forest. We did sport activities during the day. Finding our way out of the forest was also included. We had smaller groups (with teachers as leaders).
Students had to cooperate to get out, they had to be careful with plants, insects even the sun. They were really adventurous.
I think an experienced leader and smaller groups are advisable to get back in safety.

Oana Lungu, Romania

oanytha28 — 2022-06-09 16:53:53 UTC

Yes, I worked a little in nature. The subject was the planting of strawberries in some supports in steps, supports made by a parent. The main challenge was that they all wanted to work at once and there was not enough space around the supports to fit all at once. As advice, next time I would find an alternative, I would work in small groups and in the meantime the others would have other challenges that they could do on their own.

Raluca

rotar_raluca — 2022-06-10 06:48:05 UTC

I have in plan a picnic for this summer. I want to create socialisation opportunities because after the pandemy years pupils are suffering from isolation.

Sanja, Croatia

sa_sp — 2022-06-10 12:05:59 UTC

I've done a few activities in the nature, but not longer than 45 minutes and it was mostly successful, but it took much more planning than a usual lesson, so I guess that's the main challenge I faced. I am sure it is going to be much easier as I practice it more and more. One of the the topics I did in my English lessons was art and students had to take photographs to create an online gallery in which they described their work using the vocabulary from the previous lesson. I also did a few scavenger hunts in which students learned new vocabulary.

Aglaia Mantzana, Greece

mantzanaaglaia — 2022-06-10 16:08:51 UTC

I have participated in our school's visit to the Botanical Garden, where the existing herbs were presented to the students by a forester. We tried to look up the English definitions of all the Greek herbs the students gathered during their visit and we also created a collage with the herbs after drying them.

Lorenzo B - Italy

2022-06-10 17:28:34 UTC

Unfortunately, I only rarely did lessons in kind during educational outings and not on a scheduled basis. I would very much like to have a schedule with regular lessons in the park near the school. But the manager does not see it willingly. How could I convince her of all the good things that are contained in teaching outside the classroom?

Margarita- Ca- US

2022-06-10 19:02:42 UTC

The last activity in nature we did was My Spring Walk. With this activity I wanted the students to use the past tenses of the verbs. The students had a clipboard with a template with the beginning of a sentence for each of the 5 senses. The task was to go out to the garden, stop at 4-5 different spots, sit down on the grass, and quietly observe, listen, feel. When they were ready they completed the sentences.
On the paper they had the beginning of a statement: I saw,.., I heard..., I I touched..., I smelt..., I tasted.., I felt...
When we returned to the classroom they shared their sentences.
The outcomes were very different, non speakers just wrote one word, proficient writers wrote paragraphs, added questions or went beyond the senses: they added I thought..., I wish..., I hope...

Nurcan

nurcanbuyu075 — 2022-06-10 20:38:27 UTC

Concha - Spain

concharms — 2022-06-10 21:25:41 UTC

The last activity we did was designing with rocks. We had a stroll around the school for gathering small rocks and back to the schoolyard, in pairs, they create designs. The goal of this activity was practissing artistic expresions with diferent medium.

Eleni, Greece

elenikioroglou456 — 2022-06-12 08:06:39 UTC

Working in nature with my students fascinates and calms me. Last activity I did in nature with 25 first graders was to go to the forest and discover, first with our senses (sounds, smells), all that is not visible. Next, we observed the living beings of the forest (insects, birds, grasses, shrubs, trees ...) and tried to express ourselves with our bodies and for the members of the groups to create living pictures of nature. Next, we touched on various surfaces and discussed how we felt. In the end, the children photographed beautiful parts of the forest that they chose because they considered them special. With the PlantNet application we also found the names of the plants that we did not know.

Ana Certã, Portugal

anacerta1 — 2022-06-12 11:19:12 UTC

My students often work on writing outdoors, more specifically in the schoolyard. They write small texts from the names of the objects they find; write poems describing an object; draw in sight; make counts...

Joana, Portugal

joanacovas — 2022-06-12 17:55:40 UTC

I work with my students in the schoolyard or the forest near the school. It has more benefits for me and for them, more engagement and interest. We usually read stories in pairs and tell wha was that story about for the other colleagues; count sticks and make a table to write the sizes and to compare them; to change from to centimeters to meters and vice versa (for example); to compare the materials that we find, if they ar natural or manufactured, etc.

NIKOLAOS MPAKOS

2022-06-12 18:38:57 UTC

Three years ago, I visited a Museum specialized in ancient greek technology (Kotsanas Museum in the town of Athens) with a class of 20 students, aged 15-16 years. Its exhibits are related to ancient Greek technology, ranging from 12^th century BC to 4^th century AD. Our main visiting department was the one named after “measurements with man as measure”, where exhibits are representations or “shrinkages” of larger constructions on the ground and by using simple instruments (sticks, trees, walls, …) man can use simple geometric concepts (equality and similarity of triangles, proportions,…) in order to measure unapproachable distances. This was the follow-up of my teaching in equality and similarity of triangles. The main challenge was to work in groups in a such a public place with a lot of restrictions. But, following a carefully designed plan one can overcome the arising difficulties and unpredicted misfortunes. Six different exhibits, one for each of our groups, made the whole thing manageable. Because of the lack of visiting time, each group worked on a specific exhibit and after returning to class, it had to present its own task on the ehxibit.

Antonella Z. Italy

antomakena — 2022-06-13 12:47:20 UTC

Unfortunately I rarely go out for lessons... I should do much more because I live in a contest full of nature and I'm sure the kids would earn a lot in their learning outside. I very often use trip far from school to reorganize or let them re organize knowledge, to deep dive in their experience. Many years ago I organized a kind of hunt inside a museum during the visit to a Native American exhibition. It was very exciting to see children run here and there looking for information from canvas, objects of the exhibition ... notwithstanding my anxiety and the worries of the museum staff...anyway..it was a marvelous experience and even after years children are remembering

Adriana Bujag, Moldova

2022-06-13 14:20:47 UTC

I go out with the students in nature. In May we went to a beekeeper to get acquainted with the job of beekeeper. The beekeeper told us about the bees, the structure of the body, showed the hives, then took out a honeycomb, cut the honeycombs into small pieces, the students saw where the honey is stored. In the end, they saw the variety of types of honey that prisacar has. The students listened, saw, smelled, tasted, felt! All the senses were favored for a quality and interesting learning.

Voicu Corina-RomaniaTeaching outside of class can be easily done in history. I can adapt lessons by presenting local history integrated into classroom history. In Science in the contemporary world I can talk to them about pollution, about how important it is to recycle, reuse, reuse in order to have a cleaner and more sustainable school! Or to plant a tree!

corina_v1978 — 2022-06-13 15:44:18 UTC

Anica-Maria Tănase, România

tanaseanicamaria2015 — 2022-06-13 19:34:19 UTC

Afroditi, Greece

afkatsigi — 2022-06-14 14:31:08 UTC

i really make efforts toregularly organize educational visits (field trips) in nature to provide opportunities for students to explore and record by themselves the human-generated pressures to peri-urban forests. Students actively participate and observe that urban development through residential expansion against nature is a serious factor of disturbing the balance of a natural ecosystem. Students draw hands-on conclusions that the excursions in nature of the residents of cities, especially on weekends, often causes problems because of their behavior of cutting flowers. So, they become aware of the risk of extinction of rare plant species as well as the disturbance of food interactions. Students really like when learning is carried out in and through nature. So, we,educators, should provide adequate time for exploration through well structured student-centered activities.

Sofia, Greece

2022-06-16 12:01:18 UTC

I have only used the school yard, so far. But I find it great to work outside. This year I am in Crete ande the school I will be next year is by the sea. So I am planning to take advantage of it.

2022-06-16 18:32:34 UTC

Unfortunately I have not organized a lesson in nature. I have had activities in an urban environment though and the students responded to them with great enthusiasm

Minerva, México

2022-06-16 23:56:17 UTC

Sadly, I have not had the opportunity to organize a lesson in nature. There is an Ecological Reserve nearby the school, but the schedule of the place does not match mine, I work in the afternoons.
I will have to plan an activity in the morning with my groups, that will have their own issues.
Let's see what happens next semester. Fingers crossed!!

Darija, Croatia

darija_klepec75 — 2022-06-17 12:51:49 UTC

I have organized a few classes outdoors in our school yard. Those were language lessons. What I realize now, after all the tips you have given us during this course is that I haven't planned all the steps carefully and that I did too much outside talking.

Cvetanka,N.Macedonia

2022-06-17 19:17:42 UTC

Every time we have the opportunity, we use to get out of classrooms as a celebration on planet Earth Day with a series of eco activities.

Ida, Croatia

2022-06-18 05:20:08 UTC

Subject: Nature
We went to the park to observe different trees: what kind of leaves they have, how tall they are, how they differ, and how they are similar. They drew a Venn diagram.
Challenge: directing attention, students with mobility impairments
Solution: mutual assistance and cooperation.
Tip: Before learning outdoors, children should be taught about cooperation, communication and help, because then they will act as a whole. Every student contributes to the community through their work.

Marina from Greece

mproumba — 2022-06-18 19:43:20 UTC

Unfortunately I have not organized a lesson plan outside the classroom but I intend to do it next year.

ruqaya-jordan

thesmurfsteamt — 2022-06-18 20:05:48 UTC

In the school yard I did some map-related activities in the geography class..it was fun

Vesile Uslu/Turkey

usluvesile3 — 2022-06-19 20:05:38 UTC

In our school garden,my students planted flowers.It was a very enjoyable activity for them.

Raffaella - Italy

2022-06-20 11:13:47 UTC

I haven't teach in nature so far but I'm planning to, as our school has a big garden all around..

Maria, Greece

mmmioannidou — 2022-06-20 19:43:13 UTC

I have taught outside the classroom, in the school yard. We read a fairy tale, we dramatized it, we painted. It was a really nice experience for the kids and for me.

Isabel Quirino, Portugal

2022-06-20 19:56:05 UTC

At my school, we are using phyical activity, sailing & kayake, to promote life skills, or SEL if you prefer.

My Idea for Teaching a Lesson in Nature

2022-06-20 21:19:32 UTC

Since I have never taught in nature before, if I had one idea, it would involve the arts by allowing students to create a work of art using influences from their surroundings. Whether it would be a drawing/painting or—with only the resources offered by nature itself—a three-dimensional creation, it provides students an opportunity to develop their social-emotional skills while learning to be resourceful simultaneously.

—Austin Nicholas Dragoș [United States of America]

Marina, Croatia

marina_svelec5 — 2022-06-20 22:32:33 UTC

In nature and biology classes, I took students to study outside the classroom. In addition to exploring living conditions and living beings in the woods, creek and meadow, we sometimes play outdoor games (eg students prepare questions to repeat a selected topic, exchange them between groups and play Jenga - if they don't know the answer they pull a block out of the tower).

Aydan BOZKURT/Türkiye-İzmir

bozkurt83aydan1 — 2022-06-21 08:20:29 UTC

I experienced learning in nature for the first time in a learning-teaching method seminar I attended in Germany. One of the tasks was to both explore the area we are in and find historical places using the target language. I think he is very injured. gaining orientation could only be done in this way. When I assign my students, I both enable them to discover for themselves and help them learn by doing and experiencing.

Lemias, Turkey

lemiasert — 2022-06-21 19:36:26 UTC

I taught in the school garden and in the park next to the school. The time spent by the students until they came to the lesson area was too much. For this reason, they could not reach a conclusion in the event. however, I reached the desired result in the full-day museum class. This resulted in the entire day being spent on just one activity. For this I did not repeat often.

SOFIA, GREECE

2022-06-22 10:24:15 UTC

I took out kinder gardeners in a natural place near school for several times. We played games, had free time and did observations. It was very nice and kids loved it.

Nermin from Türkiye

nrmnyvz8 — 2022-06-22 11:31:31 UTC

I took my students out of the school. I asked them to say the English of each object they saw while walking around. We did some kind of Peripheral learning.

Gabriela Borza/ Romania

2022-06-22 17:16:28 UTC

I have never organized lessons in the forest, in nature, but as a result of this course I will organize with my students activities, lessons in nature. I would choose topics about kinds of trees, orienteering trails through the forest with elements of geography or simply creative lessons about what they see and feel around them.

Vasilescu Ana-Maria/ROMANIA

2022-06-22 17:21:07 UTC

We went to the forest and talked about environmental protection and trees. We had a bingo game. The students, divided into teams, had to identify the materials from which different exhibits were made. At the end we planted trees under the guidance of the foresters.

Eleonora Burnete

eleonoraburnete — 2022-06-22 19:35:01 UTC

We went to beach and celebrated The Black Sea Day!

Maria Lopes-Portugal

2022-06-22 22:05:50 UTC

Yes, activities in nature for us to work related to the local area.
In the consulting classroom, preparation and planning of the visit, group work.
The group was accompanied by the school's teachers and assistants and provided assistance for us at the caretaker's place.
In the work grids the students were registered as observations, the names of the plants/trees and their characteristics.
In the room they organize the information, a class work panel, a poster to present.

Oana B

oanabuduruta1 — 2022-06-23 20:42:34 UTC

We had an activity last may during which students planted flower rows in our school garden as part of an environmental project. Our biggest challenge was to dig the holes because our students didn't know how to hold and use a shovel. But what they lacked in knowledge made up for with enthusiasm. So with a lot of patience they did great!

Monica Babes

2022-06-24 08:59:59 UTC

Children love activities in nature.

Sofia, Greece

sotsigara — 2022-06-26 08:01:18 UTC

learn about the olive tree

Maria Rosaria, Italy

2022-06-27 15:57:44 UTC

This year I experienced two outdoor science lessons. It was an amazing experience and the students had a lot of fun. I think that next school year I will introduce one outdoor lesson per month into the science programme.

Ioan-Dumitru B.

2022-06-28 16:25:09 UTC

The nature itself is a great lesson for all of us.

Monica Arotaritei

arotariteimonica — 2022-06-28 22:18:07 UTC

Taking care of our environment by making activities that help students take acre more of nature: plant trees, collect rubbish etc.

Valerio

2023-03-31 17:51:48 UTC

Outdoor lessons with nature are better for interest and air quality

Luca, Italy

2023-03-31 18:04:53 UTC

I actually haven't partecipated to a lot of these activities, just a few in our school's garden.

Chiara

2023-03-31 18:07:46 UTC

Never did actually

gioele

2023-03-31 18:09:12 UTC

sadly i didn't

Flavia Giardini

2023-03-31 18:17:06 UTC

Never did actually

Daniele Petritola

2023-03-31 18:37:37 UTC

Would be a fantastic idea to take a lesson in the nature but i've never done a thing like that yet