Nature Centered Instruction

The ACLIPSE university course instructional materials, and associated grades 6-12 teacher professional learning opportunities and materials, engage participants in climate science activities while using data in authentic and locally-relevant ways.

The first time I led NSI: Nature Scene Investigators, it was a total flop.

How Jill and Becca of YMCA Camp Seymour took their time and to effectively work towards student and nature-centered teaching and curriculum design.

David Gardner describes how he got staff excited to develop new activities that made better use of the plants and animals on their site.

Kirsten Franklin, a classroom teacher, makes a case for why environmental literacy should be essential to classroom instruction.

A summary of how changing pre-program classroom visits to emphasize observation instead of memorizing facts led students to be excited to engage with nature.

At Shady Creek Outdoor School, it is not uncommon to have a kid screaming with delight when they identify a bird.

When Jamee Puccio and Paige Marley returned to their organization after participating in the BEETLES August 2017 Leadership Institute, they got right to work.

Sarah Johnson writes about introducing several foundational BEETLES student activities and Exploration Routines.

Tara Fuad shares how BEETLES materials and approaches transformed teaching and learning at her site– and how changing program policies helped make it happen.

Gregory Bahr of San Joaquin Outdoor Education shared how he used BEETLES approaches and resources to shift organizational practices to support student-centered and nature-centered teaching.

James Taborda-Whitt of Camp Bovey describes intersections between student and nature-centered teaching practices, and trauma-informed, healing-centered approaches

In 2019, Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center hired BEETLES to develop a curriculum for their 4-day residential outdoor school program focused on ecosystems, science practices, sense of place, and connection to nature.

Meredith von Trapp of Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center describes a 4-day residential outdoor school curriculum focused on ecosystems, sense of place, and connection to nature.

Korena David of Foothill Horizons Outdoor School shares tips and techniques for engaging groups of 30+ students in student and nature-centered learning.

The AEES shares how convening statewide and regional summits strengthened relationships and the quality of teaching among organizations in Alabama.

How 12 environmental education nonprofits and two school districts in San Diego built a network focused on professional learning and relationship building.

Student journals should require original student thought and direct engagement with the environment. We recommend these pages be the bulk of a program’s journal.

Field guides are a useful, student-centered strategy for introducing content to students. Below is a list of field guides we’ve used, created, or had recommended from partners.

Learners should engage directly with nature as often as possible during outdoor science experiences. Here’s things we recommend instructors carry that help learners do that.

This Guide is a planning tool to support leaders to successfully implement change in their organizations and programs.

Check out this article in Clearing by Kevin and Craig, introducing environmental educators to the BEETLES Project.

This brief shares impact results from the BEETLES project’s 2011-2015 Field Testing process.

An approach to create school site maps that highlight walkable destinations and routines organized for K–5 from Green Schoolyards America!

This resource helps you identify units in your curriculum that emphasize environmental concepts and add outdoor learning experiences to classroom routines.

This session focuses on developing adult-level understanding of the concepts of matter and energy and how it relates to ecosystems.

This session focuses on developing adult-level understanding of the concepts of adaptation and evolution for instructors.

Learning is an active, social process. This session focuses on the Learning Cycle, an approach to sequencing phases of activities based on how people learn.

This session focuses on how to use questions to encourage student exploration and learning, and how instructors’ behaviors may encourage or discourage student exploration and learning.

This session explores 3 questions: “What is science?,” “How do scientists actually do science?,” and “How can we help young people think like scientists to answer questions about the natural world?”

How we can help learners make careful observations while encouraging wonder and curiosity? The session explores methods and activities to strengthen learners’ skills in making observations.

Field journaling is a powerful practice that supports observation, thinking, and learning. This session explores how field journaling can be used to support learner engagement and science learning.

Teaching outdoor science as a process of discovering mysteries ignites students’ wonder and curiosity about interacting with nature. Those strategies are modeled throughout the session.

Chaperones are integral parts of outdoor science programs. This short guide includes three versions of what an instructor or program leader could do with chaperones to prepare them specifically to support outdoor science learning and the group’s nature exploration.

Watch Craig Strang discuss how California is approaching the systemic implementation of environmental literacy into state-wide education systems. For more information, check out: https://ca-eli.org/.

This short summary offers context about the Next Generation Science Standards and opportunities for supporting NGSS-aligned instruction in outdoor science schools.

This resource can help programs create effective new outdoor science activities for use by multiple instructors across a program and adapt and revise existing activities.

A set of tools to support organization leaders in creating a reflective learning culture on staff, and in coaching instructors to improve their practice.

What can effective virtual outdoor science experiences look like? This blog post offers examples and ideas.

This series of short videos of BEETLES student activities is meant to be used with the Guide to Using Videos for Reflective Process.

Establishing reflective structures, like watching instructional videos together and discussing them, can help nurture a culture of reflection and growth among staff.