August 2007 - Volume 68, Issue 8
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Connecting Kids with Nature
How an outdoor classroom teaches science, math and a whole lot more.
“Eeek, what’s that?”
“Hey, look what I found!”
“This is so cool!”
Truman Elementary School is in Rolla, in the midst of a rapidly growing urban area along the I-44 corridor. Most of these students would have few outdoor nature experiences if it were not for the school’s efforts to create and use an outdoor area for learning.
“Nature-Deficit Disorder”
“Children need nature for the healthy development of their senses, and, therefore, for learning and creativity,” Richard Louv wrote in his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.
Kids and nature seem a natural combination, but what seemed like a perfect match a generation ago is not happening today.
There are plenty of reasons why kids are not connecting to nature. Fears about strangers and traffic keep kids indoors. TV and computer screens command their attention. Organized activities and homework leave them little time to explore the outdoors.
“We are often so busy with our own lives that we don’t pay attention to what is around us when we go outside,” said Shelly Fouke, a teachers’ aide at the school. “An outdoor classroom like Truman’s Backyard helps us refine our senses and see what is going on around us, above us, and under our feet.”
About This Article
Author
CAROL MAHAN is the conservation education consultant for Truman Elementary in Rolla and other schools in the northern Ozarks region. A former teacher from Illinois, Carol appreciates the wealth and diversity of natural resources in Missouri. She spends her free time running, hiking and reading.
CHRIS SCHMIDGALL is an educator and outdoor classroom coordinator at Truman Elementary in Rolla. Her passion for hands-on learning in the outdoors led her to establish an outdoor classroom center and an active after-school environmental club. She and her husband, Gary, enjoy kayaking the beautiful rivers of Missouri.
Photographer
Photographer DAVID STONNER, shown working on aerial photographs of the Mingo Basin in southeast Missouri, joined the Department of Conservation in May 2007. He lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Angela, and one year-old daughter, Maggie. David enjoys weekends sailing on Stockton Lake and angling for fish anywhere he can cast a dry fly.
