Cultivating Young Naturalists

Grade 1 student pointing out the site where she'd hung a bird feeder for the non-migrating birds.

 I had just finished a migration activity with a group of twenty-two K-1 students who had been studying birds. Taking on the role of a particular Northeastern bird, they had simulated locating food in an upstate New York field/wooded area during the summer.  Whether Great Horned Owl, Hummingbird or Chickadee; all had located ample food. We shifted the simulated wood-field six months forward:  the flowers vanished, small animals (an important food sources for carnivorous birds) were hard to locate, seeds were under a foot of snow while worms and insects had relocated to warmer sites in some form of temporary stasis or life cycle change. Still, the Chickadees thrived at the many human provided feeders and the Owls hunted successfully while the odd Red-winged blackbird located just enough food to survive.

Afterwards, we discussed the activity and children quickly saw that the best strategy for ground feeding Robins and Hummingbirds was to find a warmer climate, that is to migrate. As teachers, we were pleased to see how readily the experience had produced a new understanding of migration in our young naturalists. While children prepared to leave for another school activity, one grade one student pulled me aside.

 "Do birds ever share the food they collect?",  he asked.

 "Great question", I responded (the old teacher stand-by when startled into new awareness of a learning situation).  Then with a moment's thought I explained that birds share food with their young, but generally not with other birds. However, I went on to explain that generally they only take what they need which leaves food for others. He seemed satisfied, but still debating the differences between people and birds.

Afterwards, I reflected on the depth of the boy's question. Certainly, as a young student he has been encouraged to share and care for others. In nursery and elementary classrooms everywhere, it has become such a standard practice for teachers  to encourage good community practices that it is not surprising that my young student was aware of the need to share resources. However, his application of this fundamental 'fairness' issue to the world beyond the human experience, I found profound. He was seeking a connection between his life and the life of another organism - one whose mechanisms for survival are far different than our own. This is the very seeking all environmental mentors/teachers hope to nurture in every student with whom they interact. For from the childhood desire to understand the needs of others arises the possibility that as adults they will remember this yearning as they debate the environmental needs of the future.

If opportunities for all students to make personal connections to the natural world were as much the focus of their learning as 'reading, writing and arithmetic', I have no doubt we would water the seeds of environmentalism in all students. With over thirty years in the field of environmental education, I do not see these opportunities jumping out of any of the ongoing current curriculum discussions that seem locked in assessing learning that can be measured numerically. I find my inspiration as a teacher in those young learners who are being given this chance with the hope that in time their voices may carry enough weight to shift the discussion for all learners everywhere.

For resources on connecting children to nature:
Natural Start a NAAEE Initiative