The beginning is important
Education is no different, and the most important ingredient for early education is nature. To realize a more beautiful and sustainable future, teaching kids through concrete experiences and cultivating the right attitude toward nature is definitely the royal road.
How can we teach kids outside the classroom?
If you have read the previous essays, you must have found the educational concepts inspirational. Now you may also be curious about what kids can learn outside the classroom and what kind of learning activities and curricula without a classroom is suitable for raising environmental consciousness in kids.
In fact, there are many people who are interested in the idea. For example, the Agriculture Bureau of Yilan County Government has been promoting the “Project of Planting A Million Trees” since 2010.
To take a step further, the bureau introduced the project of “A Forest on the Move” in March 2015 to promote ecofriendly picture books and encourage children to plant trees for the earth. With the project, the Yilan Agriculture Bureau hopes not only to raise the environmental awareness in children but also to spread to the idea to the people around them.
Learning to look after the forest
“A Forest on the Move” is a three-year action, which aims at delivering environmental education to kids step by step. Through this project, kids can learn about plants, which are a fundamental part in food chain, as well as how they become a forest. Based on the knowledge, kids are then taught about ecofriendly eating and cherishing all resources. By transforming children into eco-warriors, an ecofriendly lifestyle can then be spread to every corner in the society.
“A Forest on the Move” is a vehicle designed as an installation artwork by incorporating things like pot plants and animal puppets, etc. Like a mobile forest, “A Forest on the Move” also features driftwood as well as animal creatures and plants made of recycled materials or farming tools. The six components of the forest ecosystem are on display in the truck, including inorganic materials, organic materials, producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer and climate factors. The truck goes to elementary schools and crowded places to deliver green concepts through reading and discussing pictures books. Kids learn important things about ecological balance through stories like Look After Your Planet told to kids by professional storytellers. Real seeds are further provided to children to allow hands-on experience and to let children know that leading a green lifestyle is not as difficult as they may think. Through this planting activity, kids will be more aware of the importance of trees and will be more motivated to take care of them.
In addition to the story of Look After Your Planet, videos can be rented home to allow more convenient access to ecofriendly ideas. As a mobile educational tool, the truck makes great contributions by bringing green concepts to remote schools as the students there have very limited access to this kind of information. The project is expected to take 50 journeys in recent months around Taiwan. We can almost see the curiosity kindled on childrenʼs face!。
Written by Lauren Child, one of the most popular authors of childrenʼs literature in the UK, Look After Your Planet promotes the idea of doing good things for the earth. The book is especially meaningful because it was printed with FSC certified paper.。
