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**Welcome to Sea to Sky Outdoor School's Wikispace**

[|Sea to Sky Outdoor School] provides educational programs of the highest quality tailored to the individual needs of elementary and high school groups and the collective need of society to shift to a sustainable path. Sea to Sky operates from two locations — YMCA Camp Elphinstone on the Sunshine Coast, and Camp Fircom on Gambier Island. Both sites are located in [|Howe Sound], Canada's southern-most fjord, just north-west of Vancouver, BC. toc

__**Why Create a Wikispace?**__ // **»» This Just In:** Download your receipt for the Pro-D Day! // //**»» This Just In:** Have you heard of Forest Kindergarten or Walkindergarten////? Click [|here] to read more!// //**»» This Just In:** New Teaching Resources like Resources for Rethinking [|here] and in the Teaching Resource Section!//
 * **Gibsons, BC –** On Friday, October 21, 2011, teachers from southern British Columbia came together to learn to be more effective outdoor and classroom educators. This day highlighted the potential of the outdoor classroom for learning that embraces the 3R's - Real, Relevant, Revolutionary, and the role it can play in making important curriculum connections. After a long day of paddling, hiking and sharing, we decided that it would be useful to create a Wikispace where teachers, educators and participants could share their knowledge and experiences.

=**Discussion Board** =

Please share your thoughts and experiences.
 * //Reflecting back on the Pro-D Day, what was the value of this day for you as a teacher/educator?//
 * //What do the indoor and outdoor classrooms offer?//
 * //Why is the outdoors an important classroom?// //What are some of the barriers and bridges to the outdoor classroom?//
 * //What are some tools that you have tried using since returning to the classroom?//

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=**Introduce the Great Outdoor Classroom – Y.E.S!** =

__ **Yippee!** __ <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> __ **Education!** __ __ **Safety!** __
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are outdoors to have fun, but it's no longer fun when you're cold, wet, hungry, thirsty etc.
 * Introduce Go Gear ([|GO GEAR.pdf])
 * Play a Name Game ([|Here]) and/or Ice-Breakers ([|Here])
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Using the [|Multiple Intelligence]framework, the goal is to reach as many students as possible.
 * The outdoors is a Failure-Free Zone, it's a great opportunity to take risks. Students will be inspired if they see their teachers taking risks (e.g. dressing up as a character, using props, speaking in an accent, teaching with skits, singing etc.).
 * Logbooks are handed out so that students take notes. We suggest that the first half of the logbook is saved for educational purposes (i.e. note-taking and record keeping) and the second half is for personal use (i.e. drawings, lists). The logbooks become the students' property and are private.
 * Outdoor education will only be successful if students and teachers are and feel safe
 * Listen! Students are encouraged to listen to teachers as they explain safety information. It allows for more fun (see Yippee!).
 * When encountering a new situation or new terrain, teachers give a concise safety briefing
 * Use communication when on trail: Ninja Logs, Ptwangs, Dog Ears, Slippery Spots
 * Display the '[|Jackie Chan]' position (arms out+bent knees=ready for anything) as the best way to get through tricky areas.
 * Reminder that you are safer in the outdoors than in your car. Allay fears.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"If it's not fun–don't do it. If you have to do it–make it fun." – **A Wise Soul**// =<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">**More Safety Tips** =

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers are encouraged to take First Aid and CPR training so that they feel comfortable dealing with a situation. They should also carry a small First Aid kit so that they are prepared for an emergency.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Remind students with medication (e.g. Epipen, Asthma Puffer) to bring it in their "**Go Gear"**.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Koo-Wee** to echolocate //(There are bats, and some whales & fish species that use echolocation. Why? How does it work?)//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Count-off** with teacher as '0', students '1,2,3,4...', students love being timed and trying to beat their last time.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Sandwich Method:** when walking as a group, teacher is in front as the leader and someone responsible as sweep. The leader and sweep are pieces of bread while students are all the fillings in between. Students can take those positions once they are familiar with those roles.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__ **'Go Gear' for Students and Teachers** __ <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Learning to use 'Go Gear' is a life skill. It makes the outdoors more fun, educational and safe. It can be modified to fit an urban life. We can make less waste if we have a reusable water bottle for drinks, travel mug for coffee, tupperware for take-away lunch. In essence, we live smaller footprint lifestyles when we use our 'Go Gear'. =<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">**The Many Uses of Props** =
 * **Items for 'Go Gear'** ||= **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Teacher ** ||= **<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Student ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reusable Water Bottle (1L) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Travel Mug ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tupperware with Lid ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reusable Cutlery ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Comfortable Walking Shoes ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Water Shoes (Crocs, Sandals, Rain Boots) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rain Gear (Jacket & Pants) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Extra Warm Layer (Fleece or Wool) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sunglasses ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tuque and Sunhat ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Personal Medications (e.g. Asthma Puffer, Epipen) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">First Aid Kit ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bouncy Balls ([|Earth Foam Ball], [|Nature Squeeze Toys]) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||=  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Quick Kite ([|The Original Konvertible Kite]) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">10 m Rope ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">9' x 12' Tarp ([|Polyethylene Tarp]) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Props (e.g. glasses & wig, puppet, models, [|Vancouver Aquarium Gift Shop]) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Small Portable Music-Maker (e.g. [|Harmonica], [|Clicker] etc.) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pocket Journal (e.g.[| Logbook]) ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Other ||= <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">√ ||  ||

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__ **Using a 9' x 12' Tarp:** __ <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Name Game:** Divide group into two teams. Tarp is folded in half and held up with two volunteers. Both teams huddle on either side of tarp, each quietly chooses one member to move to the 'hotseat' in the front middle position. The tarp is dropped, and the members at the front must say their opponents' name first to win. The winning side adds the losing side's 'hotseater' to their ranks. Game continues until everybody is over on one side.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Nature Art:** Let students choose a square on the edge of the tarp. That will be their canvas and they can use any natural materials in their surrounding area to create art. At the end of the activity, every student can have an opportunity to present their piece. The proper response to each presentation is a polite golf clap.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Steps to Success:**
 * Draw the photo (right) on a tarp without the check marks. In your logbook, create a path from one end of the tarp (__The Future Begins Here!)__ to __SUCCESS__ at the other end by ticking-off different boxes in a continuous line, sideways or diagonally but with forward intention. Line the students up in a U-shape around the tarp. The goal is for the students to figure out the path to __SUCCESS__ without speaking. To make it more difficult, don't allow any communication. The game finishes once every student has walked the specific path.
 * Each student goes one at a time, starting from the beginning and testing out one square at a time. If a student steps on the wrong square, make a sound (e.g. beep, harmonica) and the student returns to the back of the line to watch the next student. If a student chooses a right square, don't say anything, and let her/him choose another square. If the next square chosen is correct, then don't say anything. The other students will pay attention and learn from their own and others' mistakes. //(In life the role mistakes serve in our learning; the notion that we stand 'on the shoulders' of those who have gone before; the importance of collaboration in life's journey, etc.)//

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__ **Using a Ro****pe (10 m)** __ <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Electric Fence:** Tie rope between two trees at chest height. The goal is to get each student over the 'electric fence' without touching it.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Rope Shapes:** Tie rope into a loop. Get the group to create different shapes (e.g. square, rectangle, triangle) by holding the rope. Then get them to try it with their eyes closed, then without talking.
 * **Yurt Circle:** Tie the rope into a loop. Get the students to sit in a big circle and hold the rope. As the students hold the rope and lean back, they should be supported by the rope. If they are exceptional, bump them up to Level 8, where one student tries to walk along the taut rope (just kidding).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__ **Wacky Clothes/ Glasses/ Wig** __
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Add an accent and body language, and you get a great character that your students will love! Things that happen in your character's life can reflect some of the fears, hopes, anxieties or thrills in the worlds of your students.

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">**Listening Techniques** =

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are naturally drawn to the outdoor classroom because of all that it offers. This can create significant distractions when we are trying to capture or hold the attention of students. We have discovered that the following techniques work well as attention grabbers: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em;">__**To Get Your Students' Attention**__

 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Play a harmonica
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Call "C"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Koo-Wee" and they repeat it back
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Say "Lub" and they say "Dub" repeatedly until the group quiets and is listens

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em;">__**To Facilitate Discussion**__
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**Talking Tickets**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Each student chooses or is given two fir cones/leaves/rocks. Each item represents a turn to talk for a limited amount of time (e.g. 10 seconds, 2 minutes). You only have to use one ticket in the discussion, but you cannot use more than two, emphasizing wise use of tickets. Talk about the pauses that will occur. In our culture, we often have difficulty with silence, while other cultures see the important role it plays and respect it. The discussion will be over when the teacher does an obvious action (e.g. takes off her/his hat). The objective is to become more aware of the individuals in the group. Anyone can begin the discussion by making eye contact with everyone in the group, then placing their object in front of them, as long as no one else does it at the same time.
 * As an alternative, you can place a water bottle in the middle. Rather than placing the object in front of yourself, gently throw it as close as you can to the bottle.
 * This discussion technique assures that the loud students are limited, and that the quiet students have an opportunity to speak. It also lets the students facilitate their own discussion. It works particularly well with a controversial question.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**Samoan Circle**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Start with your group sitting in one big circle. Choose four students to move to the middle of the circle facing each other taking the positions of the four cardinal points of a compass. The four students are in the talking circle. They are allowed to converse as much as they like, while the outer circle becomes a listening circle. If a listening student wants to join the discussion, she can quietly and slowly move into position behind one of the members of the talking circle. They will wait patiently until one of the members of the talking circle feels they have nothing left to add. They will then move to the listening circle creating a space for a new speaker.
 * This discussion technique emphasizes the art of listening and lets the students facilitate their own discussion.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**Concentric Circles**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Divide the group into two. Half of the group makes a circle facing outwards, and the other half makes a circle on the outside facing in. Each student should have a partner across from them. Give the group a question to discuss with their partner. After a set time, get the outside circle to move one person to the left. Now each student will have a new partner to share their ideas.
 * This discussion techniques creates some good 'one-on-one' conversations. It also allows a lot of information to be shared in a small amount of time.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">**Talking Balls**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Toss a squishy ball to a student who answers a question or shares an opinion. She can play with it while speaking, then throw it back to you. You can then throw it to someone else who has an answer.
 * If sitting in a group, roll the ball to the student who would like to talk. They can roll it to the next person.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em;">__**To Captivate Your Students**__
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Group Circle**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Always speak in a circle: it moves the focus inward to a community mindedness and allows you to make eye-contact with every student. No shape or configuration is more egalitarian/democratic and less hierarchial than a circle.
 * **Make it fun!** Close your eyes, tell your students that they should all be in a circle by the time you count to ten. Once they are in a circle, get a student to call "Time!". Note the time it took to get them into formation. Challenge them to do it faster next time.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Thinking Box**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use a wooden box with a hinged lid and a lock. Cut a slit through the lid so that pieces of paper can fit in. Place it at the front of the classroom to attract those with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Fill it with different natural objects (e.g. rocks, wood, beeswax) that can be borrowed and played with during the class.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">**And When Nothing Else Works...**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">If your student group is too fidgety, play a game or give them 10 minutes for outdoor recess.

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">**VAKS: The Values, Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills** =

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">VAKS are needed to help get students outside. VAKS are not always sequential. Students don't have to have the values and attitudes before they gain the knowledge and skills. Sometimes by teaching the knowledge and skills, the students develop their own values and attitudes. For example, a student exploring the intertidal zone, and learning about the various organisms and habitats can develop a love and appreciation for nature. By completing an initiative game, a student can develop confidence in themselves. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**Values (I love)** <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//When asked how she found to make such an intricate mat, the polynesian elder responded:// <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"I don't have time to count time. I do it until it is done".// <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**Attitudes (I can)**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">While outdoors, students and teachers can change their names to something from the non-human world (e.g. Wings, Koala, River. Dolphin, Cedar).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Island Time:**Students put their watches, cell phones and cameras in a water-tight box. While outside use other cues to define time in your day. Use the angle of the sun, your hunger, your energy to get in tune with your own time.
 * In the classroom, use a [|Now Clock] to remind students of mindfullness, or [|Audubon's Singing Bird Clock] to teach students bird songs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Earth Flags] communicate volumes about the culture of a community or organization. [[image:images.jpeg align="right"]]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Individuals make a difference for better or worse. Let's make sure it's the former.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Failure-Free Zone!** Cultivate a sense of wonder and awe in your students by asking leading questions about the West Coast environment. For example, what kind of animals do you think live here? Which are the most common? How do we know? What kind of evidence can we find? If you were dropped off here for two weeks without any help like in coming-of-age 'walk-abouts', how would you survive? How do you think the local aboriginals survived here for millenia before European colonials arrived? How old do you think this tree is, how can you tell? Using the approximate number of rings? Imagine what a 100 year old tree has experienced.
 * Risk is OK. Show your students that it is OK not to know everything by admitting that you do not know the answer. Demonstrate researching the answer using a book or a field guide.[[image:article-page-main-ehow-images-a07-ju-mv-can-kids-save-rainforest-800x800.jpg align="right"]]
 * Students turn-off once you name a species, so focus on its function, adaptations and interesting facts.
 * **Fun Tool!** To change students' mindsets, get them to rename something. For example, (pointing at a tree) ask what it is. It's a water pump, it's a home, it's a carbon sequestration machine, it's an umbrella etc.
 * [|Plants of Coastal British Columbia] Field Guide has thorough information of trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, ferns, mosses, lichens and their uses by aboriginals. For more ethnobotanical information see [|Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples].

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**Knowledge (I know)**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">To be effective, use the 3 Rs when teaching: Make it **Real, Relevant and Revolutionary!**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Before taking your class outdoors, walk the route and explore the area in advance. What are some good teaching spots? What are some good spots for solitary reflection? Is there a natural landmark that can focus on? Are there any dangerous points?

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">** Skills (I will) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Spend more time outdoors first which hopefully will increase your enthusiasm for it as a classroom. Figure out and practice ways of keeping students dry in wet weather, shaded in bright sun, warm on cold days.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Learn a repertoire of games that can be good 'spacers' between activities or fillers when you find your group in a 'waiting place'
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Learn some legends and stories for time in front of a campfire or lantern
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Learn knots that are useful in everyday living

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.4em;">**Creating the Magic** =

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Feeling comfortable makes us all much more receptive. Our species has lived outside for about 95% of its existence. There is something mysterious and enticing about a flame. The flicker of a fire draws us in and captivates our attention. Creating a fire in your classroom or on school premises presents many hurdles, here are some tips. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**A Potted Fire!** Use an old cooking pot or frying pan as a fire container. Place the pot on a piece of plywood, and support it with some rocks about the ground. This buffer not only prevents melting the surface, but it prevents killing the grass and soil fauna.
 * This technique works best outdoors.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Candle Lanterns!** This [|Wooden Lantern Kit]is used at Sea to Sky to create magic indoors. We have brought them into countless schools for our presentations.
 * To get the most out of your lanterns, turn off the lights in your classroom before the students arrive. The candlelight will draw them in instantly.
 * **A Day With Natural Daylight!** Once a month, work with natural light in your classroom. It is a great way to bring the outdoors inside.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**The Role of Technology:** By choosing to not use electric lights, you are creating a perfect opportunity to discuss the role of technology in oiur lives. Do not put down technology. It has its many uses. // (What is the role of technology in our lives? How does it improve our lives? Are there times when technology impinges on our lives? Who control who?) //

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">**Games to Play** =


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you have 5 minutes...[[image:IMGP4449.jpg width="400" height="300" align="right" caption="Pro-D Teachers doing the Shakedown!"]]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">**Shakedown:** For students who are cold, this is a perfect game to get everyone moving and laughing! Quickly do 16 left arm pumps together, 16 right arm pumps, 16 left leg shakes, 16 right leg shakes, and 16 booty shakes. [Repeat with 8, 4, 2, 1]. If still cold, then repeat working your way up from 1 to 16.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Choose to Lose:** Every student needs a partner and holds their hand in position for a 'Thumb War'. The goal of the game is to pin your partner's thumb 10 times in 10 seconds. Let the students try to achieve the goal. It won't work if they're being competitive. Let them figure out that if they cooperate with their partner, then they can take turns pinning each others' thumbs.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> = = =<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">**Teaching Resources** =
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Initiative Games** ([|More Info])
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Name Games** ( [|Here] ) & Ice-Breakers ( [|Here] )

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__ **The Big Picture** __ At Sea to Sky we use this model to reinforce 'Nature' as our life support system and to profile three significant relationships between the human and non-human world. ([|More Info]) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Scenario B. Sustainability:** We understand the insanity of a growth economy on a finite planet and transition quickly to a steady state economy. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Miracle** reminds us that a living planet is perhaps the rarest thing in the known universe... and humans are not required to make it work.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Balance** depicts the world when human population was relatively small, technology simple, consumption of resources modest and waste production biodegradable and manageable.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Overshoot** demonstrates what happens to any species–in this case //Homo sapiens//–when it exceeds the carrying capacity of its home.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Scenario A. Crash:** Our growth centred economy continues to eat away at the natural systems that together provide life support services to us any many other species.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__ **Ecological Footprints** __ <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">How many Earths are required if everyone lived like you?

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">__<span style="font-size: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**Tools to Make a Big Difference** __ <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Using the [|Greenstar!] framework in ecological foot-printing, calculate how much Nature you take to live?

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**__Education Resource Websites__**
 * Environment Canada
 * Parks Canada
 * Department of Fisheries and Oceans
 * Resources for Rethinking
 * Sierra Club
 * Pembina Institute
 * Canadian Wildlife Federation
 * Safe Drinking Water Foundation
 * Earth Day Canada
 * Ducks Unlimited
 * David Suzuki Foundation

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and to learn what is good for it." – **Wendell Berry**// =<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 1.4em;">**How Can I Bring the Outdoors into my Classroom?** =

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are endless ways to incorporate the outdoors into your classroom. Here are a few ideas discussed, but please feel free to add your own. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Candle Lanterns (see "Creating the Magic")
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">A 'Now' or Audubon Bird Clock (see "VAKS")
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Quotations (see "Inspirational Quotations")
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Display an Earth Flag (see "VAKS")
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Create a "Wonder Box"Skits and Characters
 * Everyday, place a new natural object from our bioregion (e.g. piece of granite, driftwood, crabshell, mammal skull, dried flower, fir cone ([|The Legend]))
 * On a slip of recycled paper, have your students write down their name and their guess. At the end of the day/class, go through the box. The winner will be the first slip that you find that is correct.
 * We recommend that you start your Wonderbox collection before you start the contests. You go through the objects quickly!
 * <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Vermicomposters] are very popular with students and create many teaching moments

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Recommended Books =

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Richard Louv** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.//[[image:nature-principle-cover-lrg.jpg height="224" align="right"]][[image:last-child-in-the-woods1.jpg height="200" align="right"]]
 * In his landmark work "Last Child in the Woods," Richard Louv brought together cutting-edge studies that pointed to direct exposure to nature as essential for a child's healthy physical and emotional development. Now this new addition updates the growing body of evidence linking the lack of nature in children's lives and the rise in obesity, attentiondisorders, and depression. Louv's message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign. His book will change the way you think about our future and the future of our children.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder//
 * In his bestselling book //Last Child in the Woods//, Richard Louv sparked a national debate that spawned an international movement to reconnect kids and nature. He coined the term nature-deficit disorder; influenced national policy; and helped inspire campaigns in over eighty cities, states, and provinces throughout North America. In //The Nature Principle//, Louv delivers another powerful call to action—this time for adults.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link to [|Richard Louv Website]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link to his organization, <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|The Children and Nature Network]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Paul Hawken**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Blessed Unrest: How The Largest Movement In The World Came Into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming////Blessed Unrest//explores the diversity of the movement, its brilliant ideas, innovative strategies, and hidden history, which date back many centuries. A culmination of Hawken's many years of leadership in the environmental and social justice fields, it will inspire and delight any and all who despair of the world's fate, and its conclusions will surprise even those within the movement itself. Fundamentally, it is a description of humanity's collective genius, and the unstoppable movement to reimagine our relationship to the environment and one another.
 * Link to [|Paul Hawken Website]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**David Orr**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment and the Human Prospect[[image:1559634952.jpg width="186" height="274" align="right"]]//
 * In Earth in Mind, noted environmental educator David W. Orr focuses not on problems in education, but on the problem of education. Much of what has gone wrong with the world, he argues, is the result of inadequate and misdirected education that: alienates us from life in the name of human domination; causes students to worry about how to make a living before they know who they are; overemphasizes success and careers; separates feeling from intellect and the practical from the theoretical; deadens the sense of wonder for the created world. The crisis we face, Orr explains, is one of mind, perception, and values. It is, first and foremost, an educational challenge. The author begins by establishing the grounds for a debate about education and knowledge. He describes the problems of education from an ecological perspective, and challenges the "terrible simplifiers" who wish to substitute numbers for values. He follows with a presentation of principles for re-creating education in the broadest way possible, discussing topics such as biophilia, the disciplinary structure of knowledge, the architecture of educational buildings, and the idea of ecological intelligence. Orr concludes by presenting concrete proposals for reorganizing the curriculum to draw out our affinity for life.
 * Link to [|David Orr Website]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Rob Hopkin**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience[[image:The_Transition_Handbook.jpg width="229" height="268" align="right"]]//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">We live in an oil-dependent world, arriving at this level of dependency in a very short space of time by treating petroleum as if it were in infinite supply. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but //The Transition Handbook// shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities that will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies to keep money in the local area. There are now over 30 "transition towns" in the UK, Australia and New Zealand with more joining as the idea takes off. They provide valuable experience and lessons-learned for those of us on this side of the Atlantic. With little proactive thinking at the governmental level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. If your town is not a transition town, this upbeat guide offers you the tools for starting the process.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link to [|Rob Hopkins Website]

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 25px;">Inspirational Quotations =

// "I do not want to talk about what you understand about this world. I want to know what you will do about it. I do not want to know what you hope. I want to know what you will work for. I do not want your sympathy for the needs of humanity. I want your muscle." — **Robert Fulghum** //

// "Education is not widely regarded as a problem, although the lack of it is. The conventional wisdom holds that all education is good, and the more of it one has, the better. This view can be challenged from an ecological perspective. The truth is that without significant precautions, education can equip people merely to be more effective vandals of the earth. If one listens carefully, it may even be possible to hear the Creation groan at every graduation ceremony when another batch of smart, degree-holding, but ecologically illiterate, Homo sapiens who are eager to succeed are launched into the biosphere." — **David Orr,** Earth in Mind //

// "We are confronted by insurmountable opportunities." — **Pogo** //

// "I was sleeping and dreaming that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was duty. I acted and the obvious became clear. That duty was joy." — **Rabindranath Tagore** //

// "In the next century or the one beyond that, they say, are valleys, pastures, we can meet there in peace if we make it. To climb these coming crests one word to you, to you and your children: stay together, learn the flowers, go light." — **Gary Snyder** //

// "The old Lakota were wise. They knew that a child's heart away from Nature soon hardened, that a lack of respect for living things soon led to a lack of respect for humans too… so they kept their children close to its softening influence." //

// "The story of the twentieth century was finding out just how big and powerful we were. And it turns out that we're big and powerful as all get out. The story of the 21st century is going to be finding out if we can figure out ways to get smaller or not. To see if we can summon the will, and then the way, to make ourselves // smaller //, and try to fit back into this planet." — **Bill McKibben** //

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"There is one last reason for caring, and I believe that no other is necessary. It is certainly the reason why so many people have devoted their lives to protecting the likes of rhinos, parakeets, spirit bears and dolphins. And it is simply this: the world would be a poorer, darker, lonelier place without them." — **Mark Carwardine**//

// "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." — **Marcel Proust** //

// "In wildness is the preservation of the world." — **Henry David Thoreau** //

// "We shall not cease from exploration and the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." — **T.S. Eliot** //

// "Everyone can be great because everyone can serve." — **Martin Luther King** //

// "There may be some grand, sacrificial, heroic answer, but the best answers I know are almost trivial. Environmental problems are caused by billions of small, unthinking actions. They'll be cured by billions of small, sensible actions, simple substitutions of environmentally conscious habits for thoughtless and wasteful ones." — **Anonymous** //

// "We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and to learn what is good for it." – **Wendell Berry** //

// "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" –**Aldo Leopold** //

// "Simplicity in all things is the secret of the outdoors and one of its most valuable lessons. It is what we leave behind that is important." –**Sigurd Olson** //

// "We are compounded of dust and the light of a star." –**Loren Eiseley** //

// "I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it to myself than to be crowded on a red velvet cushion." –**Henry David Thoreau** //

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"Man's heart away from nature becomes hard." –**Standing Bear**//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." –**Ralph Waldo Emerson**//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." –**George Washington Carver**//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." –**John Muir**//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright." –**Henry David Thoreau**//