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by Sylvia Dresser * Knapp, Clifford E. In Accord With Nature. Charleston, West Virginia: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, 1999. The subtitle of this book tells it all: Helping Students form an Environmental Ethic using Outdoor Experience and Reflection. Cliff is one of the most thoughtful people I know, and his years of teaching in the outdoors and about the outdoors have led to a keen understanding of what people used to know, and what they know now, and the choices we all have to make in our lives. Cliff begins by describing environmental ethics, and going over the history of the concept. This is followed by an examination of ecology, nature and environment, technology, and human communities, and how they all fit together. Achieving an environmental ethic is the topic of the next section, followed by a discussion of what Environmental Values and Ethics Education consists of. The last part of the book covers activities to help students develop their own environmental ethic. Also included are a section on environmental values and ethics resources, and a lengthy bibliography. Our children today grow up knowing less about the natural world in a hands-on way than children of past years, and yet they have if anything a greater responsibility towards our natural world. The choices we have which impact our world are great - what better start for a child than to have their own, well-formulated ethic? * Bower, Nancy MacPhee. Adventure Play. Hamilton, MA: Project Adventure, Inc., 1998: This book fills a niche, explained by the description of Adventure Activities for Preschool and Early Elementary Age Children. Some of the activities are adaptations of games well-known in the field, and some are new. The first section of this book reviews concepts common to all areas of adventure education, but scaled down to the developmental level of the kids involved. The Full Value Contract, for example, is presented as a series of three simple statements, instead of being made up by the group. Utilization of the experiential learning cycle is addressed, as well as simple processing techniques appropriate for the young child. There is also a section on planning play sessions for young children, including lists of materials needed for certain activities. The activities themselves follow, laid out in very easy to use format. Variations and props are listed, as well as issues each game can be expected to address. There is also room in the margins for your own notes! Games are divided into categories, such as circle games and buddy games, making it easier to find something appropriate. Project Adventure excels in publishing great activity books, seasoned with good amounts of theory. Here's another to add to the list! * Guide for Planning a Learning Expedition. Expeditionary Learning. Outward Bound: edited by Meg Campbell, Martin Liebowitz, Amy Mednick and Leah Rugin. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt, 1998: "Learning expeditions are long-term, in-depth investigations of a topic that engage students in the world through authentic projects." So begins the explanation of a learning expedition, and the expedition into this book! The first parts of the book are explanatory materials, setting out the principles of learning expeditions, elements, definitions, etc. There is an overview of a Learning Expedition Plan, and an explanation of how to formulate one. The second section has several examples, ranging from Nora Gill's First Grade plan for Books! Books! Books! to a tenth grade plan for the Scientific Revolution: Galileo's New View. Each one of these shares the plan, including the expedition sequence, the performance standards, resources, and a statement from the teacher about the experience. It is becoming clear to many educators that conventional education is not reaching our students. For those interested in expeditionary learning as an alternative, this book is a wonderful resource, providing clear support in formulating Learning Expeditions, and wonderful examples. |