Green space and children’s mental development

Research in Barcelona, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and reported in the Guardian, explores the relationship between children’s exposure to green spaces at school, and their learning.  The Guardian report says: “The researchers carried out mental performance tests on 2,593 children aged seven to 10 attending 36 primary schools in Barcelona every three months…

The Children and Nature Network

The Children and Nature Network is the other American ‘CNN’.  Its vision is a world in which all children play, learn and grow with nature in their everyday lives, and the project grew out of the book: Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. CNN provides a weekly roundup of news, commentary, events and…

Action for Renewables

Action for Renewables campaigns for the development of renewable energy across the country. Its vision is of a future Britain powered in large part from clean, green and secure renewable energy sources, combatting climate change, and it is working to build a strong and active coalition of renewables supporters, including ordinary people, environmental campaigners and…

NAEE’s curriculum guides for schools

NAEE’s Curriculum Guides for Schools Green Steel: the transition away from carbon Manufacturing steel without huge CO2 emissions – to produce green steel – is an important industrial priority and a great challenge. This resource is aimed at secondary school science teachers. It explores what steel-makers are doing to find low-carbon and zero-carbon routes to…

A Daily Dose of Nature

Have you caught up with Gary Mantle’s blog: A Daily Dose of Nature? Gary is Chief Executive of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and President of the Sensory Trust, but his blog  provides personal reflections about his experiences of nature with occasional comments on both environmental issues, generally, and on how both Trusts are working to reconnect people and nature.…

FACE published new STEM activities

FACE asks: How can those of us engaged in farming and countryside education (farm educators and teachers in school) use activities inspired by food and farming to deliver Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects?  The answer is a new booklet produced by FACE which contains ideas presented by a wide variety of contributors.

The Wildlife Gardener

This is a brilliant book for use as a teachers’ guide and for lesson planning where the teacher wishes to focus on nature and environmental issues. I especially like the practical sections (make and do). What child could resist making a bee hotel, a hedgehog box or a pond for frogs? The ‘Ten Things to…

Natural Connections

The Natural Connections Demonstration Project is an initiative funded by Natural England, DEFRA and English Heritage, which Plymouth University were awarded the contract to deliver. It is one of the largest outdoor learning projects in the UK and will involve around 200 schools and between 200-500 volunteers. The project operates at a local, school-led level, in ‘hubs’ across the South…