NAEE published its response to the Ofsted consultation about its new inspection framework last week. It’s here if you missed it. We told Ofsted that it was time for schools began to take the issues of the world seriously in the curriculum and help students prepare to play a part in addressing them. NAEE also contributed to (and supported) the response made by the Natural Environment Sector Partnership [NESP], which is organised by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom on behalf of the learning outside the classroom sector. The NESP text draws on the CLOtC response which is posted here.
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Pinterest is offering a range of ideas and resources for teaching about Ecology. Click here to get access. We particularly liked the one of the Earth’s carbon footprint from Stanfordkaystudio.com in the shape of a footprint – and the one from Medium.com on the transition away from fossil fuels. But it was a hard choice as there are so many listed. An early browse is recommended.
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Do you want to GoWild this Easter in Berks, Berks and Oxon? If so, ideas are just one click away c/o the Wildlife Trusts, and the Canal & Rivers Trust has a nature spotters’ guide to help you down by the water.
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In the latest DERC seminar, Steph McAllen is presenting research on 9/10 year old children’s perceptions of the world and the future, contrasting these with the perceptions of teachers and parents in their lives. This will consider the cognitive and affective dimensions of their awareness as well as the extent to which they could be described as active global citizens. It’s on Tuesday 30 April 2019 [1700 – 1830] at UCL Institute of Education in London. You can register here.
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The latest mailing from ENSI has details of
- a Sustainable Development Goals Clearinghouse for teachers from UNESCO
- a UNECE Snapshot Report on the Goals
- a draft concept on Teaching and Learning for Sustainable Development for post-2019 ESD.
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UNICEF’s 16-nation study into how water supplies effect children caught up in emergencies shows that children under-five are 20 times more likely to die from illnesses linked to unsafe water and bad sanitation, than from conflict. UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said:
“The odds are already stacked against children living through prolonged conflicts – with many unable to reach a safe water source. The reality is that there are more children who die from lack of access to safe water than by bullets.”
According to the report, every year, 72,000 under-fives die annually from similar illnesses linked to WASH-access problems, compared to 3,400 from war-related violence.
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The Children & Nature Network has its latest research digest here. It includes the following:
- Educational Benefits of Nature Exposure
- Later-in-Life Benefits of Childhood Nature
- Restoration Benefits of Nature Exposure
- Understanding Sustainability Issues
CN&N’s research archive is here.
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Geographical says that the domestication of animals for food, secondary products, labour and companionship over the past 11,000 years has led to a global distribution of domesticated species with distinct geographical patterns.
In Europe, pigs are the largest animal livestock population, and according to Eurostat there were 147 million in the EU in 2016. There were 89 million cattle, and 87 million sheep. Though there are similar numbers of sheep and cattle across Europe they have quite different spatial distributions, and you can see these in two cartograms where each grid cell is resized according to the total number of livestock for each species in that area.