With thanks to Chris Townsend, here are a few extracts from the Creative STAR Outdoor Learning & Play July Newsletter.
GLOBAL INTIMACY – LEARNING TO LOVE YOUR PLANET
Peter Higgins is an advisor on environmental sustainability education to the Scottish Government, the UK Commission for UNESCO and other UK, European and international agencies. This short film of his TEDx talk covers the most important relationship we have – between ourselves and our planet. Have you ever though of where you were made from rather than what you were made from
30 ACTIONS FOR GREENER LIFESTYLES
Changeworks are celebrating their 30th birthday by issuing 30 online resources full of simple tips and initiatives to make all our lives that big greener. The 1st action is about controlling your heating at home and not letting it control you, with the 2nd action all about improving the energy efficiency of your home and links to some of their popular resources to help you do this. Actions will be shared throughout 2017 and each one will be an easy way to make a real difference.
THE OUTWARD BOUND TRUST – SOCIAL IMPACT REPORT
This Social Impact Report has been published by The Outward Bound Trust and contains findings from their ongoing research and evaluation. It features: inspiring testimonials from young people, teachers and their parents about the changes that have happened after their Outward Bound courses; statistics showing the improvements in young people’s attitudes, skills & behaviours following their course; evidence that there is a lasting improvement in these skills; and their newly developed Theory of Change (a diagram that maps out the key steps that lead to lasting impact on their courses, helping them to be specific about what makes an Outward Bound course so powerful).
TEMPERATE FOREST LESSON PLAN KS2
The Forestry Commission England have produced a free downloadble resource for KS2 students and teachers to discover the differences between temperate (UK) forests and tropical forests, including engaging, hands-on activities to learn about tree identification, plant diversity and woodland structure.
EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE – LET THE EARTH BE YOUR CLASSROOM
Discover Earth is a free programme which engages teachers and students with nature and helps them to reconnect to their planet, understand their impact on it and take action to protect it. The Earthwatch specialist learning team are available to visit schools and offer support on a number of cross-cutting themes which link to the Sustainable Development Goals with activities which include Fresh Water Watch ( investigating the health of global freshwater systems on a scale never seen before) and Earthworm Watch ( exploring our dependence on healthy soils and the influence that earthworms can have on ensuring soils remain healthy).