The 2010 Environmental Project Based Learning Institute took place August 16-19. Below is the final installment about the Institute.
Good Oak
There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.
To avoid the first danger, one should plant a garden, preferably where there is no grocer to confuse the issue.
To avoid the second, he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where there is no furnace, and let it warm his shins while a February blizzard tosses the trees outside. If one has cut, split, hauled, and piled his own good oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the week end in town astride a radiator.
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
This is a favorite passage of students at River Crossing. One reason is mainly that a lot of their projects encompass this chapter. As Victoria Rydberg states, “the students write their autobiography in reverse chronological order, like they were cutting through the rings of the tree.” Another reason is that they learn about the tree anatomy and the types of tissue, and experience first hand cutting and splitting of their own good oak. Not only do these students learn the environmental history of Wisconsin, but embrace the land ethic as described so clearly by Aldo Leopold in the Sand County Almanac. “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” “In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.” As Leopold would put it, these students are “Thinking Like a Mountain”. The students are learning first hand their role in nature and their responsibilities to respect the natural involvement of land.
Educators at the Institute had the pleasure to meet and listen to Marybeth Lorbiecki, author of “Aldo Leopold – A fierce green fire”. This biography tells the life story of Aldo Leopold and his story on the conservation of land use. The environmental projects that students engage allow the students to learn first hand about nature and themselves conserve the land. Another author, Greg Summers, spoke at the Institute not on “Thinking Like a Mountain” as Leopold would state, but “Thinking Like a Home Owner”. Summers uses the house as a metaphor. He wants people to consider nature in terms of a home, by going room to room and finding the connection of the resources brought into the home and where they originate. The goal is for homeowners to recognize what resources are used for the heating of their house, water coming from the faucet and electricity running their appliances. As homeowners recognize these resources as the comfort of nature, they can begin to help sustain these resources.
As described in the evening activities and speakers, the Environmental Project Based Learning Institute provided so much more than projects for teachers to bring into their classrooms. It provided a network of resources to everyone that will continue to grow. It brought a better understanding on how to incorporate the natural world not only into the student projects, but also across the curriculum and to the school as a whole. A teacher also mentioned once that project-based learning is based on relationships; the relationship between the teacher and student; the relationship between the student and parent; and the relationship between the teacher and parent. Environmental project based learning takes it a step further with the relationship of all these people and nature.
