The Environment – Key Learning
During our workshops we reflected on both the natural and urban environment, we also looked at living things and plants etc. This input made me think more about the environment in which I live in and the pro’s and con’s to the things I am surrounded by and the effects they can have on myself and the society. The independent study task allowed me to research this further. I began to think deeper about the things that surround my house and my street i.e. shopping centres, factories, parks etc. This was something that I had never really thought about before now but since this task, I have been continuing to recognise new things that have an effect on the physical and social environment in which I live in.
During our workshop with Andrew we discussed plants and living things and completed many different activities relating to them all, and ones that we could perhaps use in a primary school setting. One activity involved us going outdoors and rubbing over tree bark and leaves to make markings on paper. This activity allowed me to notice the range of different types of leaves surrounding us and the many different colours/shapes and sizes that they come in. I found this activity super easy and fun and a great idea for children to get themselves involved in the outdoors. We also looked at a Lilly and we used scissors to cut in and around it to investigate further into what we see and the structure of the plant itself. A key learning point from this input and further research was some misconceptions on plant growth. I discovered that plants do not need soil to grow as long as there is water and air available, and that seeds do not require light to germinate.
During the input with Louise, we explored the university grounds in search of a number of different types of things. Groups of leaves, groups of birds, groups of insects and groups of lichen. This was an extremely useful task in the sense that it was making you aware of the things that have always been around you but you haven’t noticed. I was amazed to see just how many different types of leaves could be in one place. This topic on the environment has particularly sparked my interest in the urban environment and becoming more aware of what is around me and how it affects my everyday life both positively and negatively. I also found the practical side of the tasks we completed i.e. exploring the outdoors and working with different plants and tree bark to be an excellent idea to take into placement with me and I want to research this further to find other activities related to the environment that I could use outdoors with children of all age groups, as it would be useful to find activities that can be easily adapted to younger children and older children.
