Before participating in this session I feel that I had a very narrow understanding of what the environment was, although I had achieved a B in higher geography I still believed that the environment was nature and our surroundings. The environment is your surroundings and takes into consideration land, buildings, air, water and weather.

I also furthered my knowledge of sustainability, sustainability is as stated by the Scottish Government ( 2010, p 4) allowing all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a good quality of life without compromising the quality of life of the future generations. Sustainable development has significant benefits for children, the community and the global community. I had never considered before the effects of my actions will impact the global community, and now I understand that having a sustainable environment is beneficial as it allows environmental improvements and health benefits.

I feel that I was able to consolidate my knowledge and understanding of living and non living things and now know that there are three things to consider. Does it breathe? Does it eat? Does it reproduce?

I also learnt that Lichen is an organism which grows in and around the natural environment and can often demonstrate the air quality of a specific area and this can be determined by the colour, shape, size and form.

Spending a large proportion of the session outside was a key part of my learning. Having time to consider how learning experiences could be carried out in a different environment was really interesting and I was able to consider how children may not be able to get the same sensory experience whilst indoors.

 This has impacted upon me as in the days that followed, I found myself observing and considering things in my surroundings before that I previously would not have. This has allowed me to gain further knowledge on aspects of my environment such as what certain traffic is that passes through my village.

When travelling to university I also took in a lot more of my surrounding than I had previously. I was able to consider the roads which I was driving on and the impact which they were having on my environment, for example the pollution from traffic, what was required to put the roads in place and the layout of the roads.

 My lifestyle has been impacted as during the lecture I was able to consider how my actions within the urban environment have a large impact upon the natural environment. Having learnt that cities are responsible for over 70% of carbon emissions and thought about the finite resources. I have been more conscientious in ensuring I switch off lights and electrical switches. Also in the week that followed in my village the waste and recycling system was renewed and therefore I am having to think about where my rubbish is going and how I can reduce, reuse and recycle. All of this making for a sustainable future. This will also impact my practice as a future teacher as I want to educate children on how we impact the rest of the world and how we can create a good future for them by ensuring we look after our environment.

This learning will impact on my future practice as it has allowed me to see that simple activities in an outdoor environment have great potential for a successful learning experience. Allowing children to consider for example different types of leaves whilst outside will lead to a much deeper experience as they will begin to consider where the leaves have come from, what criteria was required for this to happen. Helping children to understand the environment will lead to learning for sustainability.

 I feel that an area which I have to further develop is my understanding of plants and how I could transfer my knowledge into a classroom setting. To do this I will look at the PowerPoint and consider the information which it contains and if there are parts which I still do not understand then I will do further reading and speak to people with a more specialised knowledge of the subject.

I have to develop my confidence within a science lab, as I feel that I did not have the ability to assertively carry out the tasks that were asked of me. To do this I will have to fully participate in the activities each week and ensure that I read all instructions properly allowing me to carry out each step successfully.

 The activities which we carried out in the natural environment were really interesting and I feel that I would like to use these within a classroom setting.

To further develop my knowledge I want to consider how my urban environment impacts upon the physical environment, support human growth, provides resources for life and how it interacts with nature. I feel that I will be able to do this whilst carrying out the activity on my urban environment and following the prompts that I have been given.