Over the past 2 sessions in our Sustainable Development lectures and workshops, we have been learning about the environment. In the first week we looked at the natural environment and in the second we looked at urban environments. I have found this theme very interesting as it has allowed me to consider my surroundings in a careful and thoughtful way. Before the first session I had quite a narrow definition of Sustainable Development. I thought of it only as referring to energy consumption and Global Warming, however, I can now see that these elements play only a part of sustainable development, along with consideration of the physical, social, and economical environment, as discussed by Mckeown and Hopkins (2010). Allowing learners in school to understand the vast area which learning for sustainability covers is clearly very important as it will help them to live their lives in a way which is comfortable for them but which will also provide comfort and equity for future generations. The young people of today are the policy makers of tomorrow, so essentially, we are not only teaching them to live their personal lives in a sustainable way, but we are teaching them values which will positively impact future policies, hopefully leading to a fairer and healthier world with a respect for the environment.
Within the first workshop of Sustainable Development we went outdoors to do some outdoor learning. This was a concept which I thought that I had a good understanding of, however it was this workshop which provided me with the skill of being able to use the outdoor environment to teach in ways which went beyond simply learning outdoors. My favourite of these outdoor activities was the idea of creating an insect hotel with learners and having them design and construct the hotel with different sections for different insects. 
This could follow a research task which could be done in groups about different insects and their habitats, food, and place within the food web. The insect hotel then provides various opportunities for learning in many different areas of the curriculum, such as maths tasks in the form of data handling (eg. revisiting the hotel once a day or at different times in the day to see how many of which insects are there and when), money (eg. working out the imaginary costs of a room in the hotel per night), and multiplication and division, or addition and subtraction, or simple counting. It also allows for many different literacy tasks such as a holiday brochure being made to advertise and describe the facilities of the hotel and why it is suitable for different insects, and a mock Trip Advisor review of the hotel written from the perspective of insects who returned to the hotel and insects who left. We also went on a sensory walk in which we carefully considered our surroundings in terms of our different senses, and we found and identified different insects and leaves as well as different types of Lychen to photographs on a sheet. These activities also provide various different learning opportunities as well as making learners more aware of their natural environment.
The activity of looking for the different types of Lychen can be used to teach learners about the different types of air pollution and the impact these have on the natural environment. For example, the learners would be asked to consider why trees or fences facing certain ways have more Lychen than others.
This allows learners to see the presence of air pollution first hand so would be a good way to contextualise learning about the impacts of human activity for the Experience and Outcome SOC 2-08a: I can discuss the environmental impact of human activity and suggest ways in which we can live in a more environmentally-responsible way.
I also found the indoor workshop very beneficial as it allowed me to see how we can learn about the natural environment indoors as well. From dissecting flower petals and looking at them under a microscope, to studying the shells, bodies, eating habits, and habitats of snails by experimenting with them and looking at them close up, I was provided with memorable learning experiences which gave me a deeper understanding of these parts of my natural environment. 
This type of experimentation builds up the skill of hypothesis in the primary school classroom as pupils would be asked to discuss what they think is going to happen if they place a snail on a certain surface, for example, then they would be asked to investigate by placing the snail on different surfaces to see which one it prefers, before being asked to work together and record their results, then report them to others. These are key scientific skills which will help learners to experiment and discover new things.
When learning about the urban environment, I gained an appreciation of the importance of having a good sense of place which I did not previously have. Before looking into this I did not see any real benefit of having a good knowledge of my surroundings. However, I can now see that it is this knowledge which makes us truly care about our environment and which will help us to lead the way towards a more sustainable way of life (Scottish Government, 2012). 
Our sense of place comes from our understanding of our culture, society and our physical environment. By looking more closely at my urban environment I have developed a stronger sense of place and can see how this would benefit children as it would allow them to gain a better understanding of environmental geography and to develop a better general awareness of the impact of their choices and actions on our environment. Allowing learners to explore their urban environment is also very important as it helps them to see themselves as part of the community and may encourage them to take a more active role within it. This is something which, as teachers, we should encourage (Scottish Government, 2012) as it promotes a care for the happiness and health of others. This care is essential if we are to help young people develop into adults who are going to fight for equity and justice in the future. The school buildings and grounds should promote the ideal sustainable way of life and should be used whenever possible to bring the community together (Scottish Government, 2012) as in ever expanding urban areas, social areas are becoming harder and harder to come by due to the need to build more buildings in previous public spaces (Orofino, 2014).
A lesson idea which I had for a Primary 5 class to follow the Experience and Outcome SOC 2-10a: ‘Having explored my local area, I can present information on different places to live, work and relax and interesting places to visit.’ was to take the class on a walk in their local urban area to explore the different places to work, live, and relax and have them take photographs of these places, asking them to consider who may use these places and what impact they may have on the community. They would then be put into groups and would video an advert for their local urban environment, describing its features and explaining why someone may want to live there. This advert would be made using Windows Movie Maker, or iMovie or another app of the sort to allow the learners to include the photos which they took. The adverts would then be presented to the class, or possibly to the school at assembly to promote a whole-school approach to learning for sustainability.
Finally, coming from a peri-urban area, when I was reflecting on my urban environment I felt it would be beneficial to explore and reflect on a more traditional urban space also. I chose to consider Glasgow and while exploring this city I found it to have some similarities but many differences to my home village. I feel that this is very important as it allows learners to see that there is more to the world than their home town or city and what is normal to them may not be normal to others. Taking this further, it is important to allow learners to have connections with and to see aspects of distant places as it creates an appreciation for the world and a global view.
I feel that one of the main things which I learned from these lessons on the environment was the fact that although we all come from different types of places, our actions and decisions all impact each other, making it vital that we develop a consideration, understanding, and awareness within ourselves and our young people towards living more sustainably within our environments.
References
Mckeown, R., and Hopkins, C., (2010) Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development: Transformation in the Initial Teacher Education of Teachers. In Wisley, T., Barr, I., Britton, A. and King, B. Education in a Global Space. IDEAS
Orofino, A. (2014) It’s our city. Let’s fix it. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/alessandra_orofino_it_s_our_city_let_s_fix_it [Accessed 21 Sep 2017]
Scottish Government (2012) Learning for Sustainability: The Report of the One Planet Schools Working Group. Edinburgh: Scottish Government [Online] Available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Education/Schools/curriculum/ACE/OnePlanetSchools/LearningforSustainabilitreport [Accessed 14 Sep 2017]
