• The Environment
• Urban Environment
• Plants and Living Things

The environment surrounds us daily in life and can fall under the categories of land, buildings, air, water, weather and natural spaces. In relation to sustainability, it is synonymous with nature, surroundings, people and our community. The environment and sustainability reinforce the human relationship with nature and focuses on interconnectedness and dependency.

In today’s workshop with Louise, we had the opportunity to explore the outdoors by looking deeper into our surroundings. We searched for various different leaves, bugs and lichen which can be found on sticks or branches and varies in colour depending on the air quality. If there is higher pollution rate in the air then the lichen will tend to turn yellow in colour, however if the pollution level is lower, the lichen is more green.

The aim of the workshop was to identify how important it is for children to experience and feel the outdoors. Naturally, children tend to enjoy being outdoors and like exploring the ground, trees, and grass and this hands on approach enables them to relate to the environment more. By working with the children outdoors, it is more realistic for example if you were to bring leaves inside, the leaves would die and change in colour and size which therefore is not a realistic interpretation of the outdoors.

 The Urban Environment

 Our urban population accounts for 82% of the UK total and the population is currently still growing. Our urban environment impacts our physical environment and also supports human growth through physical development, social development, career development, lifelong care and also providing lifelong resources.

 In my blog task, I will be detailing further information about  my urban area, the forms of transport, my local area, my community and different types of housing and how it can/has accommodated peoples needs.

 Living Things

In Andrew’s workshop, I thoroughly enjoyed the hands on approach as it gave us all the opportunity to feel the outdoors through studying leaves and plants for example. We chose a leaf and sketched over the top of it which showed the different patterns of the leaf and how the differed to others. The other task was where we sketched over tree bark and the imprint of the bark showed through onto the paper which again highlighted the different patterns and textures. The final task was testing the growth of a seedling in different solutions which is an ongoing task and we have to regularly check the progress and record results of the seedling growth.