Critique of Environmental Orientation

Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in Environmental Education (EE) and what it can do for children in the education sectors. This critique will focus on a journal by Larson, Castleberry and Green (2010) the “Effects of an Environmental Education Program on the Environmental Orientation of Children from Different Gender, Age and Ethnic Groups”. The main objectives during this study were to look at baseline differences in the three key points made in the title: gender, age and ethnic background, the study was sponsored by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia who wanted to see children’s eco-affinity, eco-awareness and their environmental knowledge. During this study 133 children aged between six to thirteen years old took part. The researchers also wanted to examine the effects of them taking part in a one week EE program at a summer camp. The responses from the program would be compared to a control group who were a group of students who were enrolled in an after school program. By looking at these areas the researchers believed that it would give them effective strategies for improving EE programs.

Background literature on the three points made in the title suggested that most studies done on environmental orientation are usually focused on adults and that research had found that women were more inclined to support protection of nature and express their concerns about environmental issues than men (Milfont & Duckitt, 2004). However, other research carried out on the area of gender suggests that there is a “gender gap” that advocates women are less knowledgeable about the environment (Coyle, 2005). When reading the information given about age and environmental orientations Whittaker, Sagura and Bowler (2005) said that willingness to self-identify as environmentalists declined when becoming young adults. Background reading on ethnicity suggested that African Americans and Hispanic children had fewer opportunities to access natural resources, parks ect (Bullard, 2006).

From the results there showed no significant difference in gender across the children’s eco-affinity, eco-awareness and their environmental knowledge scores. In age of children ages 9 or below and 10 and above showed significant difference in eco-affinity with it being lower in older children. Eco-awareness was not observed as being significantly different in the age groups and the environmental knowledge did not show statically evidence for being significantly different, however the mean scores were slightly higher in the older age group. Ethnicity showed significant difference in eco-awareness and knowledge. With African American children scoring considerably lower in both fields. However, eco-affinity was virtually the same in both ethnic backgrounds so showed no significant difference.

From these results you’re able to come to the conclusion that environmental orientation can be affected by a multiple of factors. Age suggested that the older children’s knowledge about the environment was better but their drive to liking and understanding something (eco-affinity) was lower than the younger children which concur with Whittaker etal. (2005) statement. The main factor that showed the biggest significance was ethnicity. During the short interviews one African American child says,

“I don’t go outside at my house because it’s like a bad, you know, environment to

go out in. So my mom takes me to the park and we go play basketball, go on the

swings, slide down the slide, and sometimes we walk.”

One of the main points you should take away from this journal is that all children should be given the same opportunity to experience the outdoors. However, they are not, so environmental orientation will be most different in ethnicity than the other fields.

Most of the children enjoyed the activities that had some form of physical activity, they enjoyed learning about plants and animals but what the researchers really got from the interviews was that it was “fun!”

It is said that out of school activities can spark an interest in nature and have a deep impact on effective development (Uitto, Juuti, Lavonen & Meisalo, 2006). This suggests that non-formal EE programs can play and important role in connecting children with nature and making more environmental literate people for the future.

This reading is a good source that informs the reader about the difference aspects that affect an individual’s environmental orientation. It also informs you about how informal EE sessions can benefit children’s developments and help them in later life be more environmentally literate people. The paper gets first hand data from the children and what they think and know of the environment. Limitations of the study are the amount of participants and that many had to drop out due to a number of reasons leaving them with 133, resulting in maybe not being as accurate in the display of children’s environmental orientation over a general population.

Overall the paper has its positives and negatives but is an enjoyable informative read.

References

Bullard, R. D. (2006). Anatomy of environmental racism and the environmental justice

movement. In Bullard, R. D., Confronting environmental racism: Voices from

the grassroots. Boston, MA: South End Press.

Coyle, K. (2005). Environmental literacy in America: What ten years of NEETF/Roper

research and related studies say about environmental literacy in the U.S. Washington,

D.C.: The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

Milfont, T.L. & Duckitt, J. (2004). The structure of environmental attitudes: A first- and

second-order confirmatory factor analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24,

289-303.

Uitto, A. Juuti, K. Lavonen, J. & Meisalo, V. (2006). Students’ interest in biology and

their out-of-school experiences. Journal of Biological Education, 40, 124-129.

Whittaker, M. Segura, G. M. & Bowler, S. (2005). Racial/ethnic group attitudes

toward environmental protection in California: Is “environmentalism” still a white

phenomenon? Political Research Quarterly, 58, 435-447.

Risk Assessment for Making a Board Game in the Woods

Risk Assessment 

Making a board game in the woods at night with year 6 children

When working in the outdoors, outdoor facilitators work in conditions that are dynamic in their environments and high in risk, both perceived and actual (Collins & Collins, 2013). During the evening a dynamic risk assessment continued to take place to ensure all activities were safe. This meant identifying any hazards and assessing their risk to the children and then taking action to reduce/minimise or elminate the risk. It is up to the facilitator to effectively judge a situation and be able to change and adapt a risk assessment (Collins & Collins, 2013). It is a key tool to be able to do this as a facilitator when working in challenging environments, 

Some researchers suggest that we are wrapping children up in cotton wool and should loosen the raines on them a bit more (Jenkins, 2006). Furedi (2002) suggests that parents have become paranoid about what could happen to their child when taking part in an activity they are not in control of, in this process their decision making and judgement have been flawed. Not allowing them to see the bigger picture and what they might potentially gain from the experience. 

This risk assessment shows the risks that may have occurred during the activity of making a board game in the evening with a group of year six. 

References
Collins, L. & Collins, D. (2013). Decision Making and Risk Management in Adventure Sports Coaching. National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education. 65, 72.

Füredi, F. (2002). Paranoid Parenting: Why Ignoring the Experts May be Best for Your Child. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

Jenkins, N.E. (2006). ‘You can’t wrap them up in cotton wool!’ Constructing risk in young people’s access to outdoor play. Health, Risk & Society. 8, 379-393.

Greenhouse Gases and our Carbon Footprint

Global Foot Print!

Carbon footprint is the measure of total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by a person, organisation, event or product. They are the gases we produce during our everyday lives just from commuting, living in a house, watching TV ect, all of these aspects of our lives effect the planet we live on. I did the WWF carbon footprint calculator (footprint.wwf.org.uk); my results can be seen in Figures 1 and 2. My results show my carbon footprint score which is 2.29 Planets and seen as we only have 1 this is a poor score.

Figure 1. My score for my Carbon Footprint

Figure 2. A break down of my score

On a global scale in Figure 3 you are able to see visually the greenhouse gases being produced by human activity in 2004 and their broken down economic activity. Although these figures are slightly out of date they still show how much of an effect we are having on the planet and what we are doing with its raw materials and the effect these are having on the planet when we use them (www.epa.gov).

Figure 3. Greenhouse gases being creased my human activity in 2004

In 2008 the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre produced a graph indication the emissions given off from the burning and use of fossil-fuels between 1900 to 2008 (Please see Figure 4). As you can see from the graph emissions shot up from the 1950s and continue to increase (www.epa.gov). I believe they will continue to get higher until we run out of fossil-fuels and find something else to use instead.

Figure 4. Graph indicating the increase in use of fossil-fuels since 1900-2008

There are different types of carbon footprints. Three of which are Organisational, Value chain and Product carbon footprint. Organisational emissions cover the whole company from erecting buildings and the carbon footprint that is formed from that to the energy these buildings use every day. The Value chain includes that of the supplier and consumer, the emissions that are out of the organisation. Finally the Product carbon footprint which is the carbon footprint the product itself produced. From the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing through to actual use in the home ect to the point it gets recycled or disposed of.

In conclusion if we do not do something about how we are living we are going to carry on destroying our planet. If greenhouse gases continue to increase our climate will also continue to change in a negative way that will sooner or later begin to affect us all (Payne, 2014). The only people who can make a change and stand up for this planet is you. We need to decrease our greenhouse gases and make a serious change to the way we treat this planet.

References

Environmental Protection Agency. (2013). Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data. Available: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.html. Last accessed 15th November 2014.

Payne, J. (2014). The Real Case against Activist Global Warming Policy. Independent Review. 19, 265-270.

WWF-UK. (2006). How Big is Your Environmental Footprint?. Available: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/. Last accessed 15th November 2014.

Lesson Plan

The reason for this lession is to get children outside learning. This is a lession based around learning about how polluted water has an affect on wild life, in this case insects ect. Environmental Education is not just about learning about the environment is about seeing what effects we as humans have on the wildlife living in these environments. 

Lesson Planning and Evaluation Form

Date: TBC			Time:9:00am–12:00pm
Class/Set: Year 5/6			Number:15 children, 3 adults
Lesson subject/topic focus: Environmental Education / Insect environment and water pollution.
Target for student teacher: What target will I be focussing on within this lesson? -Making sure all children are taking part in the activity. -Try different teaching methods to get all involved and learning.						Target achieved within this lesson? ü or x
Learning objective(s) (with reference to relevant curriculum documentation – only 1/2  key objectives per subject being taught): What do I want the children to know or be able to do by the end of the lesson? -Classify creatures living in the water and surrounding area. -Look in to habitats that the creatures we find live in. -Be able to talk about how the creatures are adapted to their environment. Success criteria: How will I know this has been achieved? (you many use child-friendly ‘I can…’ statements here):  As the teacher I will go round each group and ask questions to each child whilst the activity is happening, if they don’t understand this is a good opportunity to get them understanding whilst they are still doing the activity. Assessment evidence: How will I gather evidence of pupil achievement?  (e.g. observation of pupils, peer-assessment against success criteria, self-assessment against success criteria, marking of work). Short presentations in groups to evidence what they have learnt. A short question: answer section at the end.
Pupils’ prior experience and learning: In light of the LO(s) and/or success criteria, what do the children in this class already know or what are they able to do? Children will have no prior knowledge of what we will be learning, unless self-thought outside of class.
Teaching and learning activities:
Timings 0-30mins 30-60mins 60-90mins 90-120mins 120-150mins  150-170mins  170-180mins	What teaching strategies and activities will I use? (highlight/underline your key teaching strategies throughout the lesson e.g. explain, ask key questions, model, demonstrate, recap in a mini-plenary, use play/the learning env as a prompt) An active learning strategy and experiential learning strategy will be used during the course of the session. -       Arrive at first pond and explain what will happen during the course of the session and what the learning outcomes for the session are. -       Use equipment to look for species of incest’s that live in the water and surrounding areas. Use the keys to identify the insects and habitats. Check the pH of the water to see how polluted it is. -       Go to second pond and repeat process. -       Look at data collected from both ponds. -       All 3 groups will come up with 3 mini presentations about the pounds and what they found. -       Presentations should involve different species the habitats they came from. pH levels of the pounds to determine how polluted the water is. -       All three groups will present to the rest of the class what they have learnt from the session at the ponds. Presentations should last 5 minutes, with a few minutes for Q&A. -       The last 10 minutes of the session will just be to reflect on the whole session and for the children to ask any last questions.			What will the children/other adults do at key points in the lesson? How will I ensure that all children are able to access, participate and succeed in all parts of the lesson? During the first section of the session the other teachers will be divided within the groups to support the learning and help with any questions. -       This will give the children a goal for the session and understand what will be happening throughout the 3 hour class. -       Split in to 3 groups of 5 so that 1 teacher can be with each group to help support learning and answer any questions. -       All three groups will look through the       data they collected and look for               similarities and differences from both       ponds. -       These presentations will be presented to the rest of the class towards the end of the session. -       Presentation should be split equally through the groups.
Subject specific vocabulary: Vocabulary will be kept reasonably basic. The only new terms and words that will be being learnt will be the species of incest’s.				Resources/ICT: -Basic Species keys -Basic Habitat keys -Nets -Magnifying glasses -pH scales for testing water levels -Pencils and Paper

Lesson adaptation: Do I need to make any special provision with regard to health & safety? ü or x and detail as necessary No extra health and safety needs to be taken during this session, each group will have a supervisor with them throughout the session to help with any extra needs the group may have.

Assessment of pupil learning and implications for future planning: Have I gathered and (where appropriate) attached evidence of pupil attainment/achievement? (This might include photographs, annotated work, teacher/TA post-it notes, group assessment sheets). ü or x Assessment of this session will be through the short group presentation at the end of the session and the Q&A session after to gather evidence of what they have learnt. As a result of this, for which children do I need to tailor teaching in the next lesson?  (Consider individuals or groups of children who have exceeded or not met the learning objective/success criteria and list initials/future actions below). For future sessions the teaching methods need to be tailored slightly differently to accommodate for certain children who did not understand the learning objectives and may need further help achieving them. To do this different teaching strategies may be used such as one-to-one or discussion strategies, which will allow the individuals the time to ask more questions and for us as teachers to change the way in which we teach something to widen our teaching strategies.

Evaluation of trainee learning as a result of teaching this lesson: final placement students may choose to annotate this plan rather than complete the questions in detail below. In light of what I now know about the pupils’ learning in this lesson: What was successful in my teaching? Why was it successful?  How do I know? Had I been teaching this to the year 5 or 6 at the school I worked at I think using a active and experientioal learning strategy was the best way to teach this subject. The school is very much hands on with its teaching so I don't believe many if any would not have liked the way in which this lession was being torght. However, obviously if certain children did not prefure learning in this way I suggested above using discussion strategies or one-to-one. This gives the child a chance to ask questions and get multiple answers that may help them to understand the subject. I think if they are about to give a 5 minute presentation and answer and Q&A session well they have successfully learnt something.  What target would I set for myself that I will carry forward to future teaching?  You may need to continue with your target as previously Targets for myself would be to be more confordent in my teaching. Teach as if I know what I am talking about! (I do but I come across as if I dont)

My Story

The Mystical Kingdom 

Once upon a time lived a Mystical Kingdom far, far away. There was a King and a Queen who had two twin girls. On one dark and gloomy night a wicked fairy came and cast a spell on the two girls. One she said would be good and help the world in many ways and the other she made evil and would destroy everything that came in her way.

As the years went on the King and the Queen became older and decided to leave the kingdom to their twin girls; one good, one evil.  As the time passed by the kingdom began to split in two. The twin sisters went their separate ways. The good twin decided to take the mystical forest and all the good it brought with it, whereas the evil twin took the city and all the destructing that went through it.

As the years went by the spell became stronger and stronger and good twin became nicer and nicer, never harming the natural environment she lived in, she could only ever see the good in everything. Whereas the evil twin only became more evil and selfish in her ways, wanting castles and buildings for herself and her money.

One day the good twin sat on the boarder of the mystical forest and looked over the city she ones knew and thought back to her childhood and the sister she ones had. Now looking over the city she could only see a black cloud from the pollution the city had created and how every day that cloud got closer and closer to the mystical forest, knowing that if the cloud was to reach the mystical forest all that was ones good in the Mystical Kingdom would be lost. As she sat and wondered she came up with a plan, a plan that could bring the Mystical Kingdom back together again, where the nymphs, fairies, workman and all could live in harmony together and end the destructive work that was causing the black cloud over the city. She wanted it to be like when the King and Queen ruled the Mystical Kingdom, where the people lived off the land and lived as one with nature as they do now in the mystical forest.  The only way she was going to do this is if she could break that wicked fairies spell and make her evil twin sister nice again.

The nymphs and fairies of the mystical forest knew where the wicked fairy lived, but they knew it wasn’t going to be easy making the wicked fairy break her spell.

So the good twin didn’t know what to expect when they got to the wicket fairy so she gathered up her nicest soldiers, nymphs and fairies and set off on the journey to the house where the wicked fairy lived. Their journey took them to parts of the Mystical Kingdom known by few, as they ventured through unknown land far away from the mystical forest they finally came across a little old house. The fairies told the good twin not to venture in to the house but she knew it was the only way to bring the Mystical Kingdom back together.

As she walked up to the little old house the door opened. She shouted “is this the home of the wicked fairy?” no one replied. The good twin waited a few moments, when she heard something that sounded like cry’s. She poked her head through the door way but couldn’t see so she took one step in to the little old house. As she did this the door shut behind her. The good twin wasn’t scared as she could only ever see the good in everything so didn’t fear what could happen. As she wondered around the little old house she stumbled across a photo of what looked like her, her evil twin and a fairy. A few moments later the wicked fairy appeared, startled by her entrance the good twin dropped the photo. She could see that the wicked fairy had been crying and ask “whatever is the matter?”  The wicked fairy responded “You don’t remember who I am, do you?” the good twin didn’t know what to say, apart from “You’re the wicked fairy that cast a spell on me and my twin making her evil and me nice!” the wicked fairy turned away and cried ones more. The wicked fairy then said “Yes I am the one that cast that spell but I did so by ordered of your father the King. He wanted you to see what the world would end up like if you both didn’t work together and the destruction it would have on the Mystical Kingdom. After casting that spell on you I was banished from the mystical forest and seen as a traitor. All I ever wanted was to break that spell but the King wouldn’t let me.” I can only break the spell when the evil twin realised what her selfish thoughts are doing to the Mystical Kingdom.

So the good twin left the little old house and ventured back to the mystical forest where she came up with another plan to help the evil twin realise her negative ways. The good twin would leave the mystical forest and travel to the city to see her sister. When she arrived it looked as if she was the only bright and colourful person this city had seen for many years. When she finally saw her evil sister she was surprised to see her evil sister was pleased to see her. The good twin was confused, it looked as if the evil twin was happy and joyful, they talked and talked and the good twin realised that her evil twin wasn’t so evil after all. The spell the wicked fairy had cast many years ago had already been broken! But because they both didn’t try and solve their problems they just carried on their separate lives acting as if the problems of the black cloud would go away and not caused any damage.

The evil twin realised she didn’t need all those castle and money and realised with the help of her sister that her selfish ways were causing destruction across the kingdom. So instead the good twins work together to rule the Mystical Kingdom with the nymphs, fairies and workman and got rid of the black cloud and protected the mystical forest. Now they live in harmony looking after their environment and teaching every one of the Mystical Kingdom about the importance of preserving the land.

The moral of this story is to look after your environment in any way you can, before it is too late! And there are always two sides to every story.

I wrote this story trying to capture the idea that although the problems of the environment are right under our noses like the evil twin sister who didn't realise what an impact she was having like many of us dont realise what impact we are having on the environment. Untill the good twin sister comes along and helps her realise what an affect she is having and they work together with everyone in the land to solve the problems like we are humans should do to help preserve our world. 

All About A Tree

Figure 1 - Cross section of a tree

1. The Pith

The Pith is the centre of the tree and is composed of soft spongy parenchyma cells which is also another name for the pith. In trees the pith is surrounded by xylem which is one of the two types of transport tissues in trees, the xylem is most concentrated in the inner section of the tree. The xylem stores and transports nutrients and root-sap around the tree to the leaves (Edlin, 1978). Phloem is a living tissue that carries organic nutrients and sugar-sap around the tree, which it receives from photosynthesis from the leaves which is transported to parts of the tree including the roots. The phloem is found in the leaves and the inner layer of the bark. The name comes from the Greek word “phloios” meaning “bark”. As the tree grows in diameter it compresses and squeezes the pith, after many years it is surrounded by layers of heartwood.

2. The Heartwood

The heartwood began its life as sap-wood but as the years have gone on the inner section of the stem is closed off from active sap movement. The heartwood is the densest part of the tree, yielding the hardest timber. You can usually distinguish between sapwood and heartwood by their colour; heartwood is usually darker than sapwood, as can be seen in figure 2. Ones the chemical change in the wood takes place it renders the centre of the stem more durable and is therefore only there for support of the trees crown.

3. The Bark

The bark on a tree is a good way of distinguish between different types of trees. The bark on trees is a waterproof layer made up of cork that surround the stem and maintains a constant water supply. The bark also protects the tree from temperature change, insects, fungal diseases and unexpected damage. Bark is a breathable material that allows the stem to get enough air passing through it to carry on functioning (Edlin, 1978). The patterns on treess are formed by the expansion of the wood but because the waterproofness of the tree must stay constant the cambium will produce new layers of cork cells beneath it. This process gives the bark depth and different patterns. Trees split in different ways but follow a trend depending on the tree type.

4. Cambium

Between each cylinder of cells in the stem is a dividing cell called the cambium. During the activate growing seasons the cambium will produce more phloem on the external side which enables it to become larger on the outer side (Edlin, 1978). On the inner side of the cambium produces more xylem. This is the reason for the formation of the annual growth rings in the wood.

5. The Disease

This is a section of the tree that will have been infected with some sort of fungus or disease. They come is a large variety of types and can affect pants and trees in different way.

6. Knot

Knots are imperfections of a tree causing lump or holes in the trunk or inside the tree. They are normally caused by natural growth and will vary in appearance. However, some knots are formed by fungal diseases and can spread to other trees.

7. Annual Growth Rings

Each year a tree will develop more cells causing it to grow. When this happens it produces a ring, this happens every year. The in spring the cambium produces large cells which mean the annual growth rings are wider; these rings are referred to as springwood. Towards the end of summer growth slows down and the cells are much smaller causing the rings to be smaller this is referred to as summerwood (Fallah, Riahifar, Barari & Parsakhoo, 2012). Rings come in all different sizes depending on a number of factors; temperature, sunlight, water, surrounding areas and many others. Narrow rings indicate a lack of sunlight and water.

8. Sapwood

Sapwood is the younger outer part of the tree, at one point all of the wood was originally sapwood. Its main function is to move nutrients around the tree from the leaves to the roots (Fallah, Riahifar, Barari & Parsakhoo, 2012). It also works as a storage area for the nutrients and will give nutrients out at different rates depending on the season. Sapwood will be larger in trees that have space to grow such as trees that grown in the open compared to trees growing in dense forest. Ones sapwood becomes old it starts the process of becoming heartwood.

9. The Growth

Figure 1 shows that the pith of the tree does not have to always be in the centre. In this tree you can see that the pith is off centre and looks to be growing wider on one side. There are a number of factors that can suggest why the pith will be off centre it could be due to the trees location in relation to the sun or whether it was exposed to winds that usually occur in the same direction.

Reference 

Edlin, H.L. (1978). The Tree Key. London: Frederick Warne & Co. 22-42.

Fallah, A. Riahifar, N. Barari, K. & Parsakhoo, A. (2012). Investigating the out-of-roundness and pith-off-centre in stems of three broadleaved species in Hyrcanian forests. Journal of forest science. 58, 513-518.

The National Christmas Tree Association. (2008). Stems and Rings. Available: http://www.realtrees4kids.org/sixeight/stemsrings.htm. Last accessed 6th November 2014.