Nature Based Learning
Nature Based Learning
This website is for teachers, parents, scout masters, nature lovers and concerned citizens. Our children are spending their days either in school, on their phone, watching tv or in front of their computer. Their "screen time" is off the charts. We are well aware of the social issues arising from this behavior. We are all guilty of screen time addiction. We are also aware that many of our children are being targeted by social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now TicToc. While this website cannot take these forces on, we do hope to offer a healthy alternative to the daily dosages of our children "indoor" activities.
We know that when children are outdoors (adults too) they are more social and happy. We know that the outdoors lowers their blood pressure and fills their lungs with fresh air. Kids actually feel better, more alive, more energetic. For centuries we have known that learning takes off when kids are outdoors. I have attached several great videos in the What is NBL? that expound and prove this medically and historically. Please take a look at these videos.
At the launching of this website, we have some great offers for you. First, there is our book, NBL:Pondering Nature that you can download for free. This is an ebook that serves as a great introduction to the 5 elements of nature that we focus on at NBL. That is, plants, water, air, earth and animals. We use Book Creators as the publisher of this book, and you need to order it chapter by chapter. We hope you like it. You can go here to order.
NBL Challenges
NBL Measure Challenges
Besides our ebook, NBL offers a 3 hour NBL course in each of our 5 topics: plants, air, water, earth and animals. We call these NBL Challenges. They come complete with a full description of how to conduct the challenges, the equipment required (minimal and common), level of difficulty and the intended outcomes and results. Adults without teaching experience should be able to conduct these challenges. Students should be in groups of 4 - 6 in order to encourage them to communicate. Please go to NBL Challenges for more details and ordering instructions. We do charge $25 for each 3 hour topic.
In order to build some trust, we have put together 5 measuring challenges for you. We hope this will give you a better idea of what we do and how we do it. These measuring challenges are free and you can download them to get an idea. Most of the challenges are relatively easy, (measuring depth of a river or lake, figuring out the thickness of tree bark, but there is one that can really stump all participants. This is ok to have a challenge that is way difficult, as it will create discussion, thought and maybe research. We have had a lot of fun putting these together. You can get the measure challenge by clicking here.
ebook NBL:Pondering Nature
The NBL Video Nature Book is FREE. Best to download a chapter at a time, and listen/watch/read just prior to participating in an NBL challenge. Order free book.
This is a video/audio nature book. Each chapter focuses on one of our 5 main topics: wood, animals, air, water and earth. Each chapter contains useful basic information focusing on the importance of the nature topic, the threats to the topic, how we can help protect it and fun facts. There is a short true/false quiz at the end of each chapter. Each chapter contains lots of photos and videos on the topic discussed. This provides alot of visual reinforcement to the information presented. We recommend that students read/listen/watch the chapter video prior to joining the NBL challenges on the topic.
plants
Just click on download to Get it.
air
water
earth
animals
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The Nature ebook, NBL: Pondering Nature, uses a great app, Book Creator. You can read the book yourself, or hear the author, John Davis, read it OR you can select a computer voice in the Settings. The computer voice also highlights each word as it is pronounced. This can really help non-native speakers of English. Also, in the settings you can select double or single page view. If you are on your phone reading this, you will need to select single page view.
We welcome any comments you have about the books as we consider each chapter to be a work in progress.
A Donation will help continue this work. Big Thanks.
Author
John grew up on a 500 acre farm in Virginia, USA and even today he considers himself a "farm boy." His adult life consists of teaching English, Entrepreneurship (started and ran international language school, an international recycled stationery company (O'BON) and a 3 country pioneer car coating company (SierraGlow). He has designed an conducted hundreds of courses for large Asian clients. He is also a writer and editor of numerous English books. In 2016 John designed comprehensive nature study courses for students in Guangzhou, China.
He is married to Keng Davis, a Chinese Brush Stroke Artist. They have 3 children.
NBL Challenges Explained
Grouping Participants
Get students into groups. NBL prefers groups of 4 to 6 students. It isn’t a rule, but some advice. Big groups don’t give students an even chance to shine and participate. Too small lacks excitement.The first session should be to break students into groups and make sure they all knoweach other. Some casual introductions are useful. Ice breaking activities are
encouraged. The group needs to be comfortable with the leader and each other.
Some expectation and rules should be set. Students should stay together. Voices
should be controlled. No shouting and screaming…quiet. We are in nature and we
don’t want to scare the bears or birds!
More Thoughts on Grouping
Get students into groups. NBL prefers groups of 4 to 6 students. It isn’t a rule, but some advice. Big groups don’t give students even chance to shine and participate. Too small lacks excitement.
The first session should be to break students into groups and make sure they all know each other. Some casual introductions are useful. Ice breaking activities are encouraged. The group needs to be comfortable with the leader and each other.
Some expectation and rules should be set. Students should stay together. Voices should be controlled. No shouting and screaming…quiet. We are in nature and we
don’t want to scare the bears or birds!
NBL challenges promote discovery, exploring and appreciating nature by posing simple but provocative nature questions. NBL challenges create 10 questions (problems to solve). These challenges are to be solved in small groups via discussions and thinking. These activities need to be conducted near the element being studied. That is, if you are studying water, you need a stream, lake or river near by.
The challenges start off fairly easy but become more complex as the group grow in confidence and solidify the teamwork. Most challenges will take about 15 to 25 minutes to complete. On key element is that students need to "present" their findings. This reinforces the learning/discovery process, and validates each students participation.
Example of Sample Challenge
Each challenge draws inspection and analysis of an element of a particular nature topic. Students will need to examine and discuss their findings and thoughts. Each challenge is described in full including the level of difficulty, suggested time allotment, the educational goals of the challenge and the location/equipment necessary. That is, each challenge is self-explanatory. Teachers should feel free to adapt or modify given their location, students and conditions. Good luck.