I am very passionate about conservation, and conservation education. I believe that it is vital to educate young children about conservation by making it fun and exciting so that children can reconnect to nature and its beauty and learn about ways to help our Earth.
I am starting a club through my umbrella school Clonlara, which encompasses a global community of students. I am making lesson plans, creating activities, organizing the group, and meeting with the students (grades K-4) once a week on zoom for our club meeting. I am hoping to make this club fun and exciting so that the students can enjoy learning about the Earth and, by working together as a group, we can make a positive impact on the world. I have run a different version of the club before, in which we learned about different ecosystems, the important role that water and water conservation plays in each one, and the wildlife that depends on them. This time we will be focusing on vertebrates. Each of the five meetings will be devoted to one of the five classes of vertebrates. We will learn what makes them different from one another, interesting facts/traits/adaptations they have, threats they are facing, and what we can do to help save them. I will give the students ideas for projects they can complete throughout the week for extended and experiential learning.
This project worked out very well! I really enjoyed preparing materials for each week's lesson, and I looked forward to each zoom meeting with my students. Like in the previous club I ran, it was inspiring to see the students so excited to learn about conservation and to complete various projects on their own. Many students made presentations and pieces of art to demonstrate what they had learned, and many also did independent research each week to learn more about a specific animal we had studied together during the lesson. We had many wonderful discussions about ways we can help save the Earth and all of its species, such as reducing our carbon footprint, reducing our use of single-use plastics, and helping to educate other people in our own communities about what we have learned. The students really seemed to enjoy the club. I think we all learned a lot and hopefully made a positive impact on the world together, and I think we will continue to do so with what we've learned.
I learned so much. Through teaching my students, I learned a lot about different species around the globe, threats they're facing, and what we can do to help save them. I also gained important skills such as confidence, leadership, and communication.
I plan to run this club again for older students (grades 5-7), and am very excited to do so!
My favorite part of this project, like last time, was seeing my students so enthusiastic to help the Earth - it was incredibly inspiring. I loved connecting with students from all over the world and hearing their different experiences with nature and conservation. I really enjoyed learning how to make a positive impact on the world together.
For young children, I found that making the learning fun and exciting is a great way to encourage participation and enthusiasm. We learned through videos, discussions, games, trivia, and projects, and the students seemed to really enjoy it.
