Do You Speak Nature?

Walking through the rainforest for the first time can feel very much like walking through a busy city in a country where you don’t know the language and don’t have a map. The cacophony of sounds has no meaning and the signs make no sense. You can still have a great time taking in all the sights and return home with some amazing photos, but without a grasp of the language you miss all those important clues and cues that turn a trip into a transformational experience.  

The same is true when exploring the natural world – whether it is your back yard or the Amazon rainforest. It is helpful to know the “language” of nature and have the skills to ask questions, make observations, and communicate what you encounter. 

 

 Students from the Derryfield School collect data on Amazon amphibians

Students from the Derryfield School collect data on Amazon amphibians

Sadly over the last century, nature study has steadily been removed from the curriculum – from kindergarten to university. This trend has resulted in the virtual “extinction” of field biologists!  

So what? Do we really need more Darwins, Humbolts, and Wallaces? Haven’t we really learned all we need to know about the species on our planet? Surely we need to spend our time looking at big environmental problems with satellites and statistics rather than individual organisms with hand lenses and field journals? 

 

Field notes from a student field biologist from the Derryfield School

Field notes from a student field biologist from the Derryfield School

 

A recent article, Extinction of Field Biology Skills, published in Times Higher Education, UK, reflects this very topic – making the case that our current lack of field biologists should be keeping us up at night!

“Without recorders who can reliably identify bumblebees, how would we know that our pollinators are at risk and thus our future fruit crops in are in peril? Without records of first flowering dates, how would we know of the biological reality of climate change? Without identification skills, how would we recognise pest species threatening <our> economic future…?

The list goes on and on. 

So what to do? How do we cultivate the next generation of field biologists who can understand the language of nature, be smitten by biodiversity, and consumed with curiosity?    

Let’s begin by inviting nature back into our classrooms – not as a special guest – but as an integrated and important part of our instruction.   You CAN use nature as a topic and theme for delivering the standards – be it the Common Core or the NGSS!  Reintroduce that nature table in primary classrooms and use it to engage curiosity and develop observation skills. Use your school grounds as an outdoor classroom – even cracks in the pavement can be a source of nature discovery. Use biomimicry as a theme for STEM investigations in the middle school and high school. Give your secondary school and university students the opportunity to explore the natural world as field biologists – teaching them how to make observations, ask good questions, make connections, and untangle the mysteries of the world around us. 

 

Shadyside Academy’s tropical field ecology course is designed to inspire future field biologists

Shadyside Academy’s tropical field ecology course is designed to inspire future field biologists

Let’s add “Save the Field Biologist” to our list of conservation and education priorities because without field biologists, we can’t save the panda, save the Amazon, or save the planet!

Here are some great resources to get you started:

Save field biology skills from extinction risk | Opinion | Times Higher Education

Rainforest Classroom:  A curated list of inspiration and resources for incorporating nature into instruction

EdTechLens Rainforest Journey: Digital  K-5 life science curriculum aligned  to NGSS standards (FREE PILOT!!)

Ask Nature: the world’s most comprehensive catalog of nature’s solutions to human design challenges. This curated online library features free information on more than 1,800 (and growing!) natural phenomena and hundreds of bio-inspired applications
 

Do You Speak Nature?

 

 

Field Biologist (Trailer) from Collective Eye Films on Vimeo.

 

 

Christa Dillabaugh is our Education and the Rainforest Editor. A former middle school and high school science educator, she coordinates experiential field programs for educators and students in the rainforests of Central and South America. She currently serves as education director for Amazon Rainforest Workshops and loves traipsing through rainforest mud in search of teachable moments! You can read her Amazon field notes at http://amazonworkshops.wordpress.com/

 

 

All photos courtesy and copyright Amazon Rainforest Workshops/Christa Dillabaugh