Nature Stewardship Through Science, Education, and Art by John Muir Laws
Do you ever have those moments when you are introduced to a new resource, and suddenly, a bunch of random dots in your life are connected? I had one of those moments this summer while attending a summer teacher workshop. I was introduced to John Muir Laws’ Book, “How to Teach Nature Journaling”. This book is a treasure of lesson plans, tutorials, and ideas for nature journaling with your students. These activities integrate arts and science with outdoor experiences that range from your backyard, a school forest, or an adventurous field trip. John Muir Laws has artistically scaffolded the lessons to coach all learners to build skills in carefully observing and recording what they see in the outdoors. He has integrated the Next Generation Science Standards(NGSS) into each activity to thoughfully connect our curriculum strategies to outdoor experiences. The lesson plans and teaching guides are free to download off this site https://johnmuirlaws.com/.
I am excited to use this book with my Biology class this fall will start with the Notice, Wonder, and Connect Lesson in the schoolyard. A good way to warm up our observation and questioning skills. Our first Crosscutting Concept is Systems and I will use the CCC posters available for free download for the students to color and connect with.
For more ideas on visual thinking check out "Thinking Made Visible" exhibit at the University of the North. They have published a great list of resource books that you can download here.