Classroom Earth Success Stories

After teaching my applied ecology students about forestry management methods we toured several regions of our campus. At each place we discussed logging history and indicators of the forest health. To test them on the material the students had to identify which of the forests most needed management. They then had to devise a management plan.

How to integrate environmental education with photography and technology

Scott Olson, a 12-year teacher in the Tonasket School District in Tonasket, Wash., developed a photo point monitoring project for his high school students after being inspired by a wildlife manager from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Photo point monitoring is a tool used to quickly and effectively document changes in vegetation, soil and other landscape features by periodically photographing the landscape. The wildlife manager, who regularly visited Olson’s classroom, came upon historic photographs of local landscapes and suggested Olson use the photographs to conduct photo point monitoring.

Olson ran with it and soon had his students engaged in an exciting learning experience that allowed them to incorporate numerous subject areas and learn in an outdoor setting.

Norma Velia Williamson, who teaches Spanish at La Mirada High School in Los Angeles County, uses environmental education to help her students understand habitat destruction in the Amazon rainforest through memorable hands-on experiences.

Because deforestation is an environmental concern in the Amazon, students see and touch plastic “wood” made from recycled milk jugs, which can be used as an alternative to lumber in construction. They bake cookies with solar ovens, which provide an alternative to using wood as cooking fuel.