Ecological Education

• Know Your Bioregion

  • Study local watershed

  • Research Indigenous History – Whose Land Are You On?

  • Practice nature journaling to understand local ecology

  • Practice forest bathing – Japanese research supports physiological benefits

  • Create outdoor classrooms

  • Integrate outdoor activities into academic and extracurricular life when possible 

  • Visit conservation areas, waste disposal sites, and municipal water sources

  • Collect native seeds

• Forage

  • Practice plant identification with Seek by iNaturalist App

  • Learn plant families

    • Most common: mint family, parsley family, mustard family, pea family, lily family, grass family, rose family, aster family

    • Research edible and medicinal varieties

  • Learn about mushrooms – exercise caution; spore prints can help identify

• Track animals

  • Large scale signs, medium scale signs, small scale signs

  • Analyze scat, bird pellets, gnaws and chews

  • Use Merlin App to identify bird calls through Cornell Ornithology Lab

• Screen and discuss The Letter: Laudato Si Film 

• Take Christianity and Ecology online course through Yale/Coursera

• Add indoor plants to enhance nature connection