Outdoor education middle school curriculum
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Anyone have an outdoor education curriculum they could share? I teach middle school in a mountain town and may have the opportunity to teach an elective next year for 7th & 8th grade where I could take students outside. I would like to include hiking, climbing, backpacking, etc. The class would be 50 minutes 5 days a week and be the last class of the day so I might do extended classes once a week. Does anyone do this and have curriculum they could share? Also, if anyone has done something like this and could talk about the experience that would also be helpful. Thanks, Sean |
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I do not teach it, but it is taught at the high school where I work. I know they climb, bike, do like survival stuff, etc. When we are back after Thanksgiving break, I will get the documents and PM you. |
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I do not have a curriculum for you but make certain you include outdoor/campfire cooking. You can combine this with campfire building. Have them collect rocks for a fire ring, find kindling and bigger logs, then start the fire. Kids simply love it and it is an easily transferrable skill that they will be able to take with them and utilize later. Tinfoil veggie packets and grilled chicken are always a hit. |
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'The Backcountry Classroom' - Lesson Plans for Teaching in the Wilderness by Drury and Bonney - makes for some interesting reading (^^^^^ and includes sections on fire building, stove operation, frying/baking, introductory cooking, etc.) |
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ClimbingOn wrote: Party pooper here - better to use existing fire rings. Nowadays there's no reason to encourage anyone to create new fire spots. To put it another way, please make sure the curriculum complies with Leave No Trace principles. |
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Gunkiemike wrote: I am in complete agreement about LNT. Teach them that they should use a portable stove when camping and not light campfires at all. The association between camping and campfires is an antiquated idea that needs to end and this is a good thing to teach kids. edit- I might not have such an issue with campfires if most people actually knew how to light one that burned properly, used the right wood, and didn’t smoke out the entire campground. |
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You folks seriously want to take the fun of a campfire and campfire building away from kids? He isn’t talking about taking them into the wilderness. Let them have fun. A few kids psyched on the outdoors in a responsible manner does a lot more good than than the perceived harm of a few rocks in a fire ring that he can scatter afterward. A stove is not fun. You can’t make s’mores over a stove (at least not in a fun way). Take the fun out of it and the kids will lose interest. I do know what I’m talking about in this regard. My experience in this is several thousand kids. LNT is important. I’m a certified LNT trainer. There’s a time and place for everything. I have one specific area where I teach campfire building and campfire cooking. After every session I scatter the rocks and dispose of the ashes properly. He could certainly do the same. When introducing youth to the outdoors for the first time fun has to be a significant priority or you will lose their interest. |
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Terry E wrote: I don't even like kids and I wouldn't dream of telling people to deprive them of the many joys that a campfire can bring. |
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I taught a 5 week mini course including all the topics you are interested in several years ago when I taught middle school. Suggestions: 1. Recruit a fellow faculty to co-teach with you. You do not want to supervise middle aged kids in these activities on your own. 2. Limit size of class to a dozen or so, definitely not over 20. 3. When you go on outings, recruit plenty of parent volunteers. 4. For curriculum, I used my own experience from Scouting, what used to called Boy Scouts (BSA). You can find an abundance of curriculum at a Scout store, which is basically designed for Scoutmasters to use in leading their Troops. Outward Bound and such organizations probably also have materials. Some people may argue that Scouting materials are not the greatest, but I think it is a tool in the toolbox at least. Very strong on safety and Leave No Trace. Which brings up another point . . . 5. Discuss with your Board of Education legal counsel about liability. On the bright side, if you ask any of my former students (now in their 40's) what was their most memorable event of middle school they will tell you it was our two-night camping trip where we went spelunking, rock climbing, rappelling, 5 mile hike, cooked meals over an open campfire (not a stove), around which we also told ghost stories that would still keep you up all night. Bottom line, it was A BLAST! |
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Teach them when and where a campfire is appropriate, how to build a fire and how to safely extinguish a fire and remove all trace so the next group can do the same.I use stoves exclusively in the backcountry, but I still like hanging out around a campfire with friends. |
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Sean, look into Forest Schools. Most are little kids, but the current one in Boise goes to 7th grade. It's outside, every day, all the time. No buildings at all. There are a few things on Amazon, probably for homeschoolers. When I've done little bits of this in the past, the more hands on the better, plus moving and being active is a treat for anyone stuck sitting inside all the time. That said, quiet reflection and the opportunity for expression is good, even if it's just a few minutes. For that age, your "homework" could be journaling each outdoor session, open ended media, any type of writing, artwork, anything goes sorta thing. Here, the Fish and Game department has, or at least used to have, a program called Project Wild, specifically for teachers to do outside stuff. They also used parts of that to train the volunteers who lead field trips for them. Someone mentioned scouts, that would net lots of activities, although not necessarily aimed at teaching. And homeschooling as I said. Are you teaching broadly, but moving it outside, or teaching outside primarily? Imo, outside anything is very multidisciplinary, no matter what we think we're doing! Best to you and the family, and hope it's going well there! H. EDIT to add, you got a SAR team nearby? I know they do civilian programs here, for REI. Map and compass, what to pack, how to pack, general safety outside, stuff like that. Another resource. |
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Cheers, everyone! Definitely a good start. I'll keep you updated with how it goes. |
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BW Thornton wrote: This is all good advice. I was a Boy Scout leader for 26 years. As BW Thornton says, there is a lot of good material available in the scouting publications. The advancement requirements and merit badges relating to use of knife/axe/saw, camping, orienteering, wilderness survival, backpacking, and hiking are all good sources of information. Link to the BSA Fieldbook: |
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Teach navigation skills. And in general, how not to get yourself lost. Have SAR person as a guest lecturer. It’s amazing the ways people get lost in the backcountry. |
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Charlie Kissick wrote: Totally agree. Orienteering is fun because you can combine a number of different aspects. - How to use a compass - Tracking your pace for distance estimates - Using Polaris for navigation -Using the suns location in the sky for time and direction - How streams generally follow elevation changes In addition, grabbing a field guide of local flora and fauna also makes for interesting learning. What plants to avoid and what plants can be useful etc. etc. |
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I did a program like this each year in middle school in SoCal that included backpacking, climbing, and camping that I honestly believe was foundational in making me the person I am today in my mid 20s. The program we used was Boojum - not sure if they're still around. On that note, the things we learned that are most applicable to my outdoor activities today are navigational skills (compass, map, etc.), outdoor cooking (and setting up a meal plan; we were given permission to create our own menus in the backcountry), emergency first aid, knots, importance of appropriate clothing, water filtration systems, bear resistant food storage, and setting realistic goals for miles/day (we usually overshot how many miles we thought we could do the first day). Also, one huge thing was that we were allowed to make mistakes; if we were on a backpacking trip and we went the wrong direction, we would go that direction for a ways before we were told about our mistake and had to work together to correct it. Obviously there's limits to allowing for mistakes, but it taught us the importance of teamwork, problem-solving, and working through disagreements. |
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I teach the same course in Taos NM at a high school. It is, by a massive margin, the hardest thing I have ever taught, it feels much more of a lift then teaching core classes. Some things to keep in mind 1. If you do not have a single pitch instructor cert and insurance, all liability when climbing falls on you. If a kid hurts themselves and their parents want to sue, it would be a career ender. 2. 50 minutes is tough to get kids outside with. Talk about transportation before you start with administrators and make sure they are down to work with you. 3. You are gonna have to build the curriculum from scratch. There are resources, but there are not state standards to build units off of. 4. This sort of class tends to draw hyper kids who see it as a way to get energy out. Classroom components can be hard. If you do not work out a solid plan for transportation and getting off campus with administrators before the start of the semester, you can end up with a bunch of kids who do poorly in a classroom and no way to get them out of the classroom. Do not take "we will support you" as truth. 5. It seems like something schools are doing now to build a brand. Lots of school administrators want to talk about how they have an outdoor program, but will not give the time and energy necessary to these programs to be successful. 6. Do not let this be a 2 semester course. There is maybe a semesters worth of lessons you can wring out of it. 7. If you are going to get off campus, you will absolutely need subs for your class. Make sure your district has available subs. I am not saying not to teach the course. It is super valuable and meaningful to get kids outside. Just know it is hard to plan for, has a lot of liability on you personally, is stressful, and needs a lot of funding and scheduling flexibility. If your admin is not willing to be flexible with scheduling, there is no way to get kids off campus with a 50 minute class. If you want, PM me and I can send some lesson plans and PowerPoints. |