August 23, 2024
Access to High-Quality Nature-Based Education Resources for Multilingual Learners
According to Stanford University, researchers who analyzed multiple studies studying the impact of environmental education “found that students in schools with environmental education consistently outperform other schools on state standardized tests in math, reading, and writing.” In fact, the North American Association for Environmental Education says that “educators have called environmental education an ‘equalizer’ for kids who are struggling, as well as for those excelling or those with special needs.”
With the benefit of environmental education, students thrive in more than academics. Students (and educators) reap many physical and mental health benefits from being in and around nature—even if it is just looking at photographs of it! Confirmed benefits include improved behavior, increased engagement, decreased anxiety, and reduced absenteeism. Learning about the environment also helps encourage students to take positive actions to protect the environment, think more sustainably, and become more civic-minded.
So why aren’t more schools incorporating nature-based education into the curriculum? There are a variety of factors, ranging from too much on teachers’ plates and lack of safe access to the outdoors to limited resources for multilingual learners and equity gaps.
Research Shows
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 5.3 million English learners enrolled in public schools in the Fall of 2021, with over 4 million students (nearly twice the population of New Mexico) who speak Spanish at home. At Project Learning Tree, we want to help improve access to nature-based education and high-quality education for all learners to flourish academically, socially, and emotionally. Every young person benefits from exposure to nature.
That’s why we’re excited to announce that Project Learning Tree’s flagship curriculum, Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide, is now available in Spanish!
Explora tu Ambiente
The Explora tu Ambiente: Guía de Actividades K-8 contains 50 activities organized by grade level (K-2, 3-5, and 6-8). The hands-on activities utilize nature to teach math, language arts, social studies, economics, art, and more. Each activity is multidisciplinary in approach, covering a variety of topics that are easy to weave into existing curriculum or programming.
Whether you work with multilingual learners, engage with Latino communities, lead after-school programs or summer camps, or teach the Spanish language, Explora tu Ambiente activities improve literacy, build STEM skills, and foster 21st century skills.
“This initiative is a crucial step in our mission to provide high-quality environmental education to all learners,” said Josh Brankman, Vice President of Education at SFI. “By offering our flagship curriculum in Spanish, we’re not only improving access to nature-based education but also supporting STEM and forest literacy skills for multilingual learners.”
Expanding Community Engagement
Several states with the PLT network have expanded their professional development offerings to include bilingual training. For example, just last year the PLT Illinois team trained four new Spanish-speaking facilitators and offered bilingual educator workshops throughout the state. We’re excited to grow our diverse event offerings to reach even more educators. When educators feel equipped to lead PLT activities, they are more likely to incorporate them into their lessons and enhance student learning.
Want to Learn More?
Learn how to incorporate inclusive outdoor learning strategies and activities with Latino communities. Join PLT and Corazón Latino for a special webinar on September 18, 2024, from 5:30-6:30 pm Eastern Time / 2:30-3:30 pm Pacific Time as we kick off Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations.
Register for the Webinar
“Forests are the heart of our planet and the source of our collective health. We firmly believe that educating our communities about the worth of forests is an investment in our future. Education is the bridge between indifference and action, between destruction and conservation.” —Felipe Benítez, Executive Director and Founder of Corazón Latino. Corazón Latino is a national non-profit organization that seeks to generate social, environmental, and conservation initiatives that foster natural resource stewardship.
Thank You to the PLT Network!
With every new resource released, PLT could not accomplish our goals without the support of many individuals. We’d like to express our gratitude to Cecilia Ochoa Blackaller, PLT Mexico Coordinator, for launching the effort to translate the guide. Thanks to Cecilia’s dedication and passion, this resource has come to fruition! In addition, PLT would like to thank environmental education and translation experts Rafael Salgado (former PLT Education Operating Committee Member and Executive Director of the Cal-Wood Education Center) and Beau Salgado (Salgado & Co.), as well as TM Design, Inc., for spending countless hours providing support. Thank you!
