Stroud Water Research Center, in collaboration with regional partner school districts, is putting its education research into action by helping schools create outdoor learning spaces on their campuses. These areas enhance water quality and wildlife habitat and provide meaningful outdoor learning opportunities for teachers and their students. The project also allows communities to engage with schools in learning about their local watersheds.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Education Grants Program is funding the initiative, which also includes the new Pennsylvania Gateway to Green website. The Stroud Center and the Pennsylvania Department of Education launched the website last week at the PAEE Conference with resources for creating and using outdoor learning spaces.
In this virtual workshop recorded on January 25, 2023, hear directly from participating teachers (elementary to high school level) and Stroud Center education staff on this collaborative approach at all phases, from designing and building to lesson creation.
Presenters share tips on how to get started and suggest funding outlets, design tools, and successful ways of communicating with key staff in the district. They also describe some of the learning spaces to be completed by the end of the 2023 school year. In addition, a landscape professional offers plant suggestions and more in the outdoor learning landscape!
This virtual educator workshop was presented in partnership with National Park Trust, the National Park Service, White Clay Creek Wild & Scenic River Program, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
