ARKive is proud to partner with the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), an organization dedicated to connecting kids and adults alike with environmental knowledge that can improve the quality of their lives and the health of the planet. Every year, NEEF spearheads Environmental Education (EE) Week – the largest celebration of environmental education in the US. This year’s theme is ‘Taking Technology Outdoors’ which is a perfect opportunity to explore all the ways that the ARKive collection can be used to inspire and enhance connections with the natural world.
The ARKive team has come up with a few fun, extension activities to our free classroom lessons for any adult to use to lead kids on outdoor explorations in their own backyards or local green spaces. The activities can be done with or without the accompanying lesson.
Web of Wildlife (7-11 year olds)
Photograph your local food chain. In this activity, kids spend time outdoors trying to locate different types of food sources. They take a picture of each food item they find including grass, acorns and even small critters that are food for birds and other animals. Kids then create a poster using print-outs of the food source pictures and drawings of other species that rely on those food sources. Using lessons learned in the Web of Wildlife activity and using ARKive as a resource, kids can draw lines between food sources and species to illustrate the local food web.
Biodiversity Hospital (11-14 year olds)
Be a conservation photographer. A conservation photographer has the ability to capture an environmental story in a single image. In this activity, kids play the role of conservation photographers and try to capture, in one image, any conservation threats in their hometown. The photograph should speak for itself and taking on the role of a ‘doctor’, the kids should try to prescribe a solution to the problem. They then take turns showing their picture to friends and family who try to identify the conservation threat and potential remedies.
Species Discovery (7-11 & 11-14 year olds)
Catch new-to-you species on film. Using a smartphone with a video recording feature, trek outdoors and help kids to capture any species that are new to them on camera. From city-dwelling birds to local flower species they may have never noticed before, kids log their findings on camera and then explore the ARKive site to find a species that closely matches their discoveries. Kids should try to identify the features that are similar whether its color, beak shape, etc. Choosing one of the species they caught on camera, kids can get creative by thinking of their own scientific name for it.
NEEF guest bloggers
We also have an exciting line-up of guest bloggers who will be appearing on the ARKive blog during EE Week to share their adventures with the activities above and other ways they’ve used ARKive and technology to get kids outside. Our friends from NEEF will be kicking things off for us next Monday!
If you are interested in joining in the ARKive/EE Week celebrations by doing one of the above activities, feel free to share a short paragraph on your experience and a picture with us at education@wildscreenusa.org. We’ll in turn publish your story in an ARKive blog at the end of EE Week sharing it with thousands of readers in the US and beyond.
Happy Outdoor Exploration!
Liana Vitali, ARKive Education & Outreach Manager, Wildscreen USA
